Russell takes pole in Montreal, Piastri 'in the fight'
George Russell has roared to a brilliant pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix after seeing off rivals Max Verstappen and Australia's Oscar Piastri to clinch top spot in Montreal.
Russell delivered the goods with the final lap of a thrilling qualifying session on Saturday clocking 1 minute 10.899 seconds to cross the line 0.160 clear of Verstappen.
Australia's championship leader Piastri had to settle for third but it was another bitterly-disappointing one-lap showing from his teammate Lando Norris which leaves him seventh on the grid.
Kimi Antonelli finished fourth, one place ahead of Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton.
Russell started on pole in Montreal last year and came from nowhere to secure first place again.
"Today was awesome in front of this amazing crowd," said Russell. "The last lap was one of the most exhilarating laps of my life.
"I got into the last corner and I could see on my steering wheel that this lap was mighty. It was a surprise to see I was first but I was chuffed too."
Norris, whose championship challenge has been derailed by errors in qualifying, made a mistake on his first run in Q1 and had to abort the final right-left chicane.
That handed the advantage to both Verstappen and Piastri with the former holding a 0.025 seconds advantage over the Australian.
Piastri earlier hit Montreal's wall of champions in the final practice session.
The incident briefly triggering red flags when he skimmed the famed wall at the last corner and scattered debris with 37 minutes to go.
The Melbourne driver was able to get back out again with 24 minutes remaining.
"Our pace on race days is generally where we're strong," he said.
"These two next to me were very quick in the race runs yesterday, so it's certainly not going to be a slam dunk win, but I think we're definitely in the fight."
A red flag was also deployed in Q1 after bodywork flew off Alex Albon's Williams on the back straight.
Albon progressed to the next phase - and qualified 10th - but his team-mate Carlos Sainz, was eliminated.
Sainz was left in 17th but will start one place higher after Yuki Tsunoda was demoted from 11th to last following a red-flag infringement in final practice.
Home favourite Lance Stroll will start a place back from Sainz after he fell at the first hurdle, 14 days after he withdrew from the race in Spain with a wrist injury.
Before putting his Mercedes on pole for the second year in a row, Russell had only managed third in practice.
Ahead of Sunday's showdown, Piastri leads Norris by 10 points in the drivers' championship after nine of the 24 races.
He has won five times so far this season and is bidding to be the first Australian to win six in a single campaign.
George Russell has roared to a brilliant pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix after seeing off rivals Max Verstappen and Australia's Oscar Piastri to clinch top spot in Montreal.
Russell delivered the goods with the final lap of a thrilling qualifying session on Saturday clocking 1 minute 10.899 seconds to cross the line 0.160 clear of Verstappen.
Australia's championship leader Piastri had to settle for third but it was another bitterly-disappointing one-lap showing from his teammate Lando Norris which leaves him seventh on the grid.
Kimi Antonelli finished fourth, one place ahead of Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton.
Russell started on pole in Montreal last year and came from nowhere to secure first place again.
"Today was awesome in front of this amazing crowd," said Russell. "The last lap was one of the most exhilarating laps of my life.
"I got into the last corner and I could see on my steering wheel that this lap was mighty. It was a surprise to see I was first but I was chuffed too."
Norris, whose championship challenge has been derailed by errors in qualifying, made a mistake on his first run in Q1 and had to abort the final right-left chicane.
That handed the advantage to both Verstappen and Piastri with the former holding a 0.025 seconds advantage over the Australian.
Piastri earlier hit Montreal's wall of champions in the final practice session.
The incident briefly triggering red flags when he skimmed the famed wall at the last corner and scattered debris with 37 minutes to go.
The Melbourne driver was able to get back out again with 24 minutes remaining.
"Our pace on race days is generally where we're strong," he said.
"These two next to me were very quick in the race runs yesterday, so it's certainly not going to be a slam dunk win, but I think we're definitely in the fight."
A red flag was also deployed in Q1 after bodywork flew off Alex Albon's Williams on the back straight.
Albon progressed to the next phase - and qualified 10th - but his team-mate Carlos Sainz, was eliminated.
Sainz was left in 17th but will start one place higher after Yuki Tsunoda was demoted from 11th to last following a red-flag infringement in final practice.
Home favourite Lance Stroll will start a place back from Sainz after he fell at the first hurdle, 14 days after he withdrew from the race in Spain with a wrist injury.
Before putting his Mercedes on pole for the second year in a row, Russell had only managed third in practice.
Ahead of Sunday's showdown, Piastri leads Norris by 10 points in the drivers' championship after nine of the 24 races.
He has won five times so far this season and is bidding to be the first Australian to win six in a single campaign.
