George Russell snatches Canadian GP pole from Kimi Antonelli after Sprint clash as battle intensifies
George Russell and Kimi Antonelli were involved in a wheel-to-wheel battle that saw the Italian forced off the track and onto the grass at the Canadian GP Sprint. Russell won the Sprint and also took the pole in the qualifying.
George Russell produced a lap out of nowhere to snatch the pole position from teammate and championship leader Kimi Antonelli at the Canadian GP qualifying, as the battle between the two Mercedes drivers intensified. Russell pruned two points from Antonelli's lead at the Sprint race, where the two drivers had a wheel-to-wheel battle before the Italian was forced to the grass at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Russell struggled for almost the full session, failing to match the pace of others. At one moment, it looked Mercedes' streak of pole positions this season would be over after defending champion Lando Norris took the provisional pole at the first run in Q3 and Lewis Hamilton behind him in second.
Russell's flying lap out of nowhere
Antonelli was fourth after a scrappy lap, but he took the provisional pole from Norris, who failed to improve as did Hamilton in the second run. Russell had enough time to begin his final lap, and he clocked a lap time of 1 minute, 12.578 seconds, 0.068 seconds clear of Antonelli to take the pole in the race that he won last year.
"That last lap came from nowhere," Russell said. "It was such a great feeling when it was such a challenging session, and you pull it all together on that last lap - to throw yourself up the leaderboard is epic."
Antonelli was content with the show, having put his Mercedes on the front grid with Russell. "I am pretty happy. There was still a little bit left on the table, but George did a great lap and all eyes were on tomorrow. We will see what the weather is like, but we will try to be ready for anything."
McLaren take second row, Hamilton fifth
McLaren drivers - Norris and Oscar Piastri- were third and fourth as they locked the second row for the papaya team ahead of Ferrari's Hamilton, who was only nearly three tenths slower than Russell. Max Verstappen struggled with the straight-line speed and took sixth, marginally ahead of teammate Isack Hadjar.
Charles Leclerc had a horror Q3 and ended the session in eighth, ahead of Arvid Lindblad of the Racing Bulls, while Alpine's Franco Colapinto took the 10th spot for the Sunday race.
Russell takes Sprint after intense battle with Antonelli
Russell was involved in an early clash with Antonelli during the sprint race, forcing the teenage sensation onto the grass en route to an entertaining pole-to-win victory. Russell successfully defended against two attacks from the 19-year-old on lap six before contact at Turn 1 sent Antonelli off the track.
The Italian driver was not pleased with the incident, calling it "very naughty". "I need to recheck. Emotions were very high in the moment, and obviously I was very annoyed," Antonelli said in an ensuing press conference, moments after a frosty finish-line handshake with Russell.
"We just need a bit of clarity, and then once it's clear, it's all going to be fine. The main thing for the team is that there's no contact, that we don't pressure each other, which today at the end was very close."
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