Mercedes’ Russell takes pole ahead of Antonelli for sprint race at F1’s Canadian GP

MONTREAL — George Russell won pole for Saturday’s sprint race at the Canadian Grand Prix, beating teammate and Formula One points leader Kimi Antonelli to secure a one-two for Mercedes on the starting grid.

Russell, last year’s race winner in Montreal, posted a fastest lap of one minute 12.965 seconds in qualifying Friday for the first-ever sprint race in Montreal.

“I never doubted myself, I knew what I can do,” said Russell, who’s coming off a disappointing fourth-place finish at the Miami Grand Prix earlier this month. “Miami was obviously a bit unique, this is an amazing circuit here, high grip, feels like you’re driving a proper Formula One car around here, which is how it should be and I’m glad today it came together.”

The 28-year-old Brit edged Antonelli by 0.068 as Mercedes — winners of all four grands prix this season — introduced new upgrades this weekend after McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull had closed the gap with new parts in Miami.

“It’s definitely feeling great,” Russell said. “We obviously saw in Miami, McLaren were really close and Ferrari not too far behind.

“Pleased to have it on the car, pleased to be back in P1, it’s been a little while. But yeah, obviously still big focus for tomorrow.”

Reigning F1 champion Lando Norris will line up third alongside McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri in the second row.

Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc sat fifth and sixth, followed by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar in seventh and eighth.

F1 introduced sprints in 2021. The shortened races cover roughly 100 kilometres, about one-third the distance of a grand prix, for a maximum of eight points. For reference, a grand prix victory is worth 25.

Antonelli, a 19-year-old Italian, has won three straight grand prix races to top the drivers’ championship with 100 points, 20 more than second-place Russell.

The day started with a disrupted practice session as Williams’ Alex Albon crashed into a groundhog on the exit of Turn 7, causing significant damage to his car and forcing him out of sprint qualifying.

Located on Île Notre-Dame in the middle of the St. Lawrence River, the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is well known for featuring wildlife, especially groundhogs.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton also hit one last year during the Grand Prix, calling it “devastating.”

The Canadian GP is just the fifth of 22 stops this season after F1 cancelled April races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia because of the war in Iran.

The race is happening a few weeks earlier than its traditional mid-June slot as part of a revamped schedule to reduce travel, and overlapping with a Montreal Canadiens playoff run for the first time.

The event continues Saturday with the sprint race, followed by qualifying to determine the starting order for Sunday’s grand prix.

HABS IN FOUR

Montreal’s Lance Stroll, the lone Canadian on the 22-driver grid, predicted Thursday the Canadiens would sweep their Eastern Conference final series against the Carolina Hurricanes. Montreal then proved him right for now, stunning Carolina 6-2 in Game 1 later that evening.

While Stroll’s favourite hockey club is surging, things haven’t gone so well for his racing team. With zero points this season, Aston Martin sits tied for last with first-year team Cadillac in the constructors’ standings.

Stroll’s struggles continued Friday in sprint qualifying as he finished 18th and teammate Fernando Alonso placed 16th. The 27-year-old Stroll has reached the podium just three times across 10 years in F1.

“I would have liked to have more opportunities to be at the front of the grid,” he told a group of Canadian reporters in French on Thursday. “I haven’t had a lot of races where I had the opportunity to be in the top five, top six. Probably 10 to 15 per cent of my career.

“The other 80 per cent, I did not have the opportunity to be in a competitive car, but that’s why I continue to come here. I have a lot of belief in this project.”

SILLY SEASON

Piastri responded to rumours Thursday that he would be Red Bull’s main target should Verstappen choose to leave F1, something he has teased amid controversial new regulations this season.

“It is news to me, yes,” Piastri said. “There’s obviously not been any discussions or anything, but it’s flattering, yes, and there’s not really much more than that, really. Hopefully it proves my stock as a driver, which is a nice thing, but I’m very happy with where I am.”

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella also weighed in during a press conference Friday, dismissing the gossip.

“You mentioned the silly season, and I think we are already fully in this silly season,” he said. “When we think about Oscar, we couldn’t be happier.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 22, 2026.

Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press