F1 Canadian GP qualifying: Russell stuns for Mercedes’ first 2025 pole, Norris only seventh

Sports

add

MONTREAL — For the second consecutive year, George Russell took pole position for Formula One’s Canadian Grand Prix, while again Red Bull’s Max Verstappen will line up alongside the Mercedes driver on the front row.

Lando Norris’ first flying lap in Q3 was deleted for track limits after he missed the chicane, while in the other McLaren, Oscar Piastri nailed that portion of qualifying’s final part. But Verstappen nailed his initial flying lap at this stage — going 0.025 seconds faster than the world championship leader. Charles Leclerc was a distant provisional third with just under seven minutes to go, 0.481 seconds off of Verstappen.

But the Ferrari driver was soon shuffled further down in the order as the Mercedes duo of Russell and Kimi Antonelli went quicker, creating a provisional Silver Arrows’ second-row lockout.

A thrilling run of final laps then played out. First, Leclerc nearly went into the wall — he saved the car but couldn’t improve his lap and appeared to blame hitting dirty air coming off the back of Isack Hadjar’s Racing Bulls after coming up behind the Frenchman. Piastri then bested Verstappen’s provisional pole time, which Verstappen then beat in turn, and looked set for another pole position start in 2025. But out of nowhere came Russell — the top two stunning the season’s dominant McLaren cars while using the medium tires.

“What a f—— lap! Yes! Woohoo-hoo!” Russell said over the radio. “Oh my goodness. That was f—— exhilarating! Oh goodness.”

Antonelli ended up qualifying fourth and will start next to Piastri, who finished third. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton equaled his best start at Ferrari, qualifying fifth, and he will line up alongside Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.

Norris, who had looked strong earlier in qualifying, had at least managed to get a time on the board after his early Q3 error. But he failed to improve on his third attempt, and he could only manage seventh. He therefore starts four places behind title rival Piastri for Sunday’s race. Norris will line up ahead of Leclerc, Hadjar and Alex Albon, who had earlier caused a red flag stoppage with a dramatic bodywork failure on his Williams.

Q2: Tsunoda, Colapinto, Hülkenberg, Bearman and Ocon fail to advance.

Russell also came out on top in Q2, setting a lap time 0.029 seconds ahead of Norris, who was second-fastest in the middle session. While the drivers from the top four teams (minus Yuki Tsunoda) littered the top 10 that advanced into Q3, the biggest surprise was Alonso, who has been enduring a bout of bad luck so far this season, did too. He set the sixth-fastest time for Q2.

This was a critical qualifying session for Franco Colapinto, who has struggled since replacing Jack Doohan at Imola. Alpine will assess its driver lineup after Austria, and it’s crucial for Colapinto to close the gap to Gasly’s overall pace. While the Argentine driver didn’t advance to the top 10, he will start a place higher than where he’s qualified, given Tsunoda’s 10-place grid drop that was levied earlier in the day after the Red Bull driver overtook during red flag conditions in FP3.

Colapinto scored his best qualifying result so far in 2025 with 12th and he will start the race in 11th after Tsunoda’s penalty (Clive Rose/Getty Images)

This qualifying performance from Tsunoda, though, was the closest he’s been to Verstappen since he joined Red Bull ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix. But he will now start Sunday’s race from last place.

Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari were the only teams with both drivers that advanced to Q3, while Nico Hülkenberg ended up 13th ahead of the Haas pair Ollie Bearman and Esteban Ocon.

Q1: Bortoleto, Sainz, Stroll, Lawson and Gasly knocked out

The left side of Albon’s Williams engine cover blew off as the end of Q1 approached, but the car was repaired during the subsequent stoppage (Clive Rose/Getty Images)

The red flag was waved with five-and-a-half minutes to go in Q1 after the engine cover blew off Albon’s Williams, debris littering the back straight. At the time, Alonso had the fastest time, a 0.034-second gap over Verstappen. Both Williams drivers, though, were within the drop zone (along with Pierre Gasly, Bearman and Hülkenberg) — although Albon seemed to be improving before the bodywork came off the car. The stoppage allowed Williams time to reassemble the car, but the repair needed to be speedy, as it didn’t take long for the debris to be cleaned up.

Norris sat far down on the timesheet during that red flag. While Piastri sat third at the time, the Briton was only 12th, between Liam Lawson and Colapinto. But Norris came storming back, setting the fastest time in Q1, and as others improved too, such as Colapinto launching into the top 10 at this stage.

The final grid was not set until nearly two hours after qualifying. During the final flying laps in Q1, Sainz and Hadjar had a close call; the Williams driver claimed over the radio that the Racing Bulls driver had impeded him. Sainz was knocked out in 17th behind Gabriel Bortoleto, missing out by 0.020 seconds. The stewards investigated the incident had Hadjar was handed a three-place grid penalty — the standard infraction for such an incident. He will start 12th as a result.

Home hero Lance Stroll, Lawson and Pierre Gasly were the other fallers at the first stage.

How they qualified

1. George Russell, Mercedes
2. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
3. Oscar Piastri, McLaren
4. Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
5. Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
6. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
7. Lando Norris, McLaren
8. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
9. Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls
10. Alex Albon, Williams
11. Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull
12. Franco Colapinto, Alpine
13. Nico Hülkenberg, Sauber
14. Ollie Bearman, Haas
15. Esteban Ocon, Haas
16. Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber
17. Carlos Sainz, Williams
18. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
19. Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls
20. Pierre Gasly, Alpine

(Top image: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

Share on

email

Previous

trending_flat

Randi Mahomes and the desire for a fourth baby after Patrick and Brittany discussed the option

AFC West - English

Next

trending_flat

In White Sox stadium broadcast, Pope Leo XIV sends a message of hope

mlb