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Russell rockets to Canadian Grand Prix pole | RACER
George Russell took his second consecutive pole position at the Canadian Grand Prix to line up alongside Max Verstappen on the front row.
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George Russell took his second consecutive pole position at the Canadian Grand Prix to line up alongside Max Verstappen on the front row of the grid.
Presumed pole favorite Lando Norris, who topped FP3 before qualifying, slumped to seventh after botching his first lap and failing to improve through Q3.
Russell had been optimistic of his chances but ended the first runs 0.268s behind Verstappenâs provisional benchmark. The Dutchman improved again with his second lap, extending the gap to 0.457s, with Russell last of the leaders on track to set a time, setting up a grandstand finish.
It took a remarkable middle sector, the best of the session, to overcome the deficit, the Briton becoming the only driver to dip below 71 seconds with a best lap of 1m10.899s.
âToday was awesome,â he said. âThat last lap was probably one of the most exhilarating of my life. Seeing we were P1 was a real surprise, but I was so chuffed with it.â
Verstappen was pleased his car was in the battle for pole and anticipated having a strong race from the front row.
âI felt quite good all weekend,â he said. âThe car actually was in a good window.
âOverall Iâm very happy with qualifying. I think the car was working quite well. Weâll see what we can do tomorrow. Iâm already happy with what we achieved on the front row.â
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Oscar Piastri briefly rotated into top spot with his second lap before being bested by the front-row starters, but the Australian was satisfied to have bounced back from his FP3 crash that had appeared to knock his confidence leading up to qualifying.The title leader was 0.221s off the pace as the highest placed driver on the soft tire, with the top 10 split over whether to use the peakier soft or the more consistent medium in Q3.
âThereâs always the question of do you want a medium or do you want a soft for Q3, but we went with the soft â we were having a lot of problems and just wanted to keep things consistent,â Piastri explained. âTo be honest, after how practice went, Iâm pretty happy with myself at the moment. It was a nice turnaround.â
Andrea Kimi Antonelli qualified fourth and 0.492s off his pole-getting teammate.
Lewis Hamilton was the lead Ferrari in fifth at 0.627s off the pace, beating a superb Fernando Alonso, who will line up sixth.
Norris had topped FP3 and started the session as pole favorite but lost his first lap at the final chicane, where he missed his braking marker and ran off the road. He undertook a second lap on the same set of tires before embarking on his final run, the Briton's engineer coaching him to remember his braking spots, but he couldnât improve, leaving him seventh and 0.726s off the pace.
Charles Leclercâs second lap was spoiled by a snap of oversteer at the Turn 6-7 chicane, leaving him eighth ahead of Isack Hadjar and Alex Albon, the Williams driver having made it through to Q3 despite his engine cover blowing off his car in Q1, causing a brief red flag to clear debris.
Yuki Tsunoda qualified 11th, 0.099s short of a spot in Q1, but a 10-place grid drop will dump him to last anyway after he was penalized for overtaking under red flags in FP3. It will be the second time Tsunodaâs started 20th on the grid this season and the second round in a row heâs started last, having launched from pit lane at the previous weekend in Spain.
Franco Colapinto enjoyed the best qualifying performance of his comeback, putting his car 12th in the order, though the Argentine was apologetic for not getting more out of the car after returning to his garage.
Nico Hulkenberg qualified 13th ahead of Haas teammates Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon and Sauber teammate Gabriel Bortoleto in 16th.
Despite having the pace to make it comfortably through to Q2, Carlos Sainz qualified 17th for Williams after being significantly impeded by Hadjar on the racing line at the entry to Turn 6.
Hadjar radioed his team that he was surprised to see Sainz behind him, having apparently thought the Spaniard had abandoned his fast lap. Sainz missed out on Q2 by 0.02s, his second consecutive Q1 elimination, while Hadjar will be investigated after the session for impeding.
Lance Stroll qualified 18th for his home grand prix after lapping almost half a second slower than teammate Alonso.
Liam Lawson qualified 19th, his worst performance since the Chinese Grand Prix and his worst for Racing Bulls.
Pierre Gasly was knocked out last after failing to string together his three best sectors over one lap, his car having comfortably been Q2 material.
