Russell denies Verstappen pole with Montreal masterclass

George Russell turned the tables on recent rival Max Verstappen with a statement charge to pole position at the Canadian Grand Prix, outpacing the Red Bull star weeks after their clash in Spain, as Oscar Piastri kept close in third.

Qualifying 1:

Engines echoed through the paddock as a line of cars formed at the pit exit, drivers readying themselves for a pressure-cooker Qualifying session in Montreal.

One of the last drivers to exit the pitlane, Oscar Piastri put his FP3 troubles behind him, along with every single driver in the order, as he skyrocketed into P1, setting a benchmark time of 1:12.332s on the soft compound tyre. 

His second attempt was less certain, with the Australian carrying too much speed into Turn 2, forcing Piastri to abort his second attempt.

With a Red Flag bringing Qualifying to a brief halt, Piastri returned to the McLaren garage for a quick breather ahead of the final five-minute shootout.

Piastri rejoined the session with blistering pace, tracking three-tenths quicker on his next attempt to reinstate his place at the head of the order. 

When the chequered flag fell on Q1, the only man to set a lap quicker than Piastri was his teammate, doing so with a significant tyre advantage over the Australian to finish in 1-2.

Liam Lawson edged marginally ahead of his teammate on his first flying lap in Qualifying, crossing the line with a time of 1:13.049s.

Shaving three-tenths off his next attempt, the Kiwi managed to remain clear of the elimination zone just in time for a Red Flag-induced reset as he sat just shy of a top-ten position.

Upon return, the Kiwi fell short during his final attempt, improving on his time, however, tumbling down the order in an eventual P19.

Condemned to start from the back row of the grid, however, moved up to P18 thanks to Yuki Tsunoda’s penalty, Lawson recorded his worst qualifying result since the Chinese Grand Prix, returning to the RB garage with “no idea” how his session took such a dire turn.

As for the rest of the field, both young and old were still struggling to come to terms with the unique challenges the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve possesses, with both Ollie Bearman and Lewis Hamilton forced to bail out at Turn 1 on their first attempts.

It was Hamilton’s former team who started Q1 on a steady note, with Mercedes claiming the top two fastest times on differing compounds — however, that was short-lived.

P1 soon rotated between the likes of McLaren and Red Bull, before settling with Fernando Alonso in the lead when a Red Flag hit the session.

Flying down the final straight, Alex Albon’s Williams shed its engine cover on its own accord, spraying bodywork across the circuit before the #23 tried to wrangle his car through the final chicane, gaining the stewards’ attention for not following the race directors instructions by taking to the escape road.

The marshals were quick to clear the debris, with the session restarting with five and a half minutes on the clock.

In the elimination zone as the session kicked off once again, Carlos Sainz, Pierre Gasly, Albon, Bearman and Nico Hulkenberg all had a big task ahead of them, along with Norris who sat in a worrying P12.

The McLaren driver was forced to sacrifice a fresh set of soft tyres to ensure he cleared the bottom five, with that decision proving wise when he jumped to the top of the order with a time of 1:11.826s.

That lap remained the quickest in Q1, with McLaren ending the session with a 1-2 for the first time this weekend ahead of a Ferrari 3-4.

At the other end of the spectrum, Gabriel Bortoleto, Sainz, Lance Stroll, Lawson and Pierre Gasly were all knocked out after the first stage of Qualifying, forced to return to their garages with nothing to show.

The Williams driver was the biggest loss from the session after showing decent pace all weekend, with the Q1 knockout coming through no fault of his own when he was massively impeded by Isack Hadjar at Turn 7.

Qualifying 2:

The drivers trickled out of the pitlane to start the second stage of qualifying, with the three drivers yet to miss a Q3 session instantly positioning themselves as the top three to beat, separated by just 0.077s. 

Of the three, Piastri settled into third place with a time of 1:11.715s — doing so on the soft compound tyre while Verstappen took the lead on the medium compound. 

Joining the tight top ranks, Leclerc boosted his Ferrari to the top of the timesheet before a lull fell over the circuit. 

When the pitlane burst to life once again, every single remaining driver headed back out onto the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, with a place in Q3 proving to be decided by a matter of fine margins.

Sitting down the elimination zone, Bearman, Colapinto, Hadjar, Esteban Ocon and Hulkenberg shared a sentiment of desperation, along with Yuki Tsunoda who had a looming 10-place grid penalty hanging over his head after he was pinned for overtaking under Red Flags in FP3.

