George Russell Bounces Back to Deny Kimi Antonelli Sprint Pole in Canada

George Russell returned to form by securing Sprint pole position at the Canadian Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver edged out his championship-leading team mate Kimi Antonelli by just 0.068s in a thrilling climax to Friday’s running at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve.

McLaren locked out the second row with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri while Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top five for Ferrari.

Red flags and SQ1 chaos

With Canada hosting a Sprint weekend for the very first time, the pressure was firmly on the drivers as they tackled the abridged qualifying format. The session was abruptly halted in the closing stages when Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso suffered a massive lock-up and buried his car into the Turn 3 barriers.

Into the barriers for Fernando! 😳

Here is the moment that ended Alonso's SQ1 prematurely 👇#F1Sprint #CanadianGP pic.twitter.com/1vOoRXYDKK

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 22, 2026

With under two minutes left on the clock upon resumption, a frantic pit lane queue formed as drivers scrambled to get one final lap in before the chequered flag. Carlos Sainz and Lance Stroll managed to cross the line in time to save themselves but the chaotic restart caught out several others. Sergio Perez, Pierre Gasly and Valtteri Bottas joined Alonso in the elimination zone alongside the sidelined duo of Alex Albon and Liam Lawson.

Verstappen scrapes through SQ2

The second segment provided a tense battle as track evolution rapidly changed the pecking order. Hamilton initially set the pace on the medium compound tyres before the upgraded Mercedes duo of Russell and Antonelli flexed their muscles to take command.

Elsewhere Max Verstappen found himself dangerously close to the drop zone. The Red Bull driver pitted in the final minute and was forced to watch nervously from the garage as the clock ticked down. He ultimately survived by the skin of his teeth in ninth position. Nico Hulkenberg, Gabriel Bortoleto, Franco Colapinto, Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman were all eliminated.

Mercedes lock out the front row

The final eight-minute shootout saw the mandatory switch to soft tyres. Hamilton abandoned his opening push lap due to sliding on the dusty surface but soon laid down an impressive benchmark. However, Russell was in no mood to hang around. He surged to the top of the timing sheets with a blistering 1m 12.965s.

Antonelli gave it his all on his final flying lap but fell a tantalising 0.068s short of his more experienced team mate. Norris claimed third to spearhead McLaren’s charge ahead of Piastri in fourth.

Hamilton eventually settled for fifth ahead of Ferrari stablemate Charles Leclerc. Verstappen took seventh for Red Bull ahead of team mate Isack Hadjar while Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad capped off a stellar debut at the Montreal circuit to qualify an incredibly impressive ninth ahead of Williams’ Carlos Sainz.

Sprint Qualifying classification

From economics and politics to business, technology and culture, Kursiv Uzbekistanbrings you key news and in-depth analysis from Uzbekistan and around the world. To stay up to date and get the latest stories in real time, follow our Telegram channel.