Formula 1 News: Russell wins pole for 2025 GP of Canada

George Russell (pictured) turned a lap of 1m10.899s in his #63 Mercedes to win the pole position for the 2025 GP of Canada at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Russell used the medium Pirelli tires to take pole, as did 2nd fastest Max Verstappen, who ended up 0.160s behind Russell with his Red Bull sled. An impressive effort for Verstappen given how slow the #1 RB21 is.

“Today was awesome, in front of this amazing crowd! To get this pole, that last lap was one of the most exhilarating lap of my life. I knew this lap was mighty,” said a happy Russell.

“I felt good all weekend, the car was actually in a good window. Overall, I’m very happy with Qualifying,” said Verstappen.

“The tough choice was the tires, and I think we did the right thing. I would always pick P1, but [P2] is fine, I’m already very happy with what we achieved to be on the front row.”

Championship point leader Oscar Piastri was third in his #81 superior McLaren, 0.221s behind Russell with rival and teammate Lando Norris down in seventh. He will fancy his chances of extending his Championship lead tomorrow.

“To be honest, after how practice went I’m pretty happy with myself at the moment. I’m pretty happy with third, which is a bit different, but I’ll take it here,” said Piastri.

Kimi Antonelli was 4th in the second Mercedes, 0.492s behind his teammate Russell.

Lewis Hamilton had one of his best qualifying efforts in a long time to grab 5th in his Ferrari, 0.627s behind Russell.

Fernando Alonso also used the medium tires to go 6th fastest, 0.687s behind the Mercedes.

Russell was asked about Turn 1 tomorrow – and how aggressive he might be. He jokes that he has “a few less points on his license,” in reference to the fact that Verstappen needs to race clean to avoid triggering a one-race ban.

“We’ll see,” Russell concludes.

Antonelli could be in the mix for a first podium, Alonso will be chasing more points too.

Further back, Leclerc made a mistake on his last run and then had to abort as his tires couldn’t handle another lap. He will be disappointed, and so will Norris. Another Q3 just got away from him there.

Hadjar is the driver most likely to be penalized. He needs to go to the stewards to explain a moment in Q1 where he impeded Carlos Sainz. He qualified ninth.

Yuki Tsunoda in the #22 Red Bull sled will drop from P11 to P20 with his 10-place grid drop for a red flag infringement in FP3.

Toto Wolff: “It was good, it was encouraging as the track was hot. We were so competitive in the free practice sessions, we were almost surprised at the start of Qualifying that it wasn’t too easy. But at the end the times were coming quicker and quicker, it was a mega lap.

“[That lap] was right up there, Max on the medium as well and McLaren and Ferrari strong as well, and he was able to pull a lap off.

“Everyone is looking forward to [Russell and Verstappen]. They will not want to give an inch. It will be exciting between them!”

2025 GP of Canada Qualifying Results