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George Russell is the pole
sitter for the Canadian Grand Prix for the second consecutive year and just
as in 2024, alongside him on the front row is Max Verstappen. Last year,
these two set identical times of 1’12”000 with the Mercedes driver claiming
the top spot by virtue of being first across the line, but today 160
thousandths separated the Englishman (1’10”899) from the Dutchman
(1’11”059). This was Russell’s sixth career pole, his first this year, while
for Mercedes it is pole number 142, the sixth in the Canadian Grand Prix.
The second row features championship leader Oscar Piastri for McLaren,
third in 1’11”120 ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli, fourth in the second
Mercedes in 1’11”391.
The Pirelli Pole Position Award was presented
to Russell by Summer McIntosh. The Canadian swimmer has won three gold
medals (200 butterfly, 200 and 400 individual medleys) and a silver in the
400 freestyle at the Paris Olympics in 2024. A few days ago, between 8 and
12 June, Summer set three world records during the Canadian trials held in
Victoria, in the 400 freestyle and the 200 and 400 individual medleys.
THE DAY ON TRACK
In the third free practice
session, once again the Soft did almost all the work, with the majority of
drivers (Verstappen, Antonelli, Russell, Stroll, Alonso, Colapinto, Gasly,
Lawson, Hadjar, Albon, Sainz, Hulkenberg and Bortoleto) only using the C6,
while the Mercedes, Aston Martin and Racing Bulls pairings scrubbed-in one
or more sets of Hards.
In qualifying, the Medium compound was used
more extensively than usual, with eight drivers (Verstappen, Antonelli,
Russell, Stroll, Alonso, Colapinto, Gasly and Albon) running one or more
sets of C5 at the expense of the more usual use of the softest compound
available. |
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MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF F1 AND CAR RACING
“An extremely exciting qualifying session, which is very much the norm at
the moment in Formula 1: with 27 seconds remaining in Q3, there were four
changes of pole-sitter! It is very rare to see a driver set the pole time on
the Medium in a dry session – the last time dates back to the 2020
Portuguese Grand Prix courtesy of Lewis Hamilton - but today we had four
drivers set their best times in Q3 on the C5, and indeed, this scenario
became every more likely as the weekend progressed. It explains why, this
morning, many drivers worked exclusively with the Soft, either to understand
how to extract the most from it or indeed to save new Mediums for the grid
deciding session.
Since it first appeared in Imola, we have seen that
the difference in performance between the C6 and the C5 is quite small,
let’s say of the order of a tenth to a tenth and a half, and that the C6
delivers peak performance in a narrower operating window. Here in Montreal,
several drivers preferred to rely on the C5 that they know well, rather than
venture into chasing that extra bit of performance the C6 might offer,
feeling more comfortable with a compound that gave them more confidence when
it comes to tackling a tricky track like this one with its kerbs and walls.
The result was a Q3 order with four yellow circles in the tyre column
alongside each driver’s best lap.
The expansion of the 2025 compound
range is also having the indirect effect of delivering a greater variety of
approaches from the teams and drivers in terms of tyre usage over the
weekend and that will be reflected in tomorrow’s race. As for strategy, we
think a two-stop is still the most plausible option, favouring the use of
the Medium and Hard. The one-stop is theoretically possible, but unlikely to
pay off, especially as overtaking is possible here. The C6 could be a useful
choice for the start, for example for those with two new sets of Hards
available, who are planning a relatively short first stint or for anyone
banking on an early appearance from the Safety Car."
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