George Russell claimed in Qualifying a stunning pole position for the 2025 F1 Canadian GP, delivering a brilliant final lap of 1:10.899 on medium tyres—his first pole of the season. Max Verstappen had briefly taken P1 with a 1:10.959, only to be outdone by the Mercedes driver moments later. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri looked strong throughout and secured P3 with a 1:11.120. Despite showing early promise, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc aborted his final run after a lock-up behind Isack Hadjar, settling for P8. Teammate Lewis Hamilton qualified P4, followed by Alonso, Antonelli, and Norris. The dramatic session capped a fiercely competitive Qualifying battle, setting up a thrilling grid for race day.
A dramatic weekend in incident-filled Free Practice sessions
The 2025 Canadian GP Free Practice sessions at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve presented a weekend of evolving challenges, intense competition, and strategic complexity, setting the stage for an exciting race weekend.
On Friday, FP1 and FP2 unfolded under clear skies but featured considerable drama. Max Verstappen led early in FP1, while Ferrari and Williams also delivered strong performances. However, Charles Leclerc crashed, prematurely ending his day and forcing him to miss FP2 due to damage to his survival cell. Meanwhile, George Russell dominated FP2 by breaking the 1:13 barrier and consistently topping the timesheets. Additionally, rookies such as Kimi Antonelli and Isack Hadjar impressed amid the tight competition. Furthermore, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll suffered an early exit in FP2, compounding Ferrari’s challenges and leaving both teams reliant on their lead drivers for vital data. As the sessions progressed, teams shifted focus to race simulations, where tyre performance and fluctuating track grip played a crucial role.
FP3 introduced significantly higher temperatures and increased tyre strategy complexities. Moreover, the notorious Wall of Champions claimed several victims, including Oscar Piastri and Oliver Bearman. Despite this, Lando Norris excelled, topping the session multiple times while adapting well to the changing conditions. Charles Leclerc returned to the track and set competitive times despite his earlier setbacks. Meanwhile, Mercedes demonstrated strong pace with Russell and Hamilton battling near the top, while Verstappen struggled with car issues. During the closing stages, intense qualifying simulations unfolded, with Norris narrowly holding off Leclerc and Hamilton, highlighting the fine margins that will shape qualifying and the race.
In summary, the three Free Practice sessions combined fierce pace battles, strategic tyre choices, and challenging track conditions, promising an electrifying Canadian GP weekend.
Q1: Norris fastest as impeding incident ends Sainz’s Qualifying
As the lights went green at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, signalling the start of Qualifying for the 2025 Canadian GP, Carlos Sainz led the field out in his Williams. He was soon followed by Esteban Ocon in the Haas. Most drivers opted for the soft compound tyres during the opening stint of Q1. However, a few—namely Pierre Gasly, Franco Colapinto, and Kimi Antonelli—chose to run mediums, introducing an early strategic divergence. With time limited and the track proving tricky, drivers wasted no time. Gasly set the first representative lap time of 1:13.287, while Max Verstappen remained in the pits.
Early benchmarks and tight margins
After warming up their tyres, the field launched into their banker laps. George Russell surged to the top with a 1:12.574 on softs, narrowly edging ahead of Antonelli by 0.060 seconds. Gabriel Bortoleto followed closely, going third with a time of 1:12.880. The battle quickly intensified. Oscar Piastri, using the middle sector to his advantage, posted a 1:12.332 to claim provisional P1. Lance Stroll momentarily secured P2 with a 1:12.517, narrowly ahead of teammate Fernando Alonso. However, Charles Leclerc, bouncing back from his FP1 crash, clocked a 1:12.493 to split the Aston Martins, just 0.161 seconds off Piastri’s benchmark.
Verstappen and Alonso Respond
Lewis Hamilton, finding rhythm, placed third with a 1:12.348 before Verstappen, finally out on track, responded with a 1:12.273 to take P1. Yet Alonso, impressively on medium tyres, stunned the field by going fastest with a 1:12.239. With times dropping rapidly, the session promised a ferocious final phase.
Red Flag interrupts the session
With just over five minutes remaining, drama unfolded as Alexander Albon’s engine cover detached down the straight, littering debris across the track. Race Control immediately brought out the red flag. Albon limped back to the pits, but with significant damage to his car, his participation in the rest of the session hung in the balance. If the order remained unchanged, he faced starting as low as P18 or worse.
Final push as drivers scramble for Q2
The session resumed at 16:30 local time. The McLaren duo of Norris and Piastri led the pack out. Sitting in P12, Norris faced the real threat of a Q1 exit. McLaren opted to send him out on a fresh set of softs—a bold move that could compromise later sessions. Nevertheless, it paid immediate dividends, as Norris put in a stellar 1:11.826 to go quickest.
With two minutes remaining, several drivers faced elimination: Bortoleto, Sainz, Albon, Bearman, and Hülkenberg. Hülkenberg improved to P12, displacing Ocon to P16. However, the Frenchman fought back, only to fall to P15 after Bearman and Albon both found significant time, moving into P12 and P8 respectively. Despite earlier promise, Carlos Sainz was eliminated, blaming Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar for impeding him. Should the stewards find merit in the complaint, Hadjar could face a post-session penalty.
