Canadian Grand Prix Saturday: Teams & Drivers report from Montreal

George Russell claimed pole position with a late lap in Montreal, denying Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli and setting up another tense intra-team battle.

The Silver Arrows were the toast of the town, as they topped the Formula 1 pecking order, chased by McLaren and Ferrari, probably the closest, and Red Bull was tagging along at this stage of the season. The other teams do not have a chance.

With some teams bringing upgrades and others not doing so, it was a mixed bag of performance unleashed at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Among a few pleasant surprises were disappointments on Saturday. 

This is what Formula 1 teams and drivers had to say at the end of the day of sprint racing and qualifying in Montreal.

George Russell: We had a good day yesterday and we've had another good day today. The team has worked really hard to bring a major update this weekend and it's helped us stay just ahead of the competition. We've been made to work for it with McLaren right on us in the Sprint. The battle between Kimi and I was hard but fair; it gave Norris an opportunity to close up but we were pleased to bring home the win and score another good haul of points for the team. It wasn't just McLaren that put us under pressure in Qualifying. Ferrari and Red Bull were also in the fight for pole as we were struggling to get the tyres working and struggling with a temperature imbalance across the axles. I was lacking confidence throughout the session, but the team did a great job to nail our tyre preparation in Q3 and give us the chance to take pole position. We're expecting cooler conditions tomorrow, along with some rain, so we don't fully know what to expect. We will do all the necessary preparation though and hopefully we can end the weekend on a high by fighting for the win.

Kimi Antonelli: The Sprint this morning was an intense race. There was a lot of action and I'm sure everyone watching enjoyed it! George and I raced each other hard, but we know where the limits are. We still scored good points in P3 and that was important for both me and the team. Qualifying was much trickier than Sprint Qualifying the day before. It was difficult to get the tyres in the working window and there was a little more time on the for sure. My final effort wasn't perfect, and I lost a little bit of time in sector two. I think that's definitely where I missed out on pole position. It's annoying to miss out on P1 by such a small margin but it's still a good result and gives us the chance to fight for victory tomorrow. The weather is looking uncertain tomorrow. There will likely be many unknowns, and it may be about keeping the car on the track and being ready for anything that is thrown our way. If we are racing in the wet, it will be the first time for everyone doing it in these cars so it will be an interesting experience.

Toto Wolff: Taking victory in the Sprint and pole position for tomorrow's Grand Prix means we've had a solid Saturday here in Montreal. We let our drivers' race, hard but fair, and that was the case in the Sprint. They both know our expectations as a team and where the line is; their battle is a good opportunity to make sure those ground rules are as clear as possible as we continue forward in the season. We made some set-up changes in expectation of cooler conditions tomorrow and that made the car more difficult for the drivers in Qualifying. We saw several cars looking like they would be fastest, and it all came down to tyre preparation. We learnt a lot during the session and were able to put it all together come our final laps. Both George and Kimi did a great job and that gives us the best possible starting positions, and opportunity to fight for victory, on Sunday.

Andrew Shovlin: Our Sprint race literally got off to a good start with both cars holding position off the line. We've been busy trying to improve this aspect of our race weekend over the last few weeks and whilst we still have work to do, it was an encouraging sign that we are making progress. The early pace looked good; the battle between George and Kimi allowed Norris to get in between and from there he managed to stick with George with the benefit of overtake mode. Geoge tried, but couldn't break the one second gap and that left Kimi consigned to P3. We made some small changes to the car going into main Qualifying, mostly with an eye on cooler and possibly wet conditions tomorrow. The car was a bit trickier to balance throughout the session than it had been yesterday; the final laps from both drivers were good though and it was great to secure another front row lock-out. Whilst it certainly felt like we'd made life difficult for ourselves and ultimately probably made the car a little slower, there are no pictures on the timing screen, and we will lead the field off once again on Sunday. It's going to be an interesting race tomorrow, especially if we get wet running. We've not yet run the W17 in proper wet conditions so there will be a lot to learn. We will prepare as best we can and hopefully be able to fight for another great result tomorrow.

