Shortly after Max Verstappen, the Red Bull racer, had become enraged with his rival for his on-track antics, George Russell narrowly defeated him to take pole position in Montreal.
Max Verstappen vented his annoyance at George Russell over the radio, accusing the Mercedes driver of deliberately blocking his path on the track.
When the Dutchman saw Russell ahead of him on the track, he was doing a flying lap. Verstappen was not impressed with his rival’s positioning, despite the Briton moving to the side of the track to allow the Red Bull to pass.
And he vented his resentment on the radio. After swearing, he said, “Just get out of my way! He probably did that intentionally.”
Both survived Q3 without incident and became the protagonists of an exciting conclusion to the session. Russell and Verstappen had identical times to three decimal places, but Verstappen finished his fastest lap first, earning him pole position.
Grinning, Verstappen got out of his car and walked over to shake Russell’s hand, the Mercedes driver. As he finished his post-qualifying media duties, he was at ease and expressed that he wasn’t overly concerned about finishing in second place.
That’s how things are, isn’t that right, Dutchman? We had a successful qualifying overall. For us, the entire weekend has been a little challenging. P2, I accept; I would have accepted it even before qualifying.”
When team principal Toto Wolff informed Russell that he had only managed to secure his second career pole position, Russell let out a delighted scream. He continued to smile as he accepted the microphone to address his performance and to thank his UK-based colleagues for their tireless efforts in enhancing Mercedes’ vehicle.
“It feels so good, so good,” he exclaimed.This is the result of a great deal of laborious work at the factory. I believe it’s the beginning of something for our season, as we expressed in Monaco! I’ve been missing this emotion. We’ve completed the first step, but our focus is now on the victory.”
When asked if he believed Mercedes could win right now, he said, “Why not? Now let’s get started! Here, the car has been feeling fantastic. We upgraded Monaco, so we’re now genuinely in the battle. Tomorrow, we’re going for it.”
Making it two Brits in the top three, Lando Norris was third fastest, ahead of Oscar Piastri, his teammate at McLaren. Throughout the entire session, Lewis Hamilton was in the running for pole, but he was unable to complete a lap and had to settle for seventh on the grid.
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