Out after Q1:
- Gabriel Bortoleto
- Carlos Sainz
- Lance Stroll
- Liam Lawson
- Pierre Gasly
Q2: Russell top as Hadjar scrapes through
Q2 of the 2025 F1 Canadian GP Qualifying session commenced at 16:33, with Max Verstappen leading the remaining 15 drivers onto the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. In a bold strategic move, the Red Bull driver opted for the medium tyres, while the rest of the grid stuck with the softs. Despite the apparent disadvantage, Verstappen immediately set the benchmark with a 1:11.638. Lando Norris followed closely on used softs with a 1:11.676, while his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri slotted into third with a 1:11.715. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton settled into P4 and P5 respectively with times of 1:11.918 and 1:11.935. The top five positions held steady through the opening minutes.
Mid-session shuffles: Russell and Leclerc improve
With just over seven minutes remaining, Mercedes’ George Russell moved into P6, edging ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in P7 and teammate Kimi Antonelli in P8. On his next lap, Hamilton improved to P4, clocking a 1:11.886 to edge ahead of Leclerc. Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda and Haas’ Oliver Bearman rounded out the top ten in ninth and tenth respectively.
Leclerc then returned to the top of the timesheets with a 1:11.626 on used softs, taking P1 as most drivers returned to the pits for fresh tyres. Meanwhile, Alexander Albon surprised many by setting a 1:11.963 on mediums, moving into P7—just 0.003 seconds behind Russell, who remained in P6 despite his Friday dominance.
Final push: Russell and Norris lead, Tsunoda drops out
As the final two minutes approached, pressure mounted. At risk of elimination were Tsunoda (P11), Bearman (P12), Hadjar (P13), Ocon (P14), and Hülkenberg (P15). Tsunoda responded by briefly reclaiming P10, before Russell delivered a flying lap to take P1 with a 1:11.570 on mediums. Norris improved to P2 with a 1:11.599, confirming McLaren’s competitive pace.
Alonso went sixth with a 1:11.805. In the closing moments, Tsunoda, on a slow lap, narrowly avoided a collision with Leclerc, who was also cruising. Although unlikely to result in a penalty for Leclerc, the moment raised safety concerns. Tsunoda’s hopes of Q3 ended as Hadjar improved to P10, knocking the Red Bull driver out.
Out after Q2:
- Yuki Tsunoda
- Franco Colapinto
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Oliver Bearman
- Esteban Ocon
Tsunoda to start at the back after FP3 penalty
Adding to his woes, Tsunoda will start the race from the back of the grid, serving a 10-place penalty for a red flag infringement in FP3. The penalty was issued after the stewards found that he overtook Oscar Piastri under red flag conditions. Although Tsunoda claimed he passed the damaged McLaren to avoid potential debris, data showed he accelerated to 171kph while Piastri was still moving at 86kph. The stewards ruled that there was no valid reason for the overtake, citing a breach of Appendix H, Article 2.5.4.1 b) of the International Sporting Code. In addition to the grid drop, Tsunoda received two penalty points.
Q3: Russell takes pole with a mighty last lap
The final 12 minutes of Qualifying for the 2025 F1 Canadian GP began at 16:56 local time, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc leading the ten remaining drivers out onto the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. His teammate, Lewis Hamilton, followed closely, both opting for the soft compound tyres—mirrored by the rest of the field. The drivers spent the opening minutes on warm-up laps before Leclerc set the initial benchmark with a 1:11.729. Although Fernando Alonso clocked the fastest first sector, he could not convert that pace into a provisional pole.
Despite strong efforts from Hamilton and McLaren’s Lando Norris, neither managed to topple Leclerc’s early time. That honour went to McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who delivered a brilliant 1:11.273 to go top—only for Max Verstappen to immediately better it with a 1:11.248. Alonso settled into P4 with a 1:11.798. Meanwhile, Norris went off on his next attempt, prompting a reminder from his team to pay attention to his braking reference. Verstappen, while fastest at the halfway point, voiced concerns over his brakes via team radio.
Mercedes surge forward as Ferrari struggles
With just over six minutes remaining, the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli completed their banker laps. Russell went P3 with a 1:11.516, while Antonelli slotted into P4 with a 1:11.589. Norris improved to P5 with a 1:11.625, placing him ahead of Leclerc, who fell to P6 after managing only a 1:11.682.
With just under five minutes on the clock, most drivers returned to the pit lane for their final tyre changes. Alonso was the first to emerge, this time on new medium tyres. Hamilton soon followed on fresh softs, improving to P4 with a 1:11.526. Alonso responded with a 1:11.586, which secured him P5 for the time being. However, with eight drivers preparing for their final push, the grid positions remained far from settled.
Russell snatches pole on dramatic last lap
As the clock ticked down to the final 90 seconds, Leclerc made another attempt at a flying lap. However, he locked up while caught in the dirty air behind Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar and abandoned his run. With just 25 seconds remaining, Piastri vaulted to provisional pole with an exceptional 1:11.120. Yet that celebration was short-lived.
Max Verstappen responded immediately with a 1:10.959, taking back P1. However, it was Mercedes’ George Russell who stunned the paddock by storming to his first pole position of the season. On the medium tyres, Russell delivered a flawless 1:10.899, seizing P1 in dramatic style.
Leclerc, having aborted his final run, returned to the pit lane without improving, ultimately settling for P8.
Provisional Qualifying results at the 2025 F1 Canadian GP
- Gerge Russell
- Max Verstappen
- Oscar Piastri
- Kimi Antonelli
- Lewis Hamilton
- Fernando Alonso
- Lando Norris
- Charles Leclerc
- Isack Hadjar
- Alexander Albon
- Yuki Tsunoda
- Franco Colapinto
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Oliver Bearman
- Esteban Ocon
- Gabriel Bortoleto
- Carlos Sainz
- Lance Stroll
- Liam Lawson
- Pierre Gasly
