Mercedes’ George Russell roared to a second straight Canadian Grand Prix pole position, beating Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen by almost two tenths of a second, as championship leader Oscar Piastri qualified third. 

Russell set the early pace in Q1, posting a lap of 1:12.574 to sit in P1 ahead of team-mate Kimi Antonelli. Piastri then moved ahead of both to take top spot on 1:12.332, a little over a tenth of a second ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Verstappen then headed out on track and the Red Bull driver vaulted to P1 first with a lap of 1:12.273. 

Fernando Alonso then went quickest on a time of 1:12.239 but with a little over five minutes left the red flags came out when the engine cover of Alex Albon’s Williams disintegrated on the run to the final chicane. The Thai driver headed back to the pits but with debris scattered across the back straight the session was halted. 

When the action resumed, it was Lando Norris who went quickest. The McLaren driver took top spot with a 1:11.826, a tenth clear of Piastri. Then came the Ferraris of Hamilton and Leclerc and Verstappen progressed in fifth place. 

Ruled out at the end of the session were Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto in P16, followed by Williams’ Carlos Sainz, who was impeded by Isack Hadjar on his final flyer, Stroll, Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly. 

Verstappen was the first man on track at the start of Q2 and he duly took top spot with a lap of 1:11.638 set on Mediums. Norris, on used Softs, couldn’t match that and he ended his lap 0.038 off the Red Bull. Piastri, on new Softs, slotted into third ahead of Leclerc and Hamilton. 

Leclerc headed out early for his final run and he took top spot with a lap of 1:11.626. Verstappen, back on Soft tyres, couldn’t match that and Russell, on Mediums, took top spot ahead of Norris and Leclerc.

At the edge of the top 10, Yuki Tsunoda put in a lap of 1:12.102 to move into the top 10. However, in the final moments, Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar went 0.099s quicker to push Tsunoda into the drop zone. The Japanese driver will start from the back of the grid after he was handed a 10-place grid penalty for overtaking under red flags in FP3. 

At the start of Q3, Leclerc again went early, and the Ferrari driver set the bar at 1:11.729. Norris was the next on the road, but the McLaren driver made a mistake at the end of his flyer and had to back out of the final chicane. That left the door open for Piastri and the championship leader took provisional pole with a lap of 1:11.273. He couldn’t hang on to it, however, with Verstappen crossing the line 0.025s ahead of the Australian to move back to P1. 

In the final runs, Verstappen fitted the Medium tyre, and it proved the right choice. As Norris continued to struggle, Piastri jumped to P1 with a time of 1:11.120. Verstappen was quicker, however, and he crossed the line 0.061s ahead of the McLaren. 

Russell was also on Medium tyres, however, and the Mercedes driver was finding even more pace. He took a second consecutive Montreal pole, 0.160s ahead of Verstappen. Piastri held third ahead of Antonelli, with Hamilton in fifth ahead of Alonso. Norris was left with P7 ahead of Leclerc and Hadjar and the final top 10 place went to Albon. 

2025 FIA Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix – Qualifying 
1 George Russell Mercedes 1:10.899 - -
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:11.059 0.160 
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:11.120 0.221 
4 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:11.391 0.492 
5 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:11.526 0.627 
6 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:11.586 0.687 
7 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:11.625 0.726 
8 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:11.682 0.783 
9 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:11.867 0.968 
10 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:11.907 1.008 
11 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Renault 1:12.142 1.243 
12 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1:12.183 1.284 
13 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:12.340 1.441 
14 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:12.634 1.735 
15 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1:12.385 1.486 
16 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:12.398 1.499 
17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:12.517 1.618 
18 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:12.525 1.626 
19 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:12.667 1.768 
20 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:12.102 1.203