Canadian GP Sprint Qualifying
Sprint quali in Canadian GP quickly turned into a session of shifting momentum; near-misses, and constant pressure as Circuit Gilles Villeneuve once again delivered chaos when it mattered most.
What started as a tightly packed fight across the field slowly evolved into a Mercedes-led battle at the front; with George Russell ultimately rising above the noise to take Sprint pole.
The early stage of SQ1 were already intense; but things escalated when Alonso found himself in the barriers after a heavy lock up at Turn 3, bringing out a red flag and forcing a frantic reset.
Once the session resumed, the scramble intensified, with drivers rushing to complete laps before time ran out.
Sergio Perez; Lance Stroll, Pierre Gasly, and Valtteri Bottas all failed to escape the danger zone, while Liam Lawson and Alex Albon never even set a timed lap after their early issues.
SQ2 brought cleaner running; but the pace at the front tightened dramatically. Lewis Hamilton briefly lit up the timing screens with a strong lap before being edged out by both Mercedes drivers.
Verstappen hovered just inside the top 10 but struggled to find clean improvement, eventually slipping to P6.
In the end; Hulkenberg, Bortoleto, Colapinto, Ocon, Bearman, and Alonso were eliminated.
Then came SQ3 — where everything came alive.
Russell delivered a perfectly timed final push; stopping the clock at 1:12.965, a lap that immediately put pressure on everyone behind.
Andonelli came close but had to settle for second, just 0.068 away, locking out the front row for Mercedes.
Canadian GP 2026: Sprint Qualifying Results
| Pos | Driver | Gap | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Russell | 1:12.965 | |
| 2 | Kimi Antonelli | +0.068 | 1:13.033 |
| 3 | Lando Norris | +0.315 | 1:13.280 |
| 4 | Oscar Piastri | +0.334 | 1:13.299 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | +0.361 | 1:13.326 |
| 6 | Charles Leclerc | +0.445 | 1:13.410 |
| 7 | Max Verstappen | +0.539 | 1:13.504 |
| 8 | Isack Hadjar | +0.640 | 1:13.605 |
| 9 | Arvid Lindblad | +0.772 | 1:13.737 |
| 10 | Carlos Sainz | +1.571 | 1:14.536 |
| 11 | Nico Hülkenberg | 1:14.595 | |
| 12 | Gabriel Bortoleto | 1:14.627 | |
| 13 | Franco Colapinto | 1:14.702 | |
| 14 | Esteban Ocon | 1:14.928 | |
| 15 | Oliver Bearman | 1:15.305 | |
| 16 | Fernando Alonso | No time | |
| 17 | Sergio Pérez | 1:16.002 | |
| 18 | Lance Stroll | 1:16.354 | |
| 19 | Pierre Gasly | 1:16.642 | |
| 20 | Valtteri Bottas | 1:16.866 | |
| 21 | Alex Albon | No time | |
| 22 | Liam Lawson | No time |
Related Post: Canadian GP: FP1 Results
