George Russell took pole position for the 2026 Canadian GP after turning the tables in the final seconds of qualifying in Montreal and securing a Mercedes one-two alongside Kimi Antonelli. After winning the Sprint earlier, Russell stepped up again at the decisive moment of the session and beat Antonelli on the last attempt of Q3, leading Toto Wolff to an exuberant celebration on the German team’s pit wall. The second row was occupied by the two McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, while Lewis Hamilton finished fifth after running wide at the exit of turn 7 on his final lap.
Read more F1: Bortoleto starts in 13th position at the Canadian GP
Qualifying began with a very balanced scenario in Q1. Despite Mercedes being the favorite after dominating the free practice and winning the Sprint, McLaren, Red Bull, and even Racing Bulls showed strength right from the first attempts. Norris managed to surpass Antonelli and Russell, while Verstappen temporarily took the lead before the Mercedes Italian recovered the top spot. The big highlight of the first part of the session was Arvid Lindblad, who surprised by appearing among the top positions, while Franco Colapinto also showed good pace.
The session also had several incidents noted by the race direction. Fernando Alonso was investigated for unsafe release after nearly causing an accident with Colapinto at the pit exit, Hamilton came under investigation for impeding Pierre Gasly at turn 8, and Sergio Pérez was also investigated for not following race direction instructions.
In the fight for qualifying, Gabriel Bortoleto struggled again until the final seconds. The Brazilian appeared several times in the elimination zone, complained about the car’s behavior, and managed to escape only at the end of Q1, moving up from 18th to 16th on his last attempt. Hulkenberg also faced difficulties but advanced to Q2 at the limit.
Eliminated in Q1 were: Esteban Ocon, Alexander Albon, Alonso, Pérez, Lance Stroll, and Valtteri Bottas.
In Q2, McLaren appeared very strong right from the start. Unlike most of the grid, Norris and Piastri chose not to do two warm-up laps and immediately took the lead of the session. Bortoleto also started very well and even appeared in fourth place, showing a more competitive Audi in the main qualifying than in the Sprint.
The final part of Q2, however, was extremely tight. Russell aborted an attempt, Antonelli had a strange performance on one of the laps, and Verstappen responded strongly after getting irritated with the gap to Isack Hadjar. The Dutchman put half a second over the Frenchman in the latter part of the session.
Read more F2: See the championship standings after the Sprint in Canada
Leclerc complained a lot about the Ferrari over the radio, saying the car was completely on the limit and lacking performance. Still, the Monegasque managed to advance to Q3. Bortoleto improved at the end of Q2 but only up to 13th position, missing out on the final battle. Hulkenberg and Lawson were also eliminated.
The eliminated in Q2 were Oliver Bearman, Carlos Sainz, Gasly, Bortoleto, Liam Lawson, and Nico Hülkenberg.
In Q3, Mercedes confirmed its strength. Hamilton initially seemed strong enough to fight for pole, but he made a mistake right at the start of one of the decisive attempts and then lost the car at the exit of turn 7 on his final lap, failing to improve. Norris also could not improve on the last attempt, while Piastri moved up to third in the final moments.
Antonelli then temporarily took pole by putting 0.083 seconds over Norris, but Russell was still putting in a very strong last lap. The Englishman improved in the decisive sectors and jumped to the lead at the last moment, securing pole position for the 2026 Canadian GP and closing a dominant Mercedes qualifying in Montreal.
The front row will have Russell and Antonelli. Norris and Piastri form the second row, with Hamilton in fifth. Hadjar impressed again by finishing ahead of Verstappen in part of the session, although the Dutchman managed to surpass the Frenchman on the last attempt to finish sixth. Leclerc was only eighth, clearly struggling with the Ferrari’s behavior on the Canadian circuit. Lindblad finished ninth and Colapinto completed the top 10.
Check out the starting grid for the 2026 Canadian GP:
1) George Russell (Mercedes) 1’12.578
2) Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) 1’12.646
3) Lando Norris (McLaren/Mercedes) 1’12.729
4) Oscar Piastri (McLaren/Mercedes) 1’12.78
5) Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) 1’12.868
6) Max Verstappen (Red Bull/Red Bull Ford) 1’12.907
7) Isack Hadjar (Red Bull/Red Bull Ford) 1’12.935
8) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1’12.976
9) Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls/Red Bull Ford) 1’13.280
10) Franco Colapinto (Alpine/Mercedes) 1’13.697
11) Nico Hülkenberg (Audi) 1’13.886
12) Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls/Red Bull Ford) 1’13.897
13) G.Bortoleto (Audi) 1’14.071
14) Pierre Gasly (Alpine/Mercedes) 1’14.187
15) Carlos Sainz (Williams/Mercedes) 1’14.273
16) Oliver Bearman (Haas/Ferrari) 1’14.416
17) Esteban Ocon (Haas/Ferrari) 1’14.845
18) Alexander Albon (Williams/Mercedes) 1’14.851
19) Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin/Honda) 1’15.196
20) Sergio Pérez (Cadillac/Ferrari) 1’15.429
21) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin/Honda) 1’16.195
22) Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac/Ferrari) 1’16.272
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