George Russell took an unlikely pole at the Canadian Grand Prix for the second time in a row, after snatching pole away from Max Verstappen in the dying moments of qualifying.
The Mercedes driver was last to complete his lap, having made the switch to the medium tyre, finding six tenths on Oscar Piastri’s best lap on the soft tyres in the middle sector.
Russell eventually crossed the line 0.221s faster than Piastri and 0.160s quicker than Verstappen, who starts alongside him on the front row just weeks on from their Spanish GP spat.
His pole lap was unexpected given Mercedes have not been near the pace of Red Bull or McLaren, but Russell made it work on the quicker tyre.
Peter Windsor compared Russell’s driving to three-time F1 world champion Niki Lauda when speaking on his YouTube channel, pointing out one aspect that he mimicked on the way to pole.
Peter Windsor compares George Russell’s driving to Niki Lauda
Lauda used to be an advisor to Mercedes before his death in 2019, having been key to bringing Lewis Hamilton to the team in 2013.
Windsor thinks Russell channelled his driving style on the way to his second pole at the Montreal circuit, comparing his approach to Verstappen’s.
“Everything that George does has an edge to it. It reminds me of Niki Lauda in his early days at BRM, an understeery and difficult car to drive that P160,” said Windsor.
“You always get that feeling that he’s on the absolute edge and he’s managing it perfectly but with zero margin. Max doesn’t leave any margin, but because his movements are softer, by definition, he hits the sweet spot.”
Max Verstappen has won from second on the grid at Montreal
The front row lockout is exactly the same as last years, after Russell pipped Verstappen to pole following a front wing upgrade that worked well for Mercedes.
Verstappen was able to take the lead fairly early on in the race and went on to achieve victory from second on the grid, but things could be different this weekend.
Verstappen is now on 11 penalty points on his FIA superlicence, which means one more in the next two events could see him earn a one-race ban.
Given his previous history with the Briton, after Verstappen and Russell were in a spat at last year’s Qatar GP, he will need to be on his best behaviour to avoid a potential ban before his next points expire in July.
