George Russell set his time first, breaking the tie with Max Verstappen, and won the pole for Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix.
MONTREAL, Canada—For the first time in memory, two drivers set identical qualifying times for a Grand Prix race. It happened Saturday when Mercedes’s George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen set identical times of 1:12:000 during the qualifying round for Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix at the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit. Because Russell had done it first, he took his second pole in two years. McLaren’s Lando Norris finished third.
George Russell: It’s awesome here every time we come to Montreal. It’s such good energy from all the fans, and I’m excited for tomorrow. We’ve now got our eyes on tomorrow and that win.
Fourth went to Norris’s McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, who was joined in fifth by RB’s Daniel Ricciardo. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was sixth, followed by the Mercedes of Hamilton finishing seventh. RB’s Yuki Tsunoda was eighth, with home driver and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll ninth. Tenth went to Williams’s Alex Albon.
While a qualifying tie for the pole is rare, other outcomes on Saturday were surprising, both positive and negative.
On the positive side, the Mercedes team has been working on upgrades, and things finally worked out as Hamilton took the opening session, with Russell achieving the second. Hamilton took the early lead in the final ten-minute round, but Russell overtook his teammate and held the lead.
On the flip side, what happened to Red Bull’s Sergio Perez in Monaco happened again in Montreal: he was knocked out of the opening session. He was joined by the Saubers of Zhou Guangyu and Valtteri Bottas, along with Haas F1’s Nico Hulkenberg and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, who will serve a five-place grid penalty on Sunday. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Monaco winner Charles Leclerc went out in the second round, along with Williams’s Logan Sargeant, Haas F1’s Kevin Magnussen, and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.
As for the pole sitter, Russell hopes that he can keep the driver next to him behind and feels that there is nothing to lose for taking that chance. “Why not? Of course, let’s go for it,” Russell exclaimed. “The car has been feeling amazing since we’ve brought the upgrades to Monaco. We’ve been in that fight now, so we are going for it tomorrow.”
Race time in Montreal is 2p Eastern, televised by ABC, among other broadcasting options.
