RUSSELL CLAIMS CANADIAN GP SPRINT POLE AHEAD OF ANTONELLI.

George Russell bounced back from a difficult outing in Miami to secure pole position
for Saturday’s sprint race at the Canadian Grand Prix ahead of Mercedes team-mate
Kimi Antonelli.

The Briton clocked 1min 12.965sec to edge Antonelli by just 0.068sec in a dramatic
qualifying session interrupted by a red flag after Fernando Alonso crashed his Aston
Martin.

“It feels great after a tough Miami, but I never doubted myself,” Russell said. “The
upgrades are definitely feeling great.”

Antonelli admitted he struggled to put together a clean lap, saying: “My lap was quite
bad and the session wasn’t clean for me… We will do better tomorrow.”

Lando Norris qualified third ahead of McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, while Ferrari
duo of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc completed the top six.

Max Verstappen finished seventh as Mercedes locked out the front row heading into
Saturday’s sprint.