Nico Rosberg draws a remarkable comparison between George Russell’s stunning pole position lap at the Canadian Grand Prix and the legendary Ayrton Senna, highlighting one crucial factor that makes Russell’s performance stand out as truly exceptional in the world of Formula 1 racing.
Mercedes driver George Russell pulled off something for the very first time in his Formula 1 career at the Canadian Grand Prix.
George Russell has six Formula 1 pole positions to his name but the Canadian Grand Prix is the first circuit where he’s achieved that feat more than once.
Last year, Russell set an identical time to Red Bull star Max Verstappen but this time around he produced an unbelievable performance to open up a 0.160s lead over the Dutchman.
Russell joked about Verstappen’s penalty points during his post-race interview and while he doesn’t expect the four-time world champion to change his driving approach on Sunday, Red Bull’s number one driver will understand how at risk he is to picking up a one-race ban.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri is starting on the second row, with Lando Norris struggling during qualifying and having to settle for P7.
Russell was magnificent and admitted after qualifying that it’s the only lap he can remember during his career that’s given him goosebumps.
Nico Rosberg was speaking to Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff after the session and explained why the British driver suddenly reminded him of the great Ayrton Senna.
Photo by Stefano Facchin/Alessio Morgese /NurPhoto via Getty Images
Nico Rosberg compares George Russell’s ‘tunnel vision’ to Ayrton Senna at the Canadian Grand Prix
Wolff was being interviewed on Sky Sports F1 after the session and said: “We were so I think competitive in the free practice sessions that I think we were almost a bit surprised that at the beginning of qualifying, it wasn’t coming easy.
“And then on the last two runs, also on the soft tyres it just kept coming, and then on the medium, you could see that as a driver, you almost come into this buzz within yourself that the time was going quicker and quicker, and so it was a mega lap.”
Rosberg replied and said: “The Ayrton Senna tunnel vision, maybe? We need to speak to George afterwards.
“You’ve seen so many great pole positions, that looked like it’s one of those that is right up there.”
Wolff continued: “Yeah, [it was] right up there because if you look at the competitive field and Max on the medium as well and the McLarens and the Ferraris were strong, he was able to pull a lap off, I think he was the only one in the 1:10s.
“Very, very strong lap from him.”
Toto Wolff reserves praise for Andrea Kimi Antonelli after Canadian Grand Prix qualifying
Russell extracted the maximum out of his Mercedes during qualifying and all eyes are on whether he can convert his front row start into the fourth victory of his F1 career.
On the other side of the garage, Kimi Antonelli appeared to be struggling on his first visit to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
However, he found another level during Q3 and although he was half a second off his teammate, he did enough to qualify P4.
Antonelli suffered through a tricky triple header leading up to the Canadian Grand Prix, but speaking about his performance in qualifying, Wolff said: “Yeah, it was really good considering he was on the used mediums at the end, so he had a bit of a deficit.
“He will be angry about the gap to George, it’s 490 milliseconds, so that’s clear to racing drivers.
“But, he’s P4, he starts from the second row and I think that’s a really good position for tomorrow.”
