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F1 Canadian Grand Prix 2025

George Russell stuns Max Verstappen to land back-to-back Canadian GP poles

Wow! That was sensational, and George Russell does it again.

Russell Q Imola
Article
To news overview © XPBimages

George Russell stunned Max Verstappen, McLaren and Ferrari to land a sensational pole position in his Mercedes for the Canadian Grand Prix.

Last season, Russell and Verstappen set the same time at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, with the British driver securing pole by virtue of posting his lap first.

On this occasion, Russell was a clear winner, claiming a sixth career pole with a phenomenal lap of 1:10.899s, finishing 0.060s ahead of four-time F1 champion Verstappen, who had to content himself with securing Red Bull's 200th front-row start.

For McLaren, championship leader Oscar Piastri could only manage third, whilst Norris starts seventh, that from a platform of another error on his first run that set the tone for another disappointing Q3.

Underlining Mercedes' pace, Kimi Antontelli starts fourth ahead of Lewis Hamilton in his Ferrari, whilst Fernando Alonso starts sixth in his Aston Martin.

Behind Norris, it will be Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who made an error of his own on the second run that cost him several places. 

Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar qualified ninth, although he faces an almost certain three-place grid penalty for impeding Carlos Sainz in his Williams in Q1.

Alex Albon, who sparked a red flag in Q1 when he lost a piece of bodywork, lines up 10th in his Williams.

Result Qualification - Canadian

# Driver Team Time Tyre
Results are being loaded...

Carlos Sainz furious with Isack Hadjar impeding

It was a captivating opening 18-minute session that included the red flag for the Albon incident, sparking a stampede for all drivers to escape Q1 with five and a half minutes remaining, with Norris, in particular, in danger as he was lying 12th.

There was no doubt, however, as Norris posted a leading 1:11.826s, with the Briton followed over the line by Piastri with a 1:11.939s, whilst Hamilton was marginally behind by just 0.013s.

Albon delivered a pressure lap to finish eighth quickest, but for team-mate Sainz, his bid to escape Q1 was wrecked by Hadjar, leading to the Spanish driver finishing a lowly 17th, missing out on a place in Q2 by an agonising 0.020s.

Stake's Gabriel Bortoleto lost out by only 0.008s to qualify 16th. Behind Sainz, home hero Lance Stroll was 18th in his Aston Martin, half a second behind team-mate Alonso, followed by Liam Lawson for Racing Bulls and Alpine's Pierre Gasly.

In Q2, spearheaded by Russell with a 1:11.570s, Yuki Tsunoda could only manage 11th quickest, a tenth of a second behind Hadjar, meaning he will start last due to being hammered with a 10-place penalty for overtaking under red-flag conditions during final practice.

It means all those who qualified behind the Japanese driver will move up a place on the grid, starting with Franco Colapinto in his Alpine, who out-qualified team-mate Gasly for the first time in four races.

Stake driver Nico Hulkenberg, along with Haas duo Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon, also exited Q2.

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RESULTS 2025 F1 Canadian Grand Prix - Qualifying