F1 2026 Canada GP LIVE: Race start time and schedule with Russell on pole in Montreal

“Looking ahead to the race, 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.”

“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.”

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.”

“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.”

“The guys at the factory have done an amazing job with the car, it’s fantastic. It’s a battle of development throughout the season, we’re just at the mercy at the lack of power we have. ,

“When you’re lacking that straight-line speed against the Merc, it’s very tough. We’ll just try and close the gap, quicker through corners, maybe we can get quicker.”

The 28-year-old beat his young team-mate to pole position by 0.068 seconds at the Canadian Gand Prix – the same margin as in sprint qualifying on Friday – after being accused of pushing Antonelli off the track in the earlier sprint race.

Russell saved his best lap for the end to claim a fifth successive pole for Mercedes and his third in a row in Montreal, with McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri claiming third and fourth.

“I have no idea what’s going on, everything is so confusing, the setup changes we made I didn’t like. Very confusing, everything.

On the race on Sunday: “It’s going to be chaos, regardless. It’s not only tough, everything is confusing, not really a lot of words.”

“It’s always challenging coming back from the sprint race, car feels different. That last lap came from nowhere, such a great feeling when it was such a challenging session.

“We made some changes based on the forecast for tomorrow, may have hurt us a little bit. Kimi was definitely more competitive than I in that session, but just managed to redial my driving for that last lap.

“We’ve had a good chat since this morning, we both respect one another, we’ll go racing. Tomorrow looks to be wet, we just want to ensure we’ll be standing on the top step.”