George Russell produced a stunning lap to beat Max Verstappen to pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix as McLaren were surprisingly outpaced in Montreal.

Russell delivered the pace Mercedes had promised throughout much of practice to deliver a time 1:10.899, beating the benchmark set moments earlier by Red Bull’s Verstappen by 0.160s and sealing pole at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for a second successive year.

World championship leader Oscar Piastri was only third but fared well in comparison to his McLaren team-mate and nearest title challenger Lando Norris, who appeared to be the favourite for pole before an error-strewn Q3 left the Brit seventh.

Kimi Antonelli underlined Mercedes’ impressive speed at the circuit by beating Lewis Hamilton to fourth, as Ferrari once more failed to deliver on the promise they had shown in practice, with Charles Leclerc only eighth.

Fernando Alonso claimed an impressive sixth for Aston Martin as his upturn in form continued despite his team-mate Lance Stroll making a Q1 exit as his home race.

Isack Hadjar took ninth for Racing Bulls but appears almost certain to receive a grid penalty for an impeding incident that resulted in Williams’ Carlos Sainz being knocked out of Q1.

The Spaniard’s Williams team-mate Alex Albon rounded out the top 10 after recovering from a bizarre Q1 incident that saw a red flag shown after a huge part of the engine cover flew off his car.

Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Yuki Tsunoda qualified 11th but will start from the back of the grid after receiving a 10-place grid penalty for a red-flag infringement in final practice.

Russell, Verstappen reunited on front row after Spain collision

The front row, which is the same as it was 12 months ago at this circuit, comes with huge baggage following an incident involving Russell and Verstappen at the Spanish Grand Prix just two weeks ago.

Verstappen was penalised after appearing to intentionally drive into Russell in the closing stages of the race, with the Dutchman having lost his composure after the pair came together at a frantic late restart moments earlier.

The three penalty points Verstappen received from the stewards took him to within one point of a race ban, with that threat hanging over him at this event and the next round of the season in Austria, after which some points drop off his licence.

The duo, who have clashed on and off track on several occasions in the past, were brought back together on this occasion after both gambling on using the medium tyre compound in the final stages of qualifying.

Verstappen hadn’t showed any hugely eye-catching pace in Q1 and Q2 but then shot to the top of the timesheet on the first run in Q3, edging out Piastri as Russell was almost three tenths back in third.

Piastri momentarily snatched provisional pole as he crossed the line first on his final run, but Verstappen appeared to have claimed his fourth pole of the season as he went faster.

However, Russell’s switch to the medium compound paid dividends as he produced a superb final sector to go comfortably clear of his rivals.

Russell said: “Today was awesome! That last lap was probably one of the most exhilarating laps of my life because on my steering wheel you have the delta and I was seeing every corner I was one tenth quicker.

“I got into the last corner and I was six tenths up so I was like ‘this lap is mighty’. Crossing the line and seeing we were P1 was a real surprise but I was so chuffed with it.”

While a first grand prix pole of the season resulted in delight for Russell and his team, their weakness this season has generally been matching their one-lap pace over race distance, which makes converting the result to victory on Sunday remains a huge challenge.

Russell wasted no time in teasing Verstappen as he was interviewed on track moments after taking pole, jokingly pointing out: “I’ve got a few more points on my licence to play with. Let’s see.”

Verstappen insisted on Thursday that his approach won’t change as a result of his penalty point situation, and grew frustrated in the post-session press conference when asked about it.

He said: “I don’t need to hear it again. It’s really p****** me off. You were speaking about it on Thursday.

“It’s such a waste of time. It’s very childish, so that’s why I also don’t want to say too much because it’s really annoying this world that we live in.”

More to follow…

Sky Sports F1’s Canadian GP schedule

Sunday June 15
3.50pm: F1 Academy Race Three
5.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Canadian GP build-up*
7pm: THE CANADIAN GRAND PRIX*
9pm: Chequered Flag: Canadian GP reaction
10pm: Ted’s Notebook

*also on Sky Sports Main Event

The 2025 Formula 1 season resumes live on Sky Sports F1 with the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime.