Max Verstappen was denied pole for the Canadian Grand Prix by George Russell who made it clear he thinks he has an advantage over the Red Bull racer at the first corner on Sunday

George Russell was thrilled after qualifying on pole in Montreal(Image: Formula 1 via Getty Images)

George Russell secured pole in Montreal for the second successive year with a mighty lap which denied Max Verstappen. And the Brit reacted by cracking a joke at the Dutchman’s expense with Verstappen just one penalty point away from a race ban after their collision in Barcelona two weeks ago.

Aware of that, Russell said he felt confident about going into the first corner wheel to wheel with the four-time Formula 1 champion tonight. “I’ve got a few more points on my licence to play with,” he smirked, drawing some cheers but also audible boos from fans in the stands at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Verstappen had knocked championship leader Oscar Piastri off the top of the leaderboard but then Russell snatched his sixth career pole. The Brit said: “To be honest that last lap was probably one of the most exhilarating laps of my life.

“I got into the last corner and I was six tenths up and I was like, ‘This lap is mighty’. Crossing the line and seeing we were P1 was a real surprise, but I was so chuffed with it.” Russell had whooped with delight over the radio after his pole was confirmed and shouted: “What a f****** lap!”

Speaking on Sky Sports, 2016 World champion with Mercedes Nico Rosberg said: “We just witnessed something very, very special. This is amazing. That car is not supposed to be that far in front. Hats off.”

Verstappen will have the advantage of starting on the cleaner side of the track but said: “I would always pick P1 because you start a little bit more forward, but it’s fine. We’ll see what we can do tomorrow.

“I’m already very happy with what we achieved today, to be on the front row and hopefully tomorrow we can have a solid race. I felt quite good all weekend and the car was in a good window. Overall, I’m very happy with qualifying. I think the car was again working quite well.”

Championship leader Piastri has four poles to his name this year but had to settle for third place on the grid. He was still pleased, though, no doubt made to feel better by the fact team-mate and title rival Lando Norris was way down in seventh having struggled throughout qualifying.

The Aussie said: “To be honest, after how practice went I’m really happy with myself at the moment. It was a nice turnaround. I’m pretty happy with third, which is a bit different this year but I’ll definitely take it here.” But a glum Norris said: “Not ideal! Too many mistakes, and I hit the wall in the last lap. The car felt good today, I just made too many mistakes.”

Lewis Hamilton matched his best Grand Prix qualifying result of 2025 so far by going fifth fastest for Ferrari, behind rookie Kimi Antonelli. But team-mate Charles Leclerc got stuck in dirty air on his final lap having set the quickest first sector time and had to settle for just eighth.