Russell edges Antonelli to claim Canada pole 'out of nowhere'

George Russell backed up his win in the sprint with pole position for Sunday's race George Russell beat Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli to pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix with the very last lap of the qualifying session. Russell, who won the sprint race earlier on Saturday, was on the back foot after aborting his first lap. But a final run on which he did two flying laps enabled him to pip Antonelli by 0.

068 seconds and Russell whooped with delight on the radio after realising he had secured pole. "It is the most exhilarating feeling in the world when it comes at the last minute out of nowhere," he said over the radio. Antonelli had looked set to beat his team-mate when he eclipsed the time set by McLaren's Lando Norris on the Briton's first run, with Russell's first lap on his final run good enough only for third.

But Russell had planned for two laps and he did the business on his second one. He said: "There are times when you expect to be on pole and every lap is the quickest, but the times when it comes together at the end are the sweetest. "The car was out of sync, out of balance [for much of the session].

I knew I needed a big lap and on my preparation lap I saw Kimi on the TV screen going purple [fastest] and I was like, right, I need to bring something big here. " Antonelli said: "It was very difficult to get the tyres in the right window. It was a pity to miss out by such a small amount but George did a great lap.