MONTREAL (AP) — George Russell took the pole Friday for the sprint race Saturday at the Canadian Grand Prix, with Mercedes teammate and Formula 1 points leader Kimi Antonelli second on the starting grid.
Russell, set to defend his Montreal title Sunday, had a fast lap of 1 minute, 12.965 seconds in qualifying for the first sprint race in Montreal. The 28-year-old English driver is coming off a fourth-place finish at the Miami Grand Prix.
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Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli, of Italy, drives during the practice session at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix auto race in Montreal, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain celebrates after taking pole following the sprint qualifying session at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix auto race in Montreal, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain, during the qualifying session for the sprint race at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix auto race in Montreal, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain drives during the qualifying session for the sprint race at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix auto race in Montreal, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press via AP)
Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain, celebrates after taking pole following the sprint qualifying session at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix auto race in Montreal, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
“I never doubted myself. I knew what I can do,” Russell said. “Miami was obviously a bit unique. This is an amazing circuit here, high grip, feels like you’re driving a proper Formula 1 car around here, which is how it should be and I’m glad today it came together.”
F1 introduced sprints in 2021. The shortened races cover roughly 60 miles (100 kilometers), about a third of the distance of a Grand Prix event, for a maximum of eight points. A Grand Prix victory is worth 25.
Russell edged Antonelli by 0.068 as Mercedes — winners of all four races this season — introduced upgrades this weekend after McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull closed the gap with new parts in Miami.
“It’s definitely feeling great,” Russell said. “We obviously saw in Miami, McLaren were really close and Ferrari not too far behind. Pleased to have it on the car, pleased to be back in P1, it’s been a little while. But yeah, obviously still big focus for tomorrow.”
Reigning F1 champion Lando Norris took the third spot for the sprint race alongside McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri in the second row. Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton was set to start fifth.
Antonelli, the 19-year-old Italian star, has won three straight Grand Prix races to top the standings with 100 points, 20 more than second-place Russell.
The day started with a disrupted practice session as Williams’ Alex Albon crashed into a groundhog on the exit of Turn 7, causing significant damage to his car and forcing him out of sprint qualifying.
Located on Île Notre-Dame in the middle of the St. Lawrence River, the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is well known for featuring wildlife, especially groundhogs.
The Canadian GP is the fifth of 22 stops this season after F1 canceled April races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia because of the war in Iran. Following the sprint race Saturday, the drivers will qualify for the Grand Prix race Sunday.
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Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli, of Italy, drives during the practice session at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix auto race in Montreal, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain celebrates after taking pole following the sprint qualifying session at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix auto race in Montreal, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain, during the qualifying session for the sprint race at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix auto race in Montreal, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain drives during the qualifying session for the sprint race at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix auto race in Montreal, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press via AP)
Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain, celebrates after taking pole following the sprint qualifying session at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix auto race in Montreal, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
An upgraded car and a “painful” reminder not to lose sight of the Formula 1 fundamentals could be George Russell's path back to the front of the field at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Russell's fourth place at the last race in Miami gave his Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli a yawning 20-point lead in the standings after four races. The 19-year-old Italian has won three in a row.
Russell said one reason he lost ground was focusing too much on the standout feature of the 2026 cars, their massive electrical power output, and neglecting the basics.
“Dealing with the tires, dealing with the setup, just fundamentals of racing, has kind of been put on the back-burner because we’re all so focused on energy management,” he said.
“We missed some key things because we were focused elsewhere and that was a good little reminder. As painful as it was, it was a very much-needed weekend because I think it’s going to prove very beneficial.”
Antonelli's lead grew in Miami because McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull brought upgrades that helped them fight for the podium places. Now it's Mercedes' turn to bring upgraded parts for the car that's won all four Grand Prix races in 2026 so far.
On Friday in qualifying for the sprint race Saturday, Russell edged Antonelli for the pole.
“This is an amazing circuit here,” Russell said. "High grip, feels like you’re driving a proper Formula 1 car around here, which is how it should be and I’m glad today it came together.”
Canada offers the chance of a big points swing. It's hosting a sprint race Saturday for the first time, putting another maximum eight points on offer.
The threat of rain in Montreal on Sunday would shake things up, too. After storms predicted for Miami never materialized, the 2026 cars have yet to race in wet weather.
It's early to talk of the title at just the fifth round of the season but a fourth win in a row would put the 19-year-old Antonelli into an exclusive club. Every driver who's won four or more consecutive Grands Prix has been an F1 champion at some point in their career.
History does offer a little encouragement to Russell, though. The one time in F1 history that a driver won four consecutive races in a season but not the title came in 2016 when Lewis Hamilton was beaten by his then-Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg.
More recently, Oscar Piastri won three in a row for McLaren last year and still lost to teammate Lando Norris.
It's a busy time to be an F1 engine manufacturer.
The extra engine power agreed for 2027, with electrical power turned down and less need to recharge batteries, got a cautious welcome Thursday from Max Verstappen, the biggest critic of the 2026 cars, who said it was “almost back to normal.”
Meanwhile, the FIA is pushing to return to old-school V8s from 2030, and there's more immediate change coming after this weekend.
Under a new-for-2026 rule, after the Canadian Grand Prix, the FIA will confirm some manufacturers will get extra development time and budget to improve their engines, but only if they're a certain margin behind the best-performing engine, widely agreed to be Mercedes.
The scheme, known as ADUO, is meant to nudge F1 gently toward engine parity over the next few years and avoid what FIA rules guru Nikolas Tombazis last year dubbed “eternal misery” for teams who picked slower engines.
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Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton locks up his breaks during the qualifying session for the sprint race at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix auto race in Montreal, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli, of Italy, drives during the practice session at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix auto race in Montreal, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli, of Italy, arrives at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix auto race in Montreal, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain, celebrates after taking pole following the sprint qualifying session at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix auto race in Montreal, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain drives during the qualifying session for the sprint race at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix auto race in Montreal, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press via AP)
Race fans walk through pit lane during the open house at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix auto race, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Montreal. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)
Ferrari team members work on their cars at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix auto race, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Montreal. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)
Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain speaks speak during the drivers' press conference at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix auto race in Montreal, Thursday, May 21, 2026. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
Mercedes drivers George Russell of Britain, left, and Kimi Antonelli of Italy speak during an interview in the paddocks at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix auto race in Montreal, Thursday, May 21, 2026. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
