formula 1
Mercedes star wins qualifying thriller in Canada
Updated May 23, 2026 – 11:13 p.mReading time: 1 min.
George Russell came out on top in an exciting qualifying session in Canada. But he had to fight hard against his teammate and the world champion.
George secured pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver set the fastest lap at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montréal with a time of 1:12.578, relegating teammate Kimi Antonelli to second place. World champion Lando Norris in a McLaren completed the top three.
In the race on Sunday (10 p.m. CEST in the live ticker on t-online), Russell is now aiming for his first Grand Prix victory since the season opener in Melbourne at the beginning of March. Most recently, Antonelli had won the main race three times in a row, but in Montreal Russell showed himself to be defensive right from the start: on Friday he took pole position for the sprint and then won the short race on Saturday.
During two of Antonelli’s maneuvers, the two Mercedes cars almost collided. Antonelli complained on the radio and team boss Toto Wolff spoke up to end the discussions. The duel for the World Championship seems to be getting more intense on the fifth race weekend of the season, with Antonelli starting on Sunday with an 18-point lead.
Record world champion Lewis Hamilton will be in fifth place on the grid in a Ferrari, followed by Max Verstappen in a Red Bull. Nico Hülkenberg was eleventh again in an Audi – as he did in sprint qualifying and more often this year. This gives the Emmericher a chance to score his first points in the German factory team.
