Mercedes' Russell grabs pole for Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix ahead of Verstappen

George Russell edged Max Verstappen to take the pole position in a thrilling qualifying session filled with surprises Saturday at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

Now Russell faces the challenge of keeping Red Bull's Formula One leader behind him in Sunday's race.

He says he's up for it.

"Why not? Of course. Let's go for it," Russell said from the track. "The car has been feeling amazing. Since we bought some upgrades to Monaco, we've sort of really been in that fight now.

Russell and Verstappen drove around Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in an identical lap of one minute 12.000 seconds, but the Mercedes driver secured his spot at the front of the grid for setting the time first. It's only the second time qualifying has ended in a tie since F1 started timing to three decimal places.

The 26-year-old Russell claimed his second career pole — his first since the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2022. His best finish this season is fifth place, but the Mercedes is showing pace this weekend.

"Such a buzz. It's been a while since we've experienced this feeling," Russell said. "So much hard work going on behind the scenes ... we've almost felt like all of that hard work hasn't been paying off. But I think these last two race weekends has really shown that."

The pole winner has crossed the finish line first in each of the last seven Canadian GPs. Only Sebastian Vettel didn't win the race in 2019 due to a five-second penalty.

Verstappen earned pole last year and led every lap of the race amid a historically dominant season. This year, he's facing more challengers.

"When you look at the whole grid, there are quite a few surprises," Verstappen said. "Just shows that everyone is closing up, and it's really details that make the difference.

"It's good for Formula One."

Shocking exits in Q2 and Q3

McLaren's Lando Norris finished third (1:12.021). Otherwise, there were some shocking results.

Both Ferraris failed to reach the third qualifying session (Q3) for the first time since 2021.

Charles Leclerc, who won the Monaco GP two weeks ago, will start the race in 11th while teammate Carlos Sainz begins in 12th.

"We are just not fast enough," Leclerc said. "I don't have any explanations for now.

"Very surprising, I did not expect that, it's obviously disappointing but we've got a race tomorrow and I believe in the race the issues we had in qualifying will be a little different."

Coming into the weekend, Norris put the pressure on Ferrari by identifying the Italian outfit as the favourites. The McLaren driver changed his tune after qualifying.

"George has been the favourite all weekend," Norris said, while Russell laughed next to him at the news conference. "Mercedes have been very quick, and George has done a great job coming into qualifying.

"But Sunday is always a day we've performed very well. If we can do the same again tomorrow, then I'm excited to see what race we can put on."

Earlier, Red Bull's Sergio Perez was knocked out in Q1 for the second race in a row and will start in 16th on Sunday. Perez signed an extension through 2026 on Tuesday.

Canada's stroll 'didn't feel good in the car'

Seven-time Canadian GP winner Lewis Hamilton placed seventh, qualifying outside the top five for the first time in Montreal. Montreal's Lance Stroll was ninth for Aston Martin.

"The Q3 was very difficult, I didn't feel good in the car," Stroll said. "In the end we couldn't improve enough."

After a wild, stormy Friday in Montreal, the mix of sun and clouds made for more favourable conditions Saturday. The rain rolled in briefly before qualifying but subsided.

It remained a risk throughout qualifying but didn't significantly impact the session, although the drivers said the conditions were tricky — especially with the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve's 4.361-kilometre track resurfaced this year.

"It was really challenging, to be honest," Russell said. "All weekend, every single session and every lap has been changing, the sun comes out, the track temperature warms up, then the clouds come in, it's spitting, and it's just really, really difficult to find that sweet spot."

Russell found a way on Saturday, and the weather could be a factor again Sunday.

The Canadian GP is the ninth stop of the 24-race championship. Red Bull is 24 points clear of Ferrari for the Constructors' Championship, while Verstappen leads the drivers' standings by 31 points over second-place Leclerc. Russell ranks seventh.

Ricciardo vs. Villeneuve

Daniel Ricciardo let Jacques Villeneuve hear it in more ways than one after the Canadian racing legend suggested he should no longer be in Formula One.

Villeneuve, the 1997 F1 world champion and son of Gilles Villeneuve, ranted in a Sky Sports television broadcast Friday that Ricciardo was no longer cut out for the circuit.

The 34-year-old Ricciardo of the RB F1 team responded at the Canadian Grand Prix on Saturday by placing fifth in qualifying, his best result of the season.

Then he clapped back at Villeneuve directly after the session.

"I still don't know what he said, but I heard he's been talking [crap], but he always does," Ricciardo said. "I think he's hit his head a few too many times, I don't know if he plays ice hockey or something."

Ricciardo has eight Grand Prix wins and 32 podiums in his F1 career but hasn't reached the same level of success in recent years.

The Australian's last win was at the Italian Grand Prix in 2021. This season, he has five points for placing fourth in a sprint race in Miami.

'Why is he still in F1?'

Villeneuve lit a flame on social media with his brutally harsh comments about Ricciardo's struggles.

"Why is he still in F1?" he said. "We're hearing the same thing now for the last four, five years — we have to make it better for him, poor him. It's been five years of that. Sorry, no, you're in F1.

"Maybe you make that effort for Lewis Hamilton, who's won multiple championships. You don't make that effort for a driver that can't cut it. Can't cut it? Go home, there's someone else who can take your place."

Villeneuve also discredited Ricciardo's previous success at Red Bull, where he drove next to four-time champion Sebastian Vettel and three-time defending titleholder Max Verstappen.

"You all talk about that first season or first two seasons, he was beating a Vettel that was burned out," Villeneuve said. "Then he was beating for half a season Verstappen when he was 18 years old, just starting. Then that was it. He stopped beating anyone after that."

To cap it off, Villeneuve suggested Ricciardo's reputation as one of the sport's best personalities was keeping him on the grid.

Ricciardo proved he still has chops as a driver with Saturday's performance in Montreal, where he earned his first race win exactly 10 years ago Saturday.

"I've obviously been highly motivated to do more than I have been this year," he said. "I know how good those results feel, and that's why I do it, to feel those highs.

"Coming into the week everything felt right. I was really happy to come back to this circuit and drive here because I love it. Today's 10 years to the day of my first win, and that day changed my life. So there's just a lot of nice emotions coming into it."