Sensational Russell pole at the Canadian Grand Prix qualifying!

It started as a paper formality, but then it got badly disrupted along the way due to a laughing third party - that's exactly why we love this sport so much.

After the first attempts in Q1, Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri, and the two Scuderia Ferrari cars led the field. The relatively uneventful phase was brightened by Alexander Albon's flying engine cover, which resulted in a red flag interruption. After the restart, the two McLarens found their footing and quickly finished ahead of Lewis Hamilton at the top of Q1, while Carlos Sainz, Lance Stroll, Liam Lawson, and Pierre Gasly had to take an early shower, as their qualification ended.

After the opening laps of Q2, the dominance of Verstappen versus the McLarens quickly became clear. We suspected that the Norris - Piastri duo had plenty of reserves, but the situation looked the same for Verstappen. Then came George Russell, who had performed excellently so far this weekend, and overtook Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc to win this segment. Yuki Tsunoda and Franco Colapinto missed out on Q3 this time - albeit by just a hair. Nico Hulkenberg, Oliver Bearman, and Esteban Ocon also faced the same fate.

Ahead of the first shots in Q3, the scoreboard showed Verstappen, Piastri, Russell in that order, which would have caused quite a surprise if it had remained that way. Well, it didn't stay that way, as the surprise man George Russell had an even bigger surprise in store. The Brit found more pace than Max Verstappen and, overtaking him and Oscar Piastri, secured the pole position, allowing him to start from the front row in the Canadian Grand Prix tomorrow. This promises to be quite interesting and exciting!

Photo: Motorsportweek / Reuters