George Russell sees off Max Verstappen to take brilliant pole at Canadian GP
George Russell took a brilliant pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix after he saw off rival Max Verstappen to clinch top spot in Montreal.
Russell delivered the goods with the final lap of a thrilling qualifying session to cross the line 0.160 seconds clear of Verstappen.
Championship leader Oscar Piastri had to settle for third but it was another bitterly-disappointing one-lap showing from 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 here last year and came from nowhere to secure first place again. Verstappen, who crashed into Russell at the previous round in Spain, will join him on the front row.
'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.'
Verstappen is one point away from a ban following his coming together with Russell in Barcelona and – when asked about the prospect of being joined on the front row by his rival – Russell added: 'We are mates so we are all good.
'I have got a few more points on my licence to play with, so let's see.'
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.
'So Lando let's just reset and remember your braking references,' Norris was told by his race engineer, Will Joseph.
Norris's error handed the advantage to both Verstappen and Piastri with the former holding a 0.025 seconds advantage over the Australian.
Norris came round again but he was 0.377sec off the pace with his father, Adam Norris, grimacing in the back of the McLaren garage.
On to the final runs and it was Piastri who went fastest only to be usurped by Verstappen and then Russell.
Norris, who trails Piastri by 10 points in the standings, was a distant 0.726 behind Russell and half-a-second adrift of Piastri in the other McLaren to deal another blow to the Briton's title hopes.
A red flag was deployed in Q1 after bodywork flew off Alex Albon's Williams on the back straight. An eight-minute delay followed as the debris and Albon's car was repaired to allow him to take part in the restart.
Albon progressed to the next phase – and qualified 10th – but his team-mate Carlos Sainz, who appeared to be impeded by RB's Isack Hadjar, was eliminated.
Hadjar finished ninth but he could be served a penalty with the stewards investigating the flashpoint.
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.
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