It will be another all-Mercedes front row in Canada, although the competition is getting closer and closer. For now, the main battle continues to be within the silver box, where George Russell solves his problems at the last moment, outsmarting a very fast Antonelli. McLaren maximizes the result and stays at the door, while Ferrari has to deal with Leclerc’s difficulties, this time different from those on Friday.
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Russell’s comeback
The lap that earned George Russell his third pole position in Canada is typical of great champions. The Briton has the mental strength to find the winning spark at the last possible moment, also reacting to Antonelli’s message, who, among attacks in the Sprint and excellent times throughout qualifying, suggests he has something more. Yet it will be the Englishman starting ahead of everyone, after a qualifying session full of problems. At first, Russell complains about instability on the many bumps and curbs of Montreal, perhaps worsened by the changes Mercedes made to the mechanical setup in anticipation of possible rain during the race. Then number 63 blames the set of tires mounted in Q2, while a lock-up under braking in Q3 forces him to abort the first attempt, an episode that paradoxically will turn out to be his salvation.
Russell, in fact, returns to the pits first, then goes out with a lap ahead of everyone else. After setting a useful time, the Briton relaunches, this time with tires no longer pristine but already at temperature, also being able to exploit the maximum evolution of the track. The result is a pole position with great psychological weight, but Antonelli has every reason to stay calm. The Italian driver has shown he has the pace to challenge his teammate, on a track where Russell tends to always excel. The pressure, if anything, is all on George, forced to bring home a victory that has been missing since Melbourne.
McLaren getting closer and closer
On one hand, Mercedes monopolizes the front row for the second time in 24 hours, on the other the stopwatch confirms that the advantage over the competition is thinning more and more. The short Montreal track only partly justifies the mere two tenths given to McLaren and the three to Hamilton’s Ferrari, confirming that after the first round of updates the rivals have closed in. Montreal, moreover, is a circuit that should have exalted the Silver Arrows, especially on Saturday, when the asphalt temperatures dropped by 10°C compared to Friday.
First among the chasers is McLaren, definitely in better shape than on the first day. The world champions took advantage of the parc fermé reopening after the Sprint to intervene on the setup, which from the free practice sessions had proved far from optimal. The Woking team thus maximizes the potential on a track unfriendly to the MCL40, putting itself in a position to exploit any opportunity that may arise in the race.
Ferrari is there only with Hamilton
In Canada, the best Ferrari driver for the second day in a row is Lewis Hamilton, evidently reinvigorated by the new setup philosophy. The seven-time world champion is forced to abort his last attempt, complaining about a mistake made after having entertained the idea of starting even from third place. While being the third force does not satisfy the ambitions of the Prancing Horse, the mere three tenths lost to Russell, on a track that should have amplified the gap from Mercedes, confirm the progress made with the updates. Where the SF-26 performs best is in the first sector, the most driven part of the circuit named after Gilles Villeneuve, a testament to the chassis and aerodynamic qualities of the Red car.
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The sour notes come from Charles Leclerc’s box, only eighth. The Monegasque reports having solved Friday’s problems, when the main limit was braking feel, but still continues to have no kind of harmony with the car, describing the feeling as the worst ever experienced. In Q1 and Q2 Charles mainly complains about the difficulty in generating temperature in the tires, a problem common to everyone in Canada, as shown by the double warm-up laps, on a track that transmits little energy to the tires. The situation improves in Q3, when reduced traffic finally allows clean preparation laps, but despite the tires being at temperature Leclerc stops a tenth behind Hamilton, confirming a weekend of suffering for the Monegasque.
Red Bull with two points
Leclerc is not the only one struggling to get the tires up to temperature, as Verstappen also deals with the same problem, feeling like driving on ice during the out laps. The Dutch champion does not go beyond sixth position, criticizing a setup that the team continues to propose with poor results and reporting a strangely increasing delay on the straight lap after lap. The positive news for Red Bull is instead the presence of Isack Hadjar in seventh place just behind Max, a rare event for any Verstappen teammate. In the Red Bull galaxy, the star of Racing Bulls also shines, ninth with the excellent Arvid Lindblad, definitely at ease among the walls of Canada with the updated VCARB.
Attention now turns to the race, where the biggest unknown will be the weather. In case of rain, the limitation of active aerodynamics and the electric part could further highlight the power of Mercedes engines, but Ferrari’s excellent aerodynamic qualities could also make a difference. The truth is that no one knows what to expect with these cars on the wet, which is why whoever learns faster will have the upper hand in that case.
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