Mercedes' George Russell takes pole for second straight year at Canadian GP

Daniel Rainbird · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Jun 14, 2025 2:58 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 minutes ago

Mercedes operator George Russell stormed to rod presumption for the 2nd consecutive twelvemonth Saturday successful qualifying astatine the Canadian Grand Prix.

Russell clocked a blistering thigh of 1 infinitesimal 10.899 seconds astir Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, finishing 0.160 up of three-time defending Canadian GP victor Max Verstappen of Red Bull.

Formula One person Oscar Piastri of McLaren (1:11.120) rounded retired the apical 3 connected a sunny, 22 C day successful Montreal.

Piastri leads teammate Lando Norris by 10 points successful the drivers' standings. Norris qualified a disappointing seventh.

Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli was fourth, Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton finished 5th and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso volition commencement sixth. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, Racing Bull's Isack Hadjar and Williams' Alex Albon filled retired the apical 10.

Russell claimed his archetypal rod this play — and sixth of his career. He and Verstappen some acceptable identical laps past twelvemonth to suffice astatine the beforehand of the grid, but Russell got the borderline by mounting his thigh first.

Stroll's instrumentality to racing

Aston Martin's Lance Stroll — the lone Canadian connected the 20-driver grid — was eliminated successful the archetypal circular and is expected to commencement 17th. Stroll returned to racing this play aft undergoing a insignificant wrist process and missing the Spanish Grand Prix earlier this month.

Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda volition commencement past aft receiving a 10-place grid punishment for reddish emblem infringement during the last escaped signifier league earlier Saturday.

McIntosh successful attendance

Star swimmer Summer McIntosh, caller disconnected breaking 3 satellite records successful 1 week astatine the Canadian swimming trials, watched the qualifying league from the backmost of Red Bull's store portion decked successful the team's merchandise.

Before Russell's third-place effect past year, the rod victor had crossed the decorativeness enactment archetypal successful each of the erstwhile 7 Canadian GPs. Only Sebastian Vettel didn't triumph the contention successful 2019 owed to a five-second penalty.

Russell said the quality this twelvemonth successful a contention of razor-thin margins could beryllium the weather.

"It's thing virtually arsenic elemental arsenic if it clouded over, could springiness america a two-tenth vantage implicit McLaren," helium said of a Mercedes car that runs amended successful cooler temperatures. "If the prima comes out, that benignant of neutralizes everything.

"It's a small spot retired of our hands close now, but careless of the conditions, we're evidently starting successful the champion place."

This year's Canadian GP is the 10th halt of the 24-race championship. McLaren holds a sizable 197-point pb implicit Ferrari successful the constructors' standings.