Toto Wolff Says He Never Doubted George Russell After Sprint Pole at Canadian GP
George Russell answered the noise around him the only way that matters; with a lap time. He edged out championship-leading teammate Kimi Antonelli by 0. 068 seconds to take sprint qualifying pole at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Friday evening, and the Mercedes garage responded accordingly.
Russell had been overshadowed by Antonelli in recent rounds, with the 19-year-old Italian winning three consecutive grands prix and opening a 20-point championship advantage. In Miami, Russell was outpaced by Antonelli by 0. 4 seconds in both qualifying formats and finished fourth in the main race, 43 seconds behind his victorious teammate.
Questions about his contract, his form, and whether team chief Toto Wolff was already looking elsewhere had been running since the season resumed. After sprint qualifying on Friday, Wolff was asked whether he’d ever doubted Russell’s ability to bounce back. His answer: “It’s good to see the pace is there.
Also for his confidence, but we have never doubted… we have never doubted in that. It was Miami, it was a bad track. ” The Upgrade Bolsters a 1-2 on the Grid Mercedes arrived in Montreal with its first major upgrade package of the 2026 season, having held back from bringing new parts in Miami while most rivals upgraded heavily.
The package features no fewer than eight new components, spanning the front wing, front corner, rear corner, and floor. Getting all of that onto the car and immediately locking out the front row of a sprint grid – with one practice hour and a street circuit – is a decent result for the engineers in Brackley. Wolff was clear, though, about what the upgrade’s true potential still looks like.