Russell wins Montreal pole in dead heat with Verstappen

George Russell succeeded in claiming Mercedes' first pole position since Hungary in 2023, and he did so in a dead heat with Max Verstappen meaning the Red Bull will line-up alongside him on the front row of the grid for tomorrow's Canadian GP. Lando Norris was just two hundredths of a second further back, joining Oscar Piastri in an all-McLaren second row with Daniel Ricciardo a surprise P5 for RB ahead of Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso. Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz missed the second cut after trying to save a new set of soft tyres, while Red Bull's Sergio Perez was eliminated in the first round for the second race in a row. 2024 Canadian Grand Prix - Qualifying results After a gloomy and damp Friday in Montreal, Saturday had got off to an much better start with Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen coming out on top in a dry final practice. It gave the teams and drivers the data they needed from dry running to prepare for the remaining key sessions of the weekend. But just when everything looked set fair, the weather radar was displaying a confusion of showers in the vicinity and an 80 per cent chance of some rain meaning almost anything could happen in qualifying at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. Q1: Verstappen quickest as Perez misses the first cut again There had been some heavy showers since the end of FP3, but the warm weather meant the track had dried out by the time the cars headed out for the initial round of qualifying. Zhou Guanyu was first out in the Sauber having crashed twice already this weekend, while Verstappen was also quick to get going although his first run was six tenths slower than Lando Norris who had been quickest in FP1. The McLaren didn't spend long at the top before being displaced by local hero Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin and then by his team mate Fernando Alonso. George Russell confirmed the improved Mercedes pace by briefly going top and Norris replied with a lap almost half a second quicker as the track evolved rapidly. Stroll came within 0.002s of pipping Norris before double tapping the wall of champions without doing significant damage to the car. Verstappen went top on 1:13.368s and then it was Russell's turn with Hamilton up to third having run wide onto the grass on his previous effort. Although the rain was holding off, traffic was a problem and Oscar Piastri and Sergio Perez were among those languishing in the bottom five and at risk of missing the cut. The cars came in for fresh tyres and headed back out for one last push. Hamilton went top on 1:12.851s from improved efforts from Piastri, Norris and Russell with Carlos Sainz safely up to fifth. Verstappen booked his place in Q2 with a new quickest time, and RB's Yuki Tsunoda celebrated his just-announced contract extensions in P2. But Perez couldn't find the space he needed and missed the first cut for the second event in a row along with Valtteri Bottas, Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg and Zhou Guanyu, while both Williams drivers progressed. Q2: Mercedes takes charge as Ferrari suffers shock double elimination As the lights went green for the start of the second round, the first significant rain arrived meaning there was a mad scramble to set a banker time before the track got too wet. Piastri jumped to the top with a time of 1:12.462s with Leclerc up to second, but both were swept aside by Russell's time of 1:12.323s as Hamilton moved into P3 ahead of Norris Verstappen's first lap had left him outside the top ten and his next run was only good enough for P9 suggesting the changing conditions were getting harder for everyone. No one felt sanguine enough to stay long on pit lane when they came in for a change of tyres, with Williams struggling with a cross threaded wheel nut on Alex Albon's car. Russell had a scare in turn 4 and nearly hit the wall, which prompted the wholesome "oh holy moly!" from the cockpit. Norris took advantage to go a tenth quicker at the top with Tsunoda slipping between them for P2. Russell regrouped and went again to get back to the top ahead of Hamilton. Verstappen had moved up into the safety of the top ten and suddenly it was Ferrari in trouble with both Leclerc and Sainz missing the cut having gambled on used softs. It was their first failure to reach Q3 as a team since Spa 2021. Both RBs of Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo had made it through as had Albon, but his Williams team mate Logan Sargeant joined the two Ferraris on the sidelines together with Haas' Kevin Magnussen and Alpine's Pierre Gasly. Q3: Russell snatches pole in dead heat with Verstappen The rain was still falling as Q3 got underway, but everyone was still on slicks as they headed out on the damp track. Verstappen proved quick out of the box on 1:12.358s putting him ahead of Piastri and Norris, before Alonso and Stroll injected themselves between the papaya pair. Russell and Hamilton bided their time in pit lane before finally making their move and it paid off with the two Mercedes going top, Russell proving to be the quicker of the pair by almost three tenths. McLaren were back out sooner than usual and with Norris and Piastri improving to P2 and P3 but neither was able to topple Russell from provisional pole. In contrast, Mercedes held their cars back until the last possible minute despite the continuing threat of rain. In the meantime Verstappen matched Russell's time of 1:12.000s to put himself on the front row ahead of the two McLarens. Ricciardo improved to fifth ahead of Alonso but Hamilton wasn't able to find the time he needed to improve on P7 ahead of Tsunoda, Stroll and Albon. 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