The clock permitted just one final run for each driver, with George Russell completing that lap with the quickest pace of anyone, allowing him to hold the top spot over Norris, Leclerc and Verstappen through to the chequered flag — with the top four separated by just 0.068s.

Piastri just missed out on joining that tight fight, finishing Q2 in fifth place.

Not as fortunate Tsunoda, Colapinto, Hulkenberg and the two Haas drivers were forced onto the sidelines for the top-ten shootout after failing to set top ten-worthy pace.

Serving his penalty tomorrow, the Red Bull driver will start from the very back row of the grid, boosting the likes of Lawson up on position on Sunday. 

Qualifying 3:

The moment the remaining ten drivers had been waiting for finally arrived as the green light released the impatient queue of cars from the pitlane, headed by the hungry Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

As the first driver on track, Leclerc collected fastest sectors as he rounded the 14 corners in Montreal — sectors which were soon stolen by Norris before he out-braked himself at the final chicane and was forced to abort his run.

Meanwhile, the two drivers trailing behind soon made the #16’s effort look minuscule, with Piastri and Verstappen finding themselves in a two-way shootout for provisional pole.

Crossing the line first, Piastri claimed the top spot with a time of 1:11.273s, but it was Verstappen who claimed provisional pole when he put 25 milliseconds between the pair despite reporting a return of his FP1 concerns. 

The two Mercedes drivers slotted into P3 and P4 with a significant internal still separating Russell in third from the front row battle — however, not for long. 

After a short-lived reset in the garages, the field finally launched for their last-ditch efforts at seeking pole position, with Leclerc leading the charge once again. 

Flying through the first sector, the Ferrari driver’s lap came undone at Turns 6 and 7 when Leclerc was forced to save his SF25 from colliding with the wall on exit, faulting the dirty air interference from Hadjar ahead as he ended his session in the pitlane, condemned to start the Canadian Grand Prix from P8 ahead of the RB driver.

Back in the active fight for pole position, Piastri guided the remaining contenders through the 4.36km lap.

He started his lap already at a one-tenth deficit to his upgraded teammate behind, before failing to improve in the middle sector.

Piastri’s lap came to him as he rounded the final chicane with a purple sector, stunning the timesheets as he momentarily shot into provisional pole, his teammate no longer a threat after a poor end to Norris’ seventh-placed lap.

The raging bull behind both McLaren drivers was a concern, however, with Verstappen on the money from the get-go of his final attempt, painting the timesheets green and purple as he stole provisional pole from the Australian by just 61 milliseconds. 

Once again, the order was still undecided as Russell kicked into gear, punching in an unexpected effort that demoted his Barcelona rival and rewarded the Brit with his second Canadian Grand Prix pole position. 

Russell was the only driver to breach the 1m10s, recording an exact pole time of 1:10.899s on the medium tyre which was over a tenth and a half clear of Verstappen’s best C5 effort. 

Celebrating the milestone, Russell said any tension between the front-row starters had eased — though couldn’t resist a jab at Verstappen, saying, “I’ve got a few more points on my licence to play with” ahead of tomorrow’s charge to Turn 1.

Behind the top three, Kimi Antonelli secured a fourth-place start for the Canadian Grand Prix, outpacing the man he replaced at Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton, by over a tenth on differing compounds.

The medium tyre proved to be the correct call for the sole-remaining Aston Martin driver, with Fernando Alonso wedging himself amongst the top four teams in P6 — half a tenth clear of Norris’ disappointing run.

Grateful to be able to complete the session after losing his engine cover in Q1, Albon accepted his fate as the slowest driver in Q3, booking himself a P10 start for tomorrow morning’s 70-lap race. 

If history’s any guide, Turn 1 at the Canadian Grand Prix could spark fireworks between the front-row starters when lights go out for the tenth race of the season at 04:00 AEST on Monday morning.

Image: Formula 1

Qualifying Results:

2025 Canadian Grand Prix Schedule (AEST):

Saturday, June 14th:

FP1: 03:30 – 04:30

FP2: 07:00 – 08:00

Sunday, June 15th:

FP3: 02:30 – 03:30

Qualifying: 06:00 – 07:00

Monday, June 16th:

Race: 04:00

Read the new issue of Auto Action Digital HERE

Don’t forget the print edition of Auto Action available via subscription here or you can purchase a copy of the latest issue from one of our outlets here. For more of the latest motorsport news, subscribe to AUTO ACTION magazine