Lando Norris: We can feel pretty good about today's results. Firstly, to finish P2 in the Sprint is a great achievement and a credit to the whole team for executing a good strategy and maximising our opportunities. We put ourselves in the right place to capitalise when the guys ahead were battling, and we came away with some very valuable points. We did a very good job with the package we have, but we have to be realistic about where we are. Without the two Mercedes fighting ahead of us, this result wouldn’t have been possible, so we’ll keep working and try to put ourselves in a position to battle with them on pure pace. In Qualifying, we we’re talking tiny margins today, half a tenth here or there was the difference between positions. We needed to be perfect today to beat the Mercedes, and it was very tricky to do that. I lost a bit of time on my final run when a car went off ahead, I picked up dirt on the tyres and then subsequently missed the slipstream down the back straight. But anyway, we’re close to the cars in front, closer than we expected without our full upgrade package, so as a team we can be very satisfied with today. Tomorrow will be interesting, on a cold, low‑speed street track it’s incredibly hard to build tyre temperature, and if it’s wet it will be chaotic, but that also means opportunities. On pure pace Mercedes still have the edge, especially over a race stint, but if conditions mix things up, we’ll be ready to fight and take any chances that come our way. We’ve made smart setup tweaks, the car’s consistent, and if we execute well there’s a lot to play for.”

Oscar Piastri: Overall, a decent day. In the Sprint, it was a positive result for the team. With the change in wind from yesterday, the car didn’t quite feel like it did in Sprint Quali. However, we were able to get Lewis at the end and gain back the spot we lost at the start. I'm happy with Qualifying. The car was a step forward from the Sprint this morning, so that was positive. The session was a little trickier, we were struggling in Sector 1 and it was more difficult to get the tyres into the right window with the track and air temperature being quite low, and the harder nature of them. "We are closer to Mercedes and were able to put some pressure on them, but unfortunately, it was just not quite enough. The rain tomorrow can mix things up, so it will be an opportunity for us all - let's see what we can do."

Andrea Stella, Team Principal: Overall, it has been a positive day for the team. We are very encouraged by the trend we’ve seen this weekend, where we are closing the gap to Mercedes and unlocking more performance from the MCL40. Securing a strong result in the Sprint and closing the gap to under two-tenths in Qualifying confirms we are moving in the right direction. In the Sprint, a new set of Mediums enabled us to fight for longer with Mercedes, culminating into the P2 and P4 finish, after Oscar battled well with Hamilton’s Ferrari. In Qualifying, both Lando and Oscar performed well, but we must investigate why we lose time in the straights compared to our closest competitor. Overall, the car is performing better in the corners, which has given both Lando and Oscar the confidence to really push. I must commend the entire team for their relentless efforts with the upgrades and the trackside group for optimising the package we have. Looking ahead to the race on Sunday, we are realistic. In dry conditions, Mercedes likely has the edge, but we have put ourselves in a strong position. Canada is always an eventful race, and with the potential for mixed weather, anything is possible. We haven’t had much wet running this season, which adds an unknown element, but if it rains opportunities will arise, and we will be there to give it our absolute best and challenge for the win.”

Lewis Hamilton: It was a good session overall and I felt comfortable in the car, especially through Q2 and on the first run in Q3. We made a small change ahead of qualifying that worked well and the team did a strong job improving the car throughout the session. The final lap didn’t come together quite as I wanted, but we are making progress and I feel hopeful that we can keep moving in the right direction. The race could be very unpredictable tomorrow so I’ll be ready to take advantage of any opportunities.

Charles Leclerc: In the Sprint, I think we paid the price for our starting position. The pace felt good but I got stuck behind Oscar (Piastri) who was very fast on the straights. Qualifying did not go well for me. I just struggled to put the tyres in the right window and was sliding around in Q1 and Q2. In Q3, I managed to gain some confidence and felt a bit better in the car, but that final position isn’t what we are aiming for. I think the race will be tricky for everyone, especially if it is wet, so we will have to see how things unfold tomorrow.

Fred Vasseur, Team Principal: It was a tight session especially in the end, as Lewis was running P2 after the first runs in Q3. Unfortunately he didn't manage to put everything together on his final attempt. It’s a pity because the pace was there and we could have aimed for a stronger result. Now the focus shifts to tomorrow, when we could face a very different challenge. So far we have never raced these cars on these new tyres in wet conditions, which means teams and drivers will need to learn very quickly, even on the laps to the grid. That could make for a very open race.

Max Verstappen: It was a bit of a lonely Sprint race for me. We knew that, with the setup we had, we were going to be limited in getting close to the cars ahead. For Qualifying, we made some changes, but unfortunately I was still struggling. We improved in some areas, the ride was better, but not so much in others. We need to understand more on the deployment side, as it makes it tricky to build references, especially into the braking zones, so there are a few things to analyse overnight. Tomorrow is probably going to be wet, so we'll see what happens.

