New Delhi:Mercedes driver George Russell took pole position for the Canadian GP Sprint qualifying, beating his teammate and championship leader Kimi Antonelli at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Russell had seen his teammate win the past three races in a row, and had endured an even tougher Miami GP after finishing fourth.
But the Brit bounced back to take pole for Saturday’s Sprint race with a lap of 1:12.965, 0.063 clear of Antonelli. Lando Norris, driver for McLaren and reigning world champion, finished in third, ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri, while Lewis Hamilton, who was first after SQ1, finished fifth ahead of Charles Leclerc.
Hamilton was happy to finish fifth, describing it as the best qualifying of the season after deciding against working on the simulator ahead of the Canadian GP. “It’s probably the best Qualifying we’ve had in a while,” he said. “Great job for the change to the car set-up with the engineers – the car felt really great from FP1. We made a few small changes going into Quali.
Red Bull addresses bouncing problemsMeanwhile, the Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar were seventh and eighth after complaining of bouncing problems with the car. Four-time champion Verstappen said his feet were flying off the pedals as he took eighth, more than five tenths slower than Russell. I am not surprised. “I was not feeling very good in the car, I was struggling a lot with the ride of the car all around the bumps,” he said.
"I couldn't stand up for myself. My feet were even coming up off the pedals. It just made it very difficult to be consistent and that's something we need to investigate.
Russell says he 'never doubted'Russell, meanwhile, put himself right back into the mix for this race with a huge drive after claiming the Sprint pole. He won last year's Canadian GP and would be confident of another strong performance, especially after a heart-breaking Miami GP. “Obviously it feels good after a tough Miami but I never doubted myself – I knew what I could do,” Russell said. "Miami was a little different, obviously. “This is a great circuit here, high-grip, driving a proper Formula 1 car around here, which is how it should be. “Glad today came together.”
Mercedes’ new updatesMercedes meanwhile have unleashed their first significant upgrade package of the year. They have already won all four races this year, with Russell winning the opener before 19-year-old Antonelli won the next three. As F1 is heading for an unexpected break, several teams have unveiled their upgrades for the Miami GP, while the 2026 regulations have been tweaked a bit.
But Mercedes decided to only bring small upgrades to their car before bringing major ones in Montreal. They've changed the front wing and dropped the height elements, running them into the footplate.
More strakes have been added for improved airflow towards the rear of the car and increased downforce. The floor slots have been moved to improve flow conditioning.
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