Russell leads Mercedes 1-2 in Canada sprint qualifying

The British driver looked strong throughout the session, finishing in the top two in each part of sprint qualifying before setting the benchmark time when it mattered with a 1m12.965s, ultimately finishing 0.068s ahead of his teammate.

Russell initially set his best effort with two minutes remaining, a lap that looked like it might hold, before improving by two tenths at the death to secure his second career sprint pole position.

The 28-year-old said he was delighted to return to the front after a disappointing last round in Miami.

“Obviously it feels great after a tough Miami, but I never doubted myself. I knew what I could do,” he said.

“Miami was obviously a bit unique. This is an amazing circuit here. High grip. It feels like you’re driving a proper Formula 1 car around here, which is how it should be.

“And I’m glad today it came together.”

He said the upgrades the team had brought to Montreal had also helped performance.

“Yeah, it’s definitely feeling great,” he added.

“The team have done such a great job to bring this forward.

“We obviously saw in Miami McLaren were really close and Ferrari not too far behind. On a track like this it really is telling. So pleased to have it on the car.

“Pleased to be back in P1. It’s been a little while. But obviously still big focus for tomorrow.”

Russell also said the team had been working on their starts, which had proven a weak point in an otherwise near-perfect start to the 2026 season for the Brackley squad.

“We’re making progress,” he said.

“We’re making baby steps in this regard.

“I’m not going to stand here and say we’re going to fly off the line in P1 and P2. I hope that’s going to be the case, but history tells us it hasn’t happened very often, or at all, this year.

“So let’s see tomorrow. But as I said, good first day.”

The McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri ended third and fourth, with Norris pipping his teammate by just two hundredths of a second in a closely fought intra-team battle.

The Papaya pair edged out the two Ferraris, with Lewis Hamilton fifth and Charles Leclerc sixth.

Hamilton looked strong across the session, topping SQ1 and appearing set for a front-row challenge before a flurry of late improvements pushed the seven-time world champion down the order in the closing moments.

Max Verstappen led the Red Bull effort in seventh, ahead of teammate Isack Hadjar in eighth, with Arvid Lindblad ninth for Racing Bulls and Carlos Sainz completing the top 10 for Williams.

Verstappen flirted with danger in SQ2, having a lap time deleted early in the session before only managing the ninth-fastest time, more than a second slower than Russell’s session-topping effort and just two tenths clear of the drop zone.

Sainz was able to sneak into the final part of qualifying at the death, vaulting into 10th position in the closing seconds at the expense of Nico Hulkenberg, who ended SQ2 in 11th for Audi, marking the fourth time he has finished 11th in a qualifying session during 2026.

Hulkenberg’s Audi teammate Gabriel Bortoleto joined him in elimination in 12th, ahead of Franco Colapinto in the Alpine, who headed the Haas pair of Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman, as well as the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso.

SQ1 began with only 20 cars on track, with both Liam Lawson and Alex Albon sitting out after their respective issues in opening practice could not be repaired in time for sprint qualifying.

That left only four drivers facing elimination in the first segment, with a third soon joining Lawson and Albon on the sidelines.

That came when Alonso locked up into Turn 3 and speared his Aston Martin into the barriers, triggering a brief red flag with just 1m46s remaining in the session. The incident created a frantic scramble for final laps as drivers attempted to escape the drop zone in the closing moments.

At the time of the stoppage, Pierre Gasly was among those at risk, with Alonso sitting 14th before his crash brought his session to an early end.

Only Lance Stroll, Sainz and Hamilton were able to complete final push laps, meaning Gasly was unable to improve and became the shock elimination of SQ1, finishing 19th overall.

Stroll also dropped out in SQ1, ending up 18th, just behind Sergio Perez in the Cadillac, while the second Cadillac of Valtteri Bottas rounded out the order in 20th and last.

The Canadian sprint race takes place at 12pm local time on Saturday (2am AEST Sunday).

Results: Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix, Sprint Qualifying