George Russell took pole position in the Canadá GP sprint race from Fórmula 1 this weekend. The British Mercedes driver set a time of 1:12.965 in the Circuito Gilles Villeneuve. The German team secured the entire front row with the Italian newcomer Kimi Antonelli in second place in the table. Englishman Lando Norris, representing McLaren, finished the decisive phase with the third fastest time of the afternoon. Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto, a newcomer to the category, faced a tight battle in the middle of the field and will start in 12th place.
Friday’s activity distributed the positions for the short race that precedes the main race in Montreal. Competitors dealt with rapid changes in grip on the track after free practice practiced by interruptions and accidents. George Russell demonstrated consistency from the early stages and repeated the good performance he usually presents on the Canadian circuit. Ferrari also showed strength in the first part of the proceedings with veteran Lewis Hamilton bothering the leaders. The seven-time world champion finished qualifying in fifth place on the grid.
George Russell dominates final stages and Mercedes closes the front row
The decisive training session in Montreal consolidated the Brackley manufacturer’s recent dominance on the América and Norte street tracks. George Russell fought a particular duel against their direct opponents to win the second pole position of their career in sprint format competitions. The competitor took advantage of the vehicle’s aerodynamic updates to set the pace in the final parts of the classification. The mark obtained in the final moments put the Englishman in a comfortable position to try to seek a new victory in the territory where he triumphed the previous year.
The young Kimi Antonelli surprised by recording a mark just 0s068 slower than the session time. The Italian managed to maintain control of the car in critical sectors to overcome experienced drivers from the world grid. The young man’s performance ensured an important double for Mercedes’s plans in the search for points in the constructors’ world championship. The team controlled the attempts to approach direct opponents throughout the entire period of the timed final stage.
Atrás from Flechas from Prata came the McLaren cars that grew in performance precisely in moments of greatest pressure. Lando Norris found a clean lap in the final seconds to jump into third place on the timesheets. His teammate, Australian Oscar Piastri, confirmed the team’s technical evolution and secured fourth place. The group overcame the tire heating problems they faced at the beginning of the day and put themselves in direct contention for the top positions in the short race.
Gabriel Bortoleto battles in the midfield and stops in the second stage
The Brasil representative at Fórmula 1 had a journey of ups and downs on the Montreal asphalt. Gabriel Bortoleto started the work by setting the 16th mark in the first segment and managed to advance to the 15th regulatory position. The driver who defends the colors of Audi sought to improve his performance under heavy braking to gain ground against his peloton rivals. At the beginning of the next stage, the athlete from São Paulo managed to momentarily rise to ninth place in the general classification.
The scenario changed when the direct opponents decided to use new compounds for the final fast lap attempts. Gabriel Bortoleto reached the tenth best time in the phase, guaranteeing a provisional place in the group of finalists. The effort ended up being surpassed in the final seconds by the marks obtained by the German Nico Hulkenberg and the Spanish Carlos Sainz. The two competitors improved their passages and pushed the Brazilian out of the direct classification zone. The young driver will open the sixth row of the starting grid on Saturday.
Abaixo are the complete positions set on the Canadian track:
- George Russell (Mercedes) – 1m12s965
- Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0s068
- Lando Norris (McLaren) +0s315
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0s334
- Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0s361
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0s445
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0s539
- Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) +0s640
- Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) +0s772
- Carlos Sainz (Williams) +1s571
- Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) – eliminated in stage two
- Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) – eliminated in stage two
- Franco Colapinto (Alpine) – eliminated in stage two
- Esteban Ocon (Haas) – eliminated in stage two
- Oliver Bearman (Haas) – eliminated in stage two
- Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) – eliminated in stage two
- Sergio Pérez (Cadillac) – eliminated in stage one
- Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) – eliminated in stage one
- Pierre Gasly (Alpine) – eliminated in stage one
- Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) – eliminated in stage one
- Alexander Albon (Williams) – eliminated in stage one
- Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) – eliminated in stage one
Acidentes and embezzlements reduce squad size in Canadá
The qualifying session in Montreal was marked by incidents that took important competitors out of the fight for the front positions. The experienced Spanish driver Fernando Alonso lost the rear of Aston Martin’s car and collided with the protective barrier in turn 3. The impact broke components of the car’s suspension and prevented it from continuing on the race track. The Asturian driver had guaranteed time to advance to the stage but had to watch the rest of the training from the pits.
The grid started work with two confirmed absences due to problems that occurred in free practice held hours before. New Zealander Liam Lawson missed Racing Bulls due to a serious mechanical failure in the car’s engine. Já the Anglo-Thai Alexander Albon destroyed the suspension of Williams’s single-seater when it hit the wall after running over a small rodent mammal on the track. The team’s mechanics were unable to complete the necessary structural repairs in time for the start of the federation’s official clock.
Lewis Hamilton leads the first phase but loses steam at the end
The opening of the official work showed a very competitive Ferrari with Lewis Hamilton dictating the pace of the initial actions. The veteran driver took advantage of the good setup of the Italian chassis to record the first benchmarks with the mandatory medium tires. The Brit lost the lead for a few moments to Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli but regained the top shortly afterwards. His advantage over his young teammate reached as much as a tenth of a second.
The strong pace of the Maranello team was not sustained when the track temperature dropped in the decisive stages of the classification. Lewis Hamilton faced difficulties in getting the most out of the soft tires and ended up being overcome by the efforts of McLaren and Mercedes. The competitor ended up falling to fifth place on the starting grid, just ahead of Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque of the other Ferrari closed the opening weekend in sixth place with difficulties in balancing.
World championship leader Max Verstappen also did not find the ideal setup for the Red Bull car. The Dutch driver complained a lot about the lack of traction on corner exits and will only start the race in seventh. The young Isack Hadjar completed the Austrian team’s performance in eighth place on the starting grid. The Canadá GP schedule foresees the sprint race taking place on Saturday starting at 1pm at the official Brasília time.