2026 Canadian Grand Prix - Saturday

Sprint success and Sunday front-row lock-out in Montreal

• George Russell took pole position with team-mate Kimi Antonelli P2 as the team locked out the front-row for Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix.
• That came after success in Saturday’s Sprint where George came home victorious with Kimi P3.
• As he will tomorrow, George lined up P1 and Kimi P2 for the Sprint and both got off the line cleanly to hold position on the opening lap.
• Kimi mounted an attack on George several laps later but, having run through the grass twice, dropped behind the McLaren of Lando Norris.
• Despite a valiant effort, he was unable to regain P2 with Norris holding on to overtake mode behind George.
• Qualifying proved a tricky affair with drivers struggling to get the tyres in the working window and trying various run plans to find the optimal approach.
• The team timed their efforts to perfection with the final efforts in Q3 for both George and Kimi their fastest.
• Kimi initially held provisional pole with a 1:12.646 before George claimed top spot at the flag with a 1:12.578.
• The 0.068s gap between the two drivers is the same time gap that separated our duo in Sprint Qualifying on Friday.
• George thus took his third pole position in a row here in Montreal.

George Russell

We had a good day yesterday and we’ve had another good day today. The team has worked really hard to bring a major update this weekend and it’s helped us stay just ahead of the competition. We’ve been made to work for it with McLaren right on us in the Sprint. The battle between Kimi and I was hard but fair; it gave Norris an opportunity to close up but we were pleased to bring home the win and score another good haul of points for the team.

It wasn’t just McLaren that put us under pressure in Qualifying. Ferrari and Red Bull were also in the fight for pole as we were struggling to get the tyres working and struggling with a temperature imbalance across the axles. I was lacking confidence throughout the session, but the team did a great job to nail our tyre preparation in Q3 and give us the chance to take pole position.

We’re expecting cooler conditions tomorrow, along with some rain, so we don’t fully know what to expect. We will do all the necessary preparation though and hopefully we can end the weekend on a high by fighting for the win.

Kimi Antonelli

The Sprint this morning was an intense race. There was a lot of action and I’m sure everyone watching enjoyed it! George and I raced each other hard, but we know where the limits are. We still scored good points in P3 and that was important for both me and the team.

Qualifying was much trickier than Sprint Qualifying the day before. It was difficult to get the tyres in the working window and there was a little more time on the for sure. My final effort wasn’t perfect, and I lost a little bit of time in sector two. I think that’s definitely where I missed out on pole position. It’s annoying to miss out on P1 by such a small margin but it’s still a good result and gives us the chance to fight for victory tomorrow.

The weather is looking uncertain tomorrow. There will likely be many unknowns, and it may be about keeping the car on the track and being ready for anything that is thrown our way. If we are racing in the wet, it will be the first time for everyone doing it in these cars so it will be an interesting experience.

Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO

Taking victory in the Sprint and pole position for tomorrow’s Grand Prix means we’ve had a solid Saturday here in Montreal. We let our drivers’ race, hard but fair, and that was the case in the Sprint. They both know our expectations as a team and where the line is; their battle is a good opportunity to make sure those ground rules are as clear as possible as we continue forward in the season.

We made some set-up changes in expectation of cooler conditions tomorrow and that made the car more difficult for the drivers in Qualifying. We saw several cars looking like they would be fastest, and it all came down to tyre preparation. We learnt a lot during the session and were able to put it all together come our final laps. Both George and Kimi did a great job and that gives us the best possible starting positions, and opportunity to fight for victory, on Sunday.

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

Our Sprint race literally got off to a good start with both cars holding position off the line. We've been busy trying to improve this aspect of our race weekend over the last few weeks and whilst we still have work to do, it was an encouraging sign that we are making progress. The early pace looked good; the battle between George and Kimi allowed Norris to get in between and from there he managed to stick with George with the benefit of overtake mode. Geoge tried, but couldn’t break the one second gap and that left Kimi consigned to P3.

We made some small changes to the car going into main Qualifying, mostly with an eye on cooler and possibly wet conditions tomorrow. The car was a bit trickier to balance throughout the session than it had been yesterday; the final laps from both drivers were good though and it was great to secure another front row lock-out. Whilst it certainly felt like we'd made life difficult for ourselves and ultimately probably made the car a little slower, there are no pictures on the timing screen, and we will lead the field off once again on Sunday.

It's going to be an interesting race tomorrow, especially if we get wet running. We've not yet run the W17 in proper wet conditions so there will be a lot to learn. We will prepare as best we can and hopefully be able to fight for another great result tomorrow.