Russell Snatches Canada Pole With Final Lap Heroics To Silence Antonelli

George Russell claimed pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix with the very last lap of qualifying, beating Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli by just 0.068 seconds in Montreal.
Russell had already won the sprint race earlier on Saturday, but he found himself on the back foot after aborting his first flying lap in the closing stage of qualifying.
His recovery came on a final run where he completed two flying laps, with the second delivering the time that put him at the top of the leaderboard.
“It is the most exhilarating feeling in the world when it comes at the last minute out of nowhere,” Russell said over the team radio immediately after securing pole.
Antonelli had appeared to have pole wrapped up after eclipsing McLaren’s Lando Norris on his first run, with Russell’s opening lap on his final run leaving him only third fastest.
Russell had planned for two laps on that final run and delivered when it mattered most, producing the lap that moved him to the top of the timing sheets.
“The car was out of sync, out of balance. I knew I needed a big lap and on my preparation lap I saw Kimi on the TV screen going purple and I was like, right, I need to bring something big here,” Russell said.
Antonelli was gracious after narrowly missing out, saying: “It was very difficult to get the tyres in the right window. It was a pity to miss out by such a small amount but George did a great lap.”
Norris ended up third, falling 0.083 seconds short of Antonelli’s time despite setting the fastest middle sector during his final run as he pushed hard to reclaim top spot.
Russell described the feeling of seeing his name rise to the top of the leaderboard as comparable to scoring a late goal, saying the adrenaline rush was unlike anything else he could imagine.
“I crossed the line, I see my name’s going to the top of the leaderboard and I knew that was pole, and that rush of adrenaline within the space of 10 seconds is what we will live for,” he added.
The pole ended a run of three successive qualifying top spots for Antonelli, with Russell having last claimed pole at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix earlier in the year.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri qualified fourth, with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton fifth ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, and Isack Hadjar completing the top eight positions.
Hamilton had been second fastest after the first runs and said he felt he could have finished third but that he “didn’t get the last lap”, though he offered no further explanation for the shortfall.
The Ferrari driver also faced a stewards’ investigation for allegedly impeding Alpine’s Pierre Gasly during the first part of qualifying, though officials took no action after Gasly confirmed he did not consider himself to have been impeded.
Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto rounded out the top ten, while Russell and Antonelli confirmed their earlier sprint race clash had been resolved through conversation.
“We’ve had a good chat since this morning. We’re both racing drivers, we both know what to do, we both respect one another, so we’ll go racing,” said Russell ahead of Sunday’s race.
Russell also noted that the team had adjusted the car setup for qualifying with Sunday’s predicted wet weather conditions in mind, with the race scheduled to start at 21:00 BST.
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