GP Qualifying: Russell secures stunning pole position with identical time to Verstappen in closely-fought qualifying

Red Bull Racing/Red Bull Content Pool

MONTRÉAL, Canada -- In a thrilling qualifying session for the Canadian Grand Prix, George Russell clinched pole position for Mercedes. The British driver edged out Max Verstappen, who set an identical lap time of 1m 12.000s but had to settle for P2.

Check out the results of the Canadian Grand Prix weekend, including the race results, qualifying times, and practice sessions

Russell had initially topped the charts with his first Q3 run and managed to retain the lead even as Verstappen matched his time in the final laps. Lando Norris secured third place for McLaren, narrowly trailing by just 0.021s, with teammate Oscar Piastri completing the second row in fourth. Daniel Ricciardo marked his return to the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve by claiming fifth for Red Bull.

Fernando Alonso took P6 for Aston Martin, while Lewis Hamilton ended up seventh despite showing earlier promise. New Red Bull signing Yuki Tsunoda qualified eighth, followed by Aston Martin's Lance Stroll and Williams' Alex Albon rounding out the top-10.

Ferrari had a disappointing session, with both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz failing to make it past Q2, finishing in P11 and P12, respectively. Williams’ Logan Sargeant secured his best qualifying result of the season in 13th, ahead of Kevin Magnussen of Haas and Pierre Gasly of Alpine.

A major upset came in Q1 when Sergio Perez was eliminated in P16, his second consecutive failure to advance past the first segment. Also out were Kick Sauber's Valtteri Bottas in P17, Alpine's Esteban Ocon in P18—who faces a further grid penalty—followed by Nico Hulkenberg of Haas and Kick Sauber's Zhou Guanyu in P19 and P20, respectively.

The stage is set for an exciting race at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, with a tightly packed grid promising high drama and action.

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