George Russell went back-to-back as he put his Mercedes on pole at the Canadian Grand Prix for the second year running.

Max Verstappen will join his rival on the front row, in what promises to be a thrilling launch from the grid on Sunday, while Lando Norris was made to pay for a major error on his opening run and starts P7 only.

Canadian GP: George Russell rises to pole once more

From Max Verstappen, to George Russell, to Lando Norris, a different driver atop the standings in each practice session meant there was great intrigue heading into qualifying, with four teams potentially in the hunt for pole position.

A 1:20.916 from Williams’ Carlos Sainz on the C6 soft tyres, was the early benchmark to chase, one which would fall rapidly as qualifying went on, the slowest five drivers to bow out after Q1.

Oliver Bearman’s efforts saw him get all out of shape and cut the opening chicane in the Haas, while Lewis Hamilton also needed that part of run-off to safely guide his Ferrari back onto the track.

It was a battle of the soft and medium tyres for the opening runs, and it was hard to determine which was the better compound. Piastri had gone P1 in the McLaren and Ferrari’s Leclerc P2, both on softs, while Fernando Alonso was in the top four with mediums on his Aston Martin.

But, as Verstappen took over out front, news came through that his Red Bull team-mate Yuki Tsunoda had been given a 10-place grid penalty for overtaking Piastri under red flags in FP3.

Speaking of red flags, the threat returned as the engine cover on Alex Albon’s Williams exploded into a sea of debris down the back straight. Unsurprisingly, that did indeed trigger the red flags as Q1 was paused with five minutes and 30 seconds left on the clock.

As it stood, Nico Hulkenberg, Bearman, Pierre Gasly and Sainz joined Albon in the bottom five, with Albon noted for potentially failing to follow the race director’s notes having cut the final chicane as the engine cover let go.

Swift work from the marshals meant that the delay was brief, and Alonso wasted no time in going P1 on the mediums with a 1:12.239. Albon was back out there with a new engine cover as both Williams drivers pushed for their spots in Q2.

Norris topped the session from McLaren team-mate Piastri and Albon was comfortably through, but Sainz was out, as was Gabriel Bortoleto, Lance Stroll, Liam Lawson and Gasly.

Sainz was calling out “massive impeding” from Isack Hadjar at the second chicane, an encounter pivotal to his elimination, with the stewards summoning the duo to meet with them post-qualifying.

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Onto Q2 and the opening runs saw Verstappen on top, showcasing the medium rubber as he went four hundredths clear of Norris on softs, now the compound widely in use.

And Leclerc would use the softs, and clear track, to catapult himself to P1, the scene at the front extremely tight, as less than a tenth covered the top four of Leclerc, Verstappen, Norris and Piastri.

But it was Russell who set the ultimate pace – on mediums – clocking a 1:11.570, as Ocon, Bearman, Hulkenberg, Colapinto and Tsunoda bowed out, meaning Tsunoda –  who was calling for Russell to also receive a penalty for pit-lane impeding – will start the race P20 and last.

And now it was time to determine the polesitter in Montreal, a battle which the course of qualifying so far suggested was wide open.

Norris did himself no favours as he bailed out of the final chicane, and with the first runs complete, it was Verstappen on provisional pole, 0.025s up on Piastri, while Russell had two-and-a-half tenths to find.

Verstappen’s P1 time of a 1:11.248 was delivered despite his “heavy” steering issue from FP1 returning.

Norris went for a second push lap on that set of softs and moved up to P5, leaving him with a tad under four-tenths to find if he was to be in the pole position picture.

Leclerc had over four-tenths to find, but his final push got off to a terrible start as he got all out of shape through Turn 8/9, forcing him to abort.

And at the front things were getting spicy, provisional pole for Piastri, Verstappen took it back, but then Russell snatched pole with the trusty medium rubber, a 1:10.899 sealing the deal for Russell and Mercedes.

Q3 timesheet

1 George Russell Mercedes 1:10.899
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.160
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.221
4 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +0.492
5 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +0.627
6 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.687
7 Lando Norris McLaren +0.726
8 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.783
9 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +0.968
10 Alexander AlbonWilliams +1.008

Q2 timesheet

1 George Russell Mercedes 1:11.570
2 Lando Norris McLaren +0.029
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.056
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.068
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.145
6 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.235
7 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +0.315
8 Alexander Albon Williams +0.322
9 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +0.404
10 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +0.433
11 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull Racing +0.532
12 Franco Colapinto Alpine +0.572
13 Nico Hulkenberg Kick Sauber +0.613
14 Oliver Bearman Haas F1 Team +0.770
15 Esteban Ocon Haas F1 Team +1.064

Q1 timesheet

1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:11.826
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.113
3 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +0.126
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.212
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.228
6 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.247
7 George Russell Mercedes +0.249
8 Alexander Albon Williams +0.264
9 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +0.385
10 Franco Colapinto Alpine +0.408
11 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +0.453
12 Oliver Bearman Haas F1 Team +0.480
13 Nico Hulkenberg Kick Sauber +0.497
14 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull Racing +0.508
15 Esteban Ocon Haas F1 Team +0.552
16 Gabriel Bortoleto Kick Sauber +0.559
17 Carlos Sainz Williams +0.572
18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +0.691
19 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +0.699
20 Pierre Gasly Alpine +0.841

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