Antonelli casts blunt verdict after losing Canada Sprint pole battle to Russell

The Italian driver, returning to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve – the track where he claimed his maiden Formula 1 podium – clocked a lap time of 1:13.033, just a few hundredths of a second off the benchmark set by his Mercedes teammate George Russell.

Despite being almost three-tenths ahead of the nearest chasing driver – Lando Norris – Antonelli could not help but describe his final run for pole position as “bad”. Speaking to the media in the aftermath of Sprint Qualifying, the young Italian felt he had left more lap time on the table. Antonelli, however, pointed to his lack of an ideal preparation lap and tyre temperatures as reasons behind his failure to secure pole position.

“The lap was quite bad, to be fair. This session was not clean at all. I made a mistake in SQ2, and that threw me off a little bit. Then I decided to go for lap one on softs without doing a prep lap and the tyres were a bit cold, so it was just a messy session. But still, P2 and very close. So the potential is definitely there, and we’ll do better tomorrow,” he said.

Despite Antonelli’s frustration with missing out on pole position, his second-place start for the Canadian Grand Prix Sprint further adds to Mercedes’ growing hold on the 2026 campaign, which has seen them lock out the front row of every race this season, barring the Miami Grand Prix weekend.

The Bologna native also discussed the major upgrades Mercedes introduced for the Canadian Grand Prix weekend. Antonelli believes the package has already shown encouraging signs, particularly in the team’s advantage over the rest of the field. However, he stressed that there is still work to be done to fully understand the updated car in order to maximise performance.

“Yeah, for sure. We brought the upgrade, and that’s what it was giving us in terms of performance. Of course, we still need to understand the package a little bit more because the balance has changed slightly. But overall, yeah, it seems to have given us a little bit of an edge against the others. We’ll focus on it tomorrow,” he concluded.

While Antonelli was left with mixed emotions following Sprint Qualifying, teammate Russell was delighted to return to the top of the timesheets after claiming Sprint pole in Canada. The Briton also reflected on his difficult outing in Miami following the session.

The 28-year-old fended off challenges from Antonelli, the McLaren duo of Norris and Oscar Piastri, as well as the Scuderia Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton, ultimately finishing just 0.068 seconds ahead of his teammate and championship rival in Canada.

Sharing his thoughts following the conclusion of the session, Russell admitted that the Sprint pole felt particularly rewarding, especially off the back of his tricky outing at the Miami Grand Prix, before expressing his admiration for the characteristics of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, describing it as a circuit that allows drivers to truly experience the feel of a Formula 1 car.

“This feels great after a tough Miami, but I never doubted myself. I know what I can do. Miami is unique, but this is an amazing circuit with high grip. It feels like you are driving a proper F1 car around here, which is how it should be. It came together today,” he said.

The pole position marks Russell’s first pole in any race format since the Chinese Grand Prix Sprint, which he also won on the day.