George Russell has roared to a brilliant pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix after seeing off rivals Max Verstappen and Australia's Oscar Piastri to clinch top spot in Montreal.
Russell delivered the goods with the final lap of a thrilling qualifying session on Saturday clocking 1 minute 10.899 seconds to cross the line 0.160 clear of Verstappen.
Australia's championship leader Piastri had to settle for third but it was another bitterly-disappointing one-lap showing from his teammate Lando Norris which leaves him seventh on the grid.
Kimi Antonelli finished fourth, one place ahead of Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton.
Russell started on pole in Montreal last year and came from nowhere to secure first place again.
"Today was awesome in front of this amazing crowd," said Russell. "The last lap was one of the most exhilarating laps of my life.
"I got into the last corner and I could see on my steering wheel that this lap was mighty. It was a surprise to see I was first but I was chuffed too."
Norris, whose championship challenge has been derailed by errors in qualifying, made a mistake on his first run in Q1 and had to abort the final right-left chicane.
That handed the advantage to both Verstappen and Piastri with the former holding a 0.025 seconds advantage over the Australian.
Piastri earlier hit Montreal's wall of champions in the final practice session.
The incident briefly triggering red flags when he skimmed the famed wall at the last corner and scattered debris with 37 minutes to go.
The Melbourne driver was able to get back out again with 24 minutes remaining.
"Our pace on race days is generally where we're strong," he said.
"These two next to me were very quick in the race runs yesterday, so it's certainly not going to be a slam dunk win, but I think we're definitely in the fight."
A red flag was also deployed in Q1 after bodywork flew off Alex Albon's Williams on the back straight.
Albon progressed to the next phase - and qualified 10th - but his team-mate Carlos Sainz, was eliminated.
Sainz was left in 17th but will start one place higher after Yuki Tsunoda was demoted from 11th to last following a red-flag infringement in final practice.
Home favourite Lance Stroll will start a place back from Sainz after he fell at the first hurdle, 14 days after he withdrew from the race in Spain with a wrist injury.
Before putting his Mercedes on pole for the second year in a row, Russell had only managed third in practice.
Ahead of Sunday's showdown, Piastri leads Norris by 10 points in the drivers' championship after nine of the 24 races.
He has won five times so far this season and is bidding to be the first Australian to win six in a single campaign.
George Russell has roared to a brilliant pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix after seeing off rivals Max Verstappen and Australia's Oscar Piastri to clinch top spot in Montreal.
Russell delivered the goods with the final lap of a thrilling qualifying session on Saturday clocking 1 minute 10.899 seconds to cross the line 0.160 clear of Verstappen.
Australia's championship leader Piastri had to settle for third but it was another bitterly-disappointing one-lap showing from his teammate Lando Norris which leaves him seventh on the grid.
Kimi Antonelli finished fourth, one place ahead of Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton.
Russell started on pole in Montreal last year and came from nowhere to secure first place again.
"Today was awesome in front of this amazing crowd," said Russell. "The last lap was one of the most exhilarating laps of my life.
"I got into the last corner and I could see on my steering wheel that this lap was mighty. It was a surprise to see I was first but I was chuffed too."
Norris, whose championship challenge has been derailed by errors in qualifying, made a mistake on his first run in Q1 and had to abort the final right-left chicane.
That handed the advantage to both Verstappen and Piastri with the former holding a 0.025 seconds advantage over the Australian.
Piastri earlier hit Montreal's wall of champions in the final practice session.
The incident briefly triggering red flags when he skimmed the famed wall at the last corner and scattered debris with 37 minutes to go.
The Melbourne driver was able to get back out again with 24 minutes remaining.
"Our pace on race days is generally where we're strong," he said.
"These two next to me were very quick in the race runs yesterday, so it's certainly not going to be a slam dunk win, but I think we're definitely in the fight."
A red flag was also deployed in Q1 after bodywork flew off Alex Albon's Williams on the back straight.
Albon progressed to the next phase - and qualified 10th - but his team-mate Carlos Sainz, was eliminated.
Sainz was left in 17th but will start one place higher after Yuki Tsunoda was demoted from 11th to last following a red-flag infringement in final practice.
Home favourite Lance Stroll will start a place back from Sainz after he fell at the first hurdle, 14 days after he withdrew from the race in Spain with a wrist injury.
Before putting his Mercedes on pole for the second year in a row, Russell had only managed third in practice.
Ahead of Sunday's showdown, Piastri leads Norris by 10 points in the drivers' championship after nine of the 24 races.
He has won five times so far this season and is bidding to be the first Australian to win six in a single campaign.
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