Russell leads Mercedes 1-2 as Verstappen fades

George Russell turned Mercedes’ practice pace into sprint pole for the Canadian Grand Prix, beating team-mate Kimi Antonelli by 0.068s while Max Verstappen could manage only seventh for Red Bull.

Russell’s 1:12.965 in SQ3 secured a Mercedes front-row lockout after Antonelli posted 1:13.033. Lando Norris was third for McLaren on 1:13.280, just ahead of Oscar Piastri on 1:13.299, with Lewis Hamilton fifth on 1:13.326 and Charles Leclerc sixth on 1:13.410. Verstappen ended the session seventh on 1:13.504, with Isack Hadjar eighth on 1:13.605.

The result confirmed what Mercedes had already shown in the only practice session of the sprint weekend. Antonelli had led a Mercedes one-two there with a 1:13.402, Russell was second by 0.142s, and Verstappen was left in fifth, 0.964s off the pace.

For Red Bull, sprint qualifying never really settled. Verstappen was struggling well before the final shootout and was reported to be 1.3 seconds off the pace in SQ2, only just making it through to SQ3. Over team radio, the Red Bull driver said “it’s all not coming together,” and that summed up a session in which the car never looked settled enough for him to challenge the cars ahead.

Even the interruptions worked against any clean rhythm. SQ1 was stopped when Fernando Alonso crashed at Turn 3 with 1 minute 46 seconds remaining, leaving a rush for track position and a final out-lap when the session resumed. Mercedes still emerged in control of the fight at the front, while Verstappen’s problems carried through to the end.

The gap on the final timesheet underlined the shift in form. Verstappen was 0.539s slower than Russell’s pole lap, while Mercedes converted its upgraded Montreal package from a promising single practice into the strongest starting position available for the sprint, with Antonelli alongside Russell and Red Bull already on the back foot.