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F1 2026 | Canadian Grand Prix Qualifying Recap

George Russell pips Kimi Antonelli at the end to steal pole in Montreal

Mercedes’ George Russell followed up his Sprint qualifying pole position and Sprint win with a stunning final qualifying lap to take pole position away from Kimi Antonelli at the Canadian Grand Prix 2026. Antonelli himself was looking for his fourth consecutive pole of the season and looked like he had it locked in before an incredible late from Russell denied the young Italian a pole. For Russell, it was his third pole in Montreal as the Mercedes driver clearly seems to have a special connection with the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve as Mercedes start 1-2 for the race.

The two McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri impressed as they started on the front row while Lewis Hamilton showed some pace late in the qualifying session. Hamilton’s teammate Charles Leclerc and quadruple World Champion Max Verstappen were the two biggest sufferers of the session and both had a disappointing qualifying session with both being unhappy with the lack of pace in their cars.

If you missed the Canadian Grand Prix 2026 qualifying session, here’s a quick recap.

Q1 – Ocon disappoints for Haas with new upgrades, double exit for Aston Martin and Cadillac

Williams Racing’s Alex Albon was the first car out on the track to get qualifying in Canada underway. It was the McLaren of Oscar Piastri’s 1:15.105 that was the quickest time early on with him being the only front runner along with the rest of the field to set a time. Piastri’s time was quickly beaten by his teammate, as Lando Norris went 1:14.213s on his first run.

Once the Mercedes’ got going, they were right up there with Norris with Antonelli being 0.015s slower than Norris while Russell who was two-tenths behind the defending World Champion. Once the entire grid got their first runs out of the way, it was the two Aston Martins, Valtteri Bottas’ Cadillac, Pierre Gasly’s Alpine, the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and Nico Hülkenberg lying in the bottom six with Leclerc having his first run-time deleted for exceeding track limits.

As the clock ticked down and the cars went in for their final laps, Antonelli had gone quicker to sit at the top with a 1:13.380s, 0.151s quicker than Norris with Russell only P8 with less than two minutes to go. As the session wrapped up, those failing to make it out of Q1 were the Haas of Esteban Ocon, the Audi pair of Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto, the two Aston Martins and both Cadillacs. The two Audis of Gabriel Bortoleto and Hülkenberg got themselves out of the bottom six which meant Alex Albon dropped into the elimination zone and the Williams driver suffered a disappointing early exit.

Drivers eliminated in Q1:

Esteban Ocon

Alex Albon

Fernando Alonso

Sergio Pérez

Lance Stroll

Valtteri Bottas

Q2 – Isack Hadjar goes quickest while Arvid Lindblad impresses

Lando Norris put the quickest time of the second session once all the drivers got the runs done with Norris’ 1:13.235 being 0.035s quicker than his countryman, Lewis Hamilton. Antonelli dislodged Norris from the top with a 1:13.076s while Hamilton’s teammate Charles Leclerc continued to struggle being P9 after his first run.

Late on in the session, Hamilton went fastest with a 1:13.041s but it was Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, who had to retire earlier in the day in the Sprint due to an engine issue, breaking into the 1:12s with a 1:12.975s to go quickest. As the time finished for the session, it was Nico Hülkenberg, Liam Lawson, Gabriel Bortoleto, Pierre Gasly, Carlos Sainz and Ollie Bearman missing out on the top 10 shootout.

Drivers eliminated in Q2:

Nico Hülkenberg

Liam Lawson

Gabriel Bortoleo

Pierre Gasly

Carlos Sainz

Ollie Bearman

Q3 – Russell steals pole from Antonelli at the literal last moment

Lando Norris once again set the quickest time as the defending World Champion’s 1:27.729s was the benchmark for the grid with Hamilton coming closest with him being 0.139s while Kimi Antonelli’s first run was him 0.359s behind Norris’ opening time. With little over three minutes to go, all of the cars had put a lap time on the board except George Russell who aborted his first flying lap. Russell eventually put up a 1:12.993s that put him in third place behind Hamilton.

Antonelli eventually went fastest, dropping a 1:12.646s, and neither McLarens or Ferraris could catch him but it was George Russell with a flying 1:12.578s as the British driver went 0.068s quicker than his teammate, which saw Russell steal pole from Antonelli, leaving his best for the very last lap.

Starting grid for the Canadian Grand Prix 2026 (before penalties applied):

1.George Russell

2. Kimi Antonelli

3. Lando Norris

4. Oscar Piastri

5. Lewis Hamilton

6. Max Verstappen

7. Isack Hadjar

8. Charles Leclerc

9. Arvid Lindblad

10. Franco Colapinto

11. Nico Hülkenberg