Isack Hadjar: The guys did a very good job to turn the car around from what was a frustrating Sprint race. To go from nowhere in the Sprint to P1 in Q2 is brilliant. I had a very good start to qualifying, felt very comfortable in the car, and made a big step forward in terms of pace. When it mattered I couldn’t put the lap together and was overdriving the car, so I am very frustrated with myself. It is definitely positive to have made these steps, but I should have been fighting for a podium.

Laurent Mekies, CEO and Team Principal: Qualifying did not go particularly smoothly for us. We were very competitive in some parts of the session, but then we struggled a bit in others. We have seen this throughout the weekend and we do not believe it is down to one single factor. However, we have learned a lot and this will allows to continue our progression. Then if you look at the overall result, we are three tenths off pole and it’s fair to say it’s probably an accurate reflection of where we are right now, and we know how much work we still have in front of us to close the gap further. Rain is forecast for tomorrow and I think we can expect a chaotic race, considering that we have not yet run these cars in the wet. It could be a steep learning curve for everyone and extremely tricky for the 22 drivers out there, but also very entertaining for the fans.

Pierre Gasly: Again, it's not the end result we expected as we exited Q2 in P14. Like in Miami, I am not comfortable in the car right now and we must keep working together as a team to understand why that is. We decided to make some changes to the car ahead of the Sprint Race to experiment some ideas and try to see why we are lacking pace. Our expectations as a team are much higher and we know the package has some pace as Franco delivered another good result to be in Q3. Tomorrow we will have an eye on the sky with the forecast expected to be wet. I had some experience last week in Magny-Cours with the wet tyre test so I know it will be a huge challenge for all of us at the wheel. If it does rain, it could turn into an interesting afternoon and we will see where that leaves us at the end of the race.

Franco Colapinto: It has been a good day and a solid Saturday in general with positives to take from the Sprint and in Qualifying. I'm happy and proud of the work we've put in together as a team and I feel it's paying off with more consistent results like this one. We were close to getting a point in P9 in the Sprint, having started from P13 and the pace felt much better than the previous day and we were able to compete with cars around us. I was chasing down Arvid [Lindblad] for the final point, but we missed out which was slightly frustrating when you're so close. Then in Qualifying we were near Arvid again, and they looked very strong today, so P10 was probably the best we could have hoped for. It puts us in a good position for tomorrow and with the performance we showed in the Sprint I'm confident we can achieve a good result if the weather is consistent. We know rain is also forecast, which is an unknown for everyone, and we'll do our best and react to what happens in the race tomorrow.

Steve Nielsen: It's certainly been a better day for us today compared to Friday as we were able to make some improvements on both cars ahead of Qualifying. Franco has done another great job to be in Q3 and he's now in a competitive grid position for tomorrow. His pace in the Sprint Race was strong and, had we had a smoother day yesterday with a better Sprint Qualifying result, we are confident he could have been well in the mix for points in the Sprint. For Pierre, we tried some experiments on set-up and changed some aerodynamic components to try and put him in a happier place in the car. While it's marginally better, he's clearly still not at ease with the package as it stands and we must continue digging to understand why as it's certainly uncharacteristic to see him so far off where we expect him to be. Unfortunately, he suffered some floor damage in Q1 as a result of hitting a trackside groundhog, which impacted his car's handling in Q2. Tomorrow the talk will be about the weather as we expect heavy rain here in Montréal. We are expecting conditions to be challenging so it will be about maximising our preparation and doing our best to navigate whatever comes. We are well in the mix and we will aim for points with both cars.

Ollie Bearman: We decided last night to break Parc Ferme and try a few things on the setup. Taking a deeper dive into the data, we saw some characteristics and behaviors from the car that were unexpected, so with that, we tried to find the root cause and take a step back on setup, and it was still a very difficult race. We need to find a way to find some performance in this car, as so far it’s been a challenge. I think we found ourselves with a car with a better corner balance in qualifying, and now we’re finding out that with a bit of confidence, we’re finally pushing the entries and locking the fronts each time. We’ve been so poor throughout this weekend that we’ve not uncovered these issues until now, when everyone else found that out in FP1. It’s going to make it tough, but it’s wet tomorrow, so hopefully there will be some opportunities.

Esteban Ocon: It was still difficult in the Sprint, but at least we got some laps under our belt. For myself and for Ollie, I hope we’ll be able to have a little bit more of a picture than what we had after yesterday. We’ve done the laps, we’ve got the data now, and the important thing is to see where we can improve as we’re struggling a bit with pace, balance, braking – there are a few areas where we need to improve. We completely changed the car just before qualifying, so it was not easy to get a proper feel, really, and we only have three or four laps to get used to everything. I was in the position of trying to find out where the grip is better, where it is worse, with the updated car, and it was very difficult to put everything together. It was the ultimate chance, that last lap in qualifying really. We keep pushing and see what we can get tomorrow.

