McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri need to take the fight to Mercedes in Montreal

The reigning Formula 1 World Champion continued his strong form in Montreal by qualifying 0.151s shy of George Russell’s pole-winning Mercedes lap, as McLaren’s latest upgrade package appeared to bring the team closer to the Silver Arrows.

Norris arrived in Canada with momentum after his Sprint victory and Grand Prix podium in Miami and backed it up with another front-running performance. He qualified third for the sprint before finishing second after overtaking Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli during a tense battle with Russell.

In qualifying for Sunday’s race, Norris was again in contention throughout the session but ultimately lost out as both Mercedes drivers improved late in Q3.

Reflecting on his performance, Norris said: “It’s always impossible to know. I feel like we did a good job out there today honestly. I’m sure everyone can say around here it's a difficult lap, it’s a difficult track to kind of put everything together perfectly, but I think we did another good job.

“It’s clear that these guys are just that little bit quicker. It’s nice to be closer than we were yesterday. I had fun this morning; of course, the weather’s going to be different tomorrow, so we’ll wait and see. But we’re in a good place and we’re in a place we need to be.”

McLaren’s progress in recent races has steadily reduced the gap to Mercedes, with the Woking team appearing increasingly competitive following a substantial upgrade package introduced in Miami and refined further in Montreal.

Oscar Piastri will line up alongside Norris on the second row after also maintaining his sprint qualifying position, but the Australian agreed that Mercedes still held the advantage over a single lap.

Piastri described McLaren’s session as positive overall, although he conceded the team still lacked the outright pace to beat Russell and Antonelli.

He said, "I think [it was] just a little bit tricky in a few areas, but overall I was pretty happy. We got closer to Mercedes but not quite enough. We tried our best. I think we’re definitely able to put a bit more pressure on, but they’ve still got the ultimate pace over us.”

With rain forecast for Sunday’s race in Montreal, Piastri admitted the changing conditions could introduce another unknown into the competitive picture: “We’ll wait and see. We’ve not really driven these cars properly in the rain, so it’s going to be an experience one way or another.”

While Ferrari and Red Bull cannot be discounted, Mercedes have the edge, with McLaren sensing they can take the fight to the feuding teammates in the silver cars.

The Woking outfit might've won the Miami Grand Prix had they got the strategy right; today shall reveal if the German team's upgrades are a step too far for their rivals.