Mercedes´ George Russell takes pole for F1 sprint race at Canadian Grand Prix.
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.
23 May 2026
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MailOnline

"I never doubted myself. I knew what I can do," George 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." 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." 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.

‘Mercedes´ George Russell takes pole’;

https://www.dailymail.com/wires/ap/a...rand-Prix.html


Canadian Grand Prix - Sprint qualifying results
22/05/2026
Phillip van Osten
F1i.com

Full results from Sprint qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, round 5 of the 2026 Formula 1 World Championship.
2026 Canadian Grand Prix - Sprint qualifying results
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1 George Russell Mercedes 1:14.772s 1:13.026
2 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes :14.010 1:13.551
3 Lando Norris McLaren :14.265 1:13.957
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren :14.665 1:13.858
5 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari :13.889 1:13.465
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari :15.006 1:13.554
7 Max Verstappen Red Bull :14.028 1:14.412
8 Isack Hadjar Red Bull :14.541 1:14.239
9 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls :14.517 1:14.140
10 Carlos Sainz Williams :15.500 1:14.547

‘Sprint qualifying results’;

https://f1i.com/news/564722-canadian...g-results.html


Wolff satisfied with Russell's Canada recovery: 'Never doubted him'
23 May 2026
Kada Sarkozi
GPblog.com

Russell finished marginally ahead of his young teammate Kimi Antonelli to secure the best starting position for Saturday's Sprint at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Wolff never questioned George Russell’s abilities despite his difficulties at the Miami Grand Prix. Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: "It’s only the baby race but still it’s good to see the pace is there, also for his (Russell's) confidence. But I've never doubted, we’ve never doubted in that. Miami was a bad track."

Antonelli finished close behind his teammate, as only 0.063 seconds separated the two competitors. About the young Italian, Wolff added: "It’s always clear that the kiddo is fast and has shown that. I think it’s good for both of them to fight like this. It makes the team faster, and there’s not a lot in it."

Speaking about the changes on the W17, Wolff said: "It was enormous workload that was being brought to the car. I think if Lewis doesn’t make the mistake in the hairpin, he’s probably fighting for pole with us. So, we need to see what it brings in the real qualifying tomorrow and the race. I don’t want to get neither too greedy, (thinking) ‘is that good enough or not?’ But on the other side, also not too negative."

'Never doubted him';

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/wolff...er-doubted-him


Lewis Hamilton reveals source of sensational Canadian GP Sprint Qualifying pace
Hamilton almost snatched sprint Pole away from Mercedes in an underpowered Ferrari package
23 May 2026
Brandon Sutton
Total Motorsport

Lewis Hamilton reveals that abandoning the simulator was the source of his sensational pace in Sprint Qualifying at the 2026 Canadian GP, as the seven-time world champion took the fight to Mercedes. The 41-year-old rolled back the years by topping SQ1 ahead of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli and continued that speed through into SQ3 where he looked as though he could potentially sneak pole away from the Silver Arrows.

“That’s probably the best qualifying session we’ve had for some time,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1 in Montreal. “Just really great work with the engineers, setup changes, the car felt really fantastic from P1, and we made just subtle changes going into quali. SQ1 and SQ2 were looking good, and then I don’t know why the others are able to like turn up a little bit more, I don’t know. But I’m just happy to be there in the fight. I was having so much fun out there.”

“And, also, the fact that I didn’t do the sim, and it was the best I’ve felt all year, so I think that’s the way forward for me. We worked really hard sifting through the data the last couple of weeks, and I found that so much more beneficial in terms of… One, I was able to just focus on training and not be distracted, and the second part is just like really going through with a fine comb on ride stability, through corner balances and mechanical balance and I chose a setup that we’ve never used before and it’s transformed the car for me. So I hope that bodes well for the rest of the weekend.”

‘Abandoning the simulator was the source of his sensational pace’;

https://www.total-motorsport.com/lew...adian-gp-pace/


Explained: The “serious” car problem that led to Racing Bulls’ penalty at F1 Canadian GP
22 May 2026
Lewis Larkam
Crash.Net

Racing Bulls has been handed a part-suspended fine for an unusual infringement in F1 Canadian Grand Prix practice. The Faenza-based outfit was subsequently handed a €30,000 (£25,900) fine, two-thirds of which is suspended for 12 months subject to no further breach of this regulation by the team. “The team’s engineer explained how the CDS system worked,” the stewards reported.

“It was noted that the system on this car performs two roles – the one for which is it primarily intended, namely to release the clutch when the car is stopped and the engine is not working, and the other relates to the anti-stall system. In this case, a ruptured joint caused a hydraulic leak, which caused the car to stop.”

The CDS, when activated by the marshal, then failed to release the clutch and hence the car could not be moved. “This is a serious matter. It resulted in the session being red-flagged. Had the system worked as intended by the regulations, the incident could have been dealt with swiftly via deployment of the Virtual Safety Car.”

‘Unusual infringement’;

https://www.crash.net/f1/news/109587...-bulls-penalty


Max Verstappen calls for Red Bull investigation after Canadian GP Sprint Qualifying struggle
Max Verstappen said his feet were “flying off the pedals” during Canadian GP Sprint Qualifying as Red Bull’s RB22 problems returned in Montreal
23 May 2026
Brandon Sutton
Total Motorsport

A frustrated Max Verstappen calls for an investigation into the RB22 by Red Bull as he struggles with drivability issues during Sprint Qualifying at the 2026 Canadian GP, lamenting he could not even use the pedals properly. And now Verstappen calls for Red Bull investigation after Sprint Qualifying at Canadian GP as he insists the issues went beyond discomfort with the aerodynamics, as he says his feet kept slipping off the pedals – potentially indicating a fundamental set-up flaw with his ride height.

“I mean I’m not surprised,” Verstappen said to Sky Sports F1, of his struggles. “My feeling in the car was not very good. I was struggling a lot with the ride of the car. So all of the bumps. I couldn’t put my foot down. Actually my feet were even flying off the pedals.”

“So yeah it just made it very difficult to be consistent. That is something we need to investigate.” He added: “It’s not great. Of course, we are stuck with that for the Sprint. But there’s some other things to understand, and hopefully that will be a better then for quali.”

‘Feet kept slipping off the pedals’;

https://www.total-motorsport.com/max...n-canadian-gp/