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal: In terms of the overall result, it’s been a disappointing day, but I think we’ve started uncovering specific issues and understandings, so although the result is not great whatsoever, there are lots of positives to take. We have to start the weekend better, as in FP1, we really were far off in terms of car setup. At a circuit like this, where the driver needs to gain confidence, we didn’t give them that opportunity. The car we managed to get for Esteban and Ollie in qualifying, that’s where we should’ve started the weekend. In terms of the aero package, the good thing is we confirmed that the aero load is delivering, but we started uncovering what is causing certain issues in certain corners, so we can now isolate it. If we really understand that and get to the bottom of it, we can direct the development well. It’s very disappointing to qualify where we have, but now we have some specific pointers. At this difficult time, we’ve had it before like in Melbourne last year, and we managed to develop the car very well. It’s one of those hiccups that’s in front of us, but there are already some good indications, so we’ve just got to stick together, work together, and improve and solve it.

Allan McNish, Racing Director: Qualifying unfolded largely as expected, with both drivers completing goodsessions and the overall result reflecting our current level of competitiveness. While it is naturally frustrating to see Nico finish P11 once again, it also underlines how close we are to consistently fighting for Q3 positions. The margins remain extremely tight, and with continued development, we are confident we can make that next step more regularly. Looking ahead to tomorrow, the pace we demonstrated in the Sprint gives us encouragement for the race. The biggest unknown will be the weather conditions, with significantly cooler temperatures and the possibility of rain expected. As none of the teams have yet run these cars in wet conditions, it could create a very unpredictable scenario and add another strategic dimension to the race.

Nico Hulkenberg: Coming up just short of Q3 once again is obviously frustrating, especially with margins this small, but overall, I’m pretty pleased with the session. I think we extracted everything that was there today. Around this track, with the low grip levels, you’re constantly fighting the balance and hanging onto the car, so it wasn’t easy out there. Looking at the bigger picture, it’s been a decent result considering how the weekend started for us. The main topic has really been the drivability and power unit side, and this circuit exposes those areas quite a lot. Nevertheless, we managed to get the car into a much better window for qualifying and the balance felt reasonably good. There’s still work to do, but tomorrow is another opportunity, especially if conditions change, and we’ll aim to make the most of it.”

Gabriel Bortoleto: Today hasn’t been the cleanest qualifying – I would say I felt a little bit more comfortable in the car yesterday. Either way, I don’t think we could have done much more than this with what we currently have. Nico did a very good lap, on the other hand, and I reckon that's where we are standing in terms of pace. Tomorrow could be an interesting one, especially looking at the weather forecast. I haven’t driven this new generation of cars in the wet yet, so let’s see what’s going to happen. We’re still struggling with the starts, as we saw earlier today in the Sprint, but if we manage to get that right, we could build something during the race.”

Fernando Alonso: I always enjoy driving here in Canada and I have felt a little bit more competitive this weekend. There are some small steps for us in the right direction, but we still need more performance to get through to Q2. In the Sprint race, we had some contact into Turn 1 and in the end, we retired the car. If it does rain tomorrow, it will be interesting as we haven’t run in wet conditions with these new regulations, and the grip levels here will be very low. It will be a demanding race for everyone, but let’s see what we can do.

Lance Stroll: It’s been a tough day. We started from the pit lane after finding a suspension issue on the grid this morning, so that compromised things straight away for the Sprint Race. In Qualifying, I just didn’t have confidence in the car because of the lack of grip, which made it difficult to really push. Rain is expected tomorrow, so that could mix things up a bit and maybe help the lower downforce cars.

Mike Krack: A busy day in Montreal. The drivers gave it everything to extract as much performance as they could, but the results reflect our performance level right now. Our battle tomorrow will be with the Cadillacs. It was not a straightforward day operationally with several issues holding us back. That’s an area where we must improve going forward. Let’s see what tomorrow brings: the weather forecast suggests wet conditions, which might open up some opportunities for us.

Shintaro Orihara, Honda Trackside General Manager and Chief Engineer: We haven’t had any major power unit issues in today’s Sprint race and qualifying. We learnt items on the energy management and driveability sides at this new track, mainly on the torque delivery. After the Sprint we updated our mapping and made changes to driveability for qualifying. For tomorrow, there is a high possibility for wet conditions, and we are interested to see how our power unit performs and what driveability will be. We have been making some fine-tuning to give the drivers confidence in the rain, so we will see how this is going to go tomorrow.