P1racenews AI automatic summary:
George Russell took pole position for Formula 1’s Montreal sprint race, beating his championship-leading Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli
George Russell secured pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix sprint race, outpacing his Mercedes teammate, championship leader Kimi Antonelli. Despite Antonelli’s early lead in practice, Russell claimed victory in sprint qualifying with a time of 1m12.965s in SQ3, marking his second sprint pole of the season. Lando Norris finished third, trailing Antonelli by 0.068 seconds and three tenths off the pace. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri took fourth, followed by Lewis Hamilton’s Ferraris and Max Verstappen’s Red Bulls. Williams’ Carlos Sainz advanced to the final qualifying round for the first time in 2026, finishing 10th. Fernando Alonso had a strong start but crashed in SQ1, managing to progress to SQ2 in 14th place. Pierre Gasly was among the drivers eliminated in SQ1, where Sergio Perez claimed the fastest time in 17th position.
