In a Formula 1 that is increasingly attentive to details, an unusual event occurred this Saturday in the classification for the Canadian Grand Prix: George Russell, aboard his Mercedes, and Max Verstappen, with his Red Bull, scored exactly the same time, but the pole remained in the hands of the Briton, since he had achieved his record a few minutes earlier.
In his first attempt in Q3, Russell set the clock at 1m12s000 and seemed to comfortably take first place for this Sunday’s start at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Later, Verstappen came out determined to take the position, but he also stopped the clock at exactly 72 seconds. In this way, the Mercedes driver took first place, in a classification that will remain in the history of the category.
Mercedes gave signs it was going to be a threat early on Saturday when Lewis Hamilton, a seven-time winner in Canada, set the fastest time in final practice, with Russell close behind in third.
The rain, which had interrupted both practice sessions on Friday, reappeared in the first two phases of qualifying, but the sky cleared and the sun began to appear just in time for the round of the top ten drivers that ended in a tie. .
Russell will start from pole on Sunday for the first time since Brazil 2022, accompanied on the front row by Verstappen, who is chasing a hat-trick at the Canadian Grand Prix. The second row will be all McLaren, with Lando Norris, winner in Miami, starting third ahead of Oscar Piastri.
In one of the closest qualifyings in F1 history, the top seven cars were separated by less than three tenths of a second. RB’s Daniel Ricciardo was surprisingly fifth fastest, with Spanish two-time world champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin sixth. Seven-time world champion Hamilton, who took the first of his 103 victories in Montreal in 2007, could not match the pace of his Mercedes teammate and will start seventh.
Neither Ferrari was in the top ten, with Charles Leclerc eleventh, one place ahead of Carlos Sainz. For his part, the Mexican Sergio Pérez, with the other Red Bull, will start from 16th place after another frustrating classification in which he did not even manage to get into Q2.
