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.
“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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AP Formula 1: https://apnews.com/hub/formula-one
