Russell starts from the front: Pole surprise in Canada after one of the "most exciting laps"

A relief for the battered Mercedes spirit: George Russell takes the lead in qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix. Red Bull driver Max Verstappen will start behind him. World Championship runner-up Lando Norris only manages seventh place in his McLaren.

Mercedes driver George Russell surprisingly starts the Canadian Grand Prix from pole position after a fabulous lap. The 27-year-old from Great Britain set the fastest lap in Montreal with a time of 1:10.899 minutes in the Silver Arrow and can hope for his first Formula 1 victory of the season on Sunday. World champion Max Verstappen finished just behind in second place in the Red Bull, with championship leader Oscar Piastri in third place in the McLaren.

"The last lap was one of the most exciting of my life. I'm very, very happy about it," said Russell, who was 0.160 seconds ahead of Verstappen. The defending champion, however, wasn't dissatisfied with his performance. "Let's see what happens tomorrow. I'm pretty happy with what we've achieved," said Verstappen.

Nico Hülkenberg, the only German driver in the field, fought his way to 13th place. However, due to a penalty for Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda, the 37-year-old from the Rhineland will start from 12th place. Hülkenberg surprised everyone two weeks ago in Barcelona, ​​scoring a significant number of points for his Sauber team by finishing fifth.

Ahead of the tenth of the season's 24 races, Australian Piastri leads the overall standings by ten points over teammate Lando Norris, who only finished seventh in qualifying. Verstappen is 49 points behind the leader in third place. The 27-year-old Dutchman has won three times in Quebec in the past three years.

After his crash at the last race in Spain, Verstappen is under special scrutiny. Because he deliberately drove into Russell's car, the four-time champion was also given three penalty points on his penalty record. If he receives just one more point, it will result in a ban for the next World Championship round in Austria. However, Verstappen has already announced that he will not change his driving style.