The single practice session is in the books, and the teams are pouring through the data ahead of qualifying for the F1 Sprint race at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Kimi Antonelli led the practice session ahead of teammate George Russell, with Lewis Hamilton posting the third-fastest time behind the Mercedes duo. The practice session was interrupted with three different red flags, first when Liam Lawson came to a stop along the side of the track. The second red flag came when Alexander Albon made contact with some wildlife at the exit of Turn 7 before striking the barrier, and finally Esteban Ocon brought out the red flag when he clipped his front wing.
But who will top the timing sheets when the lap times begin to matter? That is the question that will be answered in short order. F1 Sprint qualifying gets underway at 4:30 p.m. Eastern on Friday, and we will be following every development here live. So check back early and often!
Update: George Russell has taken pole position for the F1 Sprint race at the Canadian Grand Prix. Read on for the provisional grid, and a breakdown of how it all unfolded.
Canadian Grand Prix F1 Sprint qualifying results
Here is the provisional qualifying grid for the F1 Sprint race at the Canadian Grand Prix. Spots will be filled in during the session:
| Row | Position | Driver | Team | Position | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Row 1 | 1 | George Russell | Mercedes | 2 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes |
| Row 2 | 3 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 4 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren |
| Row 3 | 5 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 6 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari |
| Row 4 | 7 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 8 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull |
| Row 5 | 9 | Arvid Lindblad | VCARB | 10 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Williams |
| Row 6 | 11 | Nico Hülkenberg | Audi | 12 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi |
| Row 7 | 13 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 14 | Esteban Ocon | Haas |
| Row 8 | 15 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 16 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin |
| Row 9 | 17 | Sergio Pérez | Cadillac | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin |
| Row 10 | 19 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 20 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac |
| Row 11 | 21 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 22 | Liam Lawson | VCARB |
How F1 Sprint qualifying unfolded
Before qualifying for the F1 Sprint race got underway, Albon got some bad news.
The damage sustained in his incident during FP1 was more extensive than the team originally thought, and he will be unable to participate in the qualifying session:
Note: All updates are in Eastern Time
SQ3
5:34: Mercedes locks out the front row, as Antonelli jumps up to P2.
If you believe this truly is a pivotal weekend for the title fight between Russell and Antonelli, then advantage Russell so far.
5:34: Norris cuts the beam and jumps to P2, but Russell improves his time again to 1:12.965, more than three-tenths ahead of Norris in P2.
5:33: Hamilton improves his time, but not his position. He is still in P2.
5:32: Hamilton is attacking again, and is purple through the first sector.
5:31: Russell is on provisional pole with a 1:13.194. Hamilton is in second, Antonelli third, and Verstappen fourth. There should be time for all ten drivers to get another push lap in before the clock strikes zero.
5:30: Hamilton posts the first time with a 1:13.411. Hadjar comes in just behind him with a 1:13.605.
5:26: SQ3 is underway, and there are eight minutes available to the ten remaining drivers. Hamilton heads out, and might attempt a push-recharge-push run plan here in SQ3.
5:22: As we wait for SQ3, a shameless plug for my exclusive chat with Sainz from Thursday.
SQ2
5:19: Sainz is the last driver with a chance to advance, with new upgrades under him. He gets the time he needs, getting to P10 just ahead of Hülkenberg.
Hülkenberg is out, along with Bortoleto, Colapinto, Ocon, Bearman, and Alonso.
5:18: Hülkenberg takes a big step forward and gets to P10. Colapinto’s final lap is only good for P12, and he is out.
5:18: Last laps are underway with Sainz, Colapinto, Ocon, Bearman, and Hülkenberg in the drop zone.
5:16: Verstappen’s first push lap gets him to P9, which should be enough.
Hamilton’s latest effort is good for P1, just 0.001 ahead of Russell. But Russell drops Hamilton down to P2 moments later with a strong 1:13.026.
5:16: Sainz moves up to P9 with his latest effort. Ocon, Bearman, Colapinto, Hülkenberg, and Verstappen are in the drop zone, with Alonso already out.
5:15: Piastri cuts the beam and slots in at P4, which drops Sainz down into the drop zone. Bearman is down there as well, thanks to a strong lap from Bortoleto.
5:14: With five minutes left in SQ2 the five drivers at risk are Colapinto, Bortoleto, Hülkenberg, Piastri, and Verstappen, who has yet to set a time.
5:13: Over to the Silver Arrows. Russell jumps into P1 with a 1:13.466, and Antonelli slides in behind him, just 0.085 seconds behind in P2.
5:12: Norris jumpst to P1 with a 1:13.957, but Hamilton then jumps ahead of him with a 1:13.637.
5:11: Of the 15 drivers still alive in SQ2, 14 are on the track.
Verstappen sits and waits.
5:08: SQ2 is underway with ten minutes on the clock. As a reminder, the drivers are still on the C4 medium tires, and we will not see the hard tires until SQ3.
5:07: SQ2 is set to begin in 90 seconds, and the drivers roar out of their respective pit stalls.
5:06: With Alonso out, 15 drivers are fighting for the ten spots in SQ3. The five slowest drivers in this segment — along with Alonso — will be eliminated.
SQ1
5:03: Stroll cannot catch Bearman, and he is eliminated as well.
5:01: Only Sainz and Stroll began new laps in time. Stroll can potentially catch Bearman for P16, but Pérez, Gasly, and Bottas have been eliminated.
4:59: There is a green light and SQ1 is back underway.
4:56: SQ1 is about to resume, and the cars are lining up with Sainz at the front of pit lane.
4:53: We are still waiting, as race stewards continue working on the barrier that Alonso drove into between Turns 3 and 4.
4:49: “Yeah, I locked up the fronts, and you’re a passenger after that,” says Alonso in the media pen.
4:46: Pit exit is still closed. When SQ1 resumes only 1:46 will be left on the clock, so it will be chaos when pit exit opens up.
4:41: RED FLAG! Alonso has found the barrier between Turn 3 and 4, and he is out of qualifying.
Alonso is currently P14, so he could still technically advance to SQ2.
4:39: Bortoleto jumps to P13, and pulls himself out of the elimination zone for the moment.
4:38: Hamilton responds, and is the first to go below 1:14 with a 1:13.922.
With under four minutes remaining Bottas, Colapinto, Stroll, and Bortoleto are the four other drivers in the elimination zone. Reminder that Albon and Lawson are already out.
4:37: Stop me if you have heard this before, but Antonelli is in P1 thanks to his first effort, which is a 1:14.010. That is nearly a half-second better than Verstappen’s time.
Mercedes brought some upgrades to Montreal, and they look to be working early.
4:36: Verstappen jumps to the top of the timing board with a 1:14.476.
Of note? Alonso — in the Aston Martin that does not have upgrades — is in P9 after some early runnings, ahead of both Haas drivers and both Audi drivers.
4:35: Leclerc jumps to the top of the timing sheets, but only for a moment as Russell slots in 1st with a 1:14.772. Norris slides into P2, 0.135 seconds behind Russell.
4:32: 1:15.459 is the early benchmark, set by Hamilton. Leclerc pulls out of his first push lap.
4:31: As a reminder, F1 Sprint tire rules require the use of medium tires in both SQ1 and SQ2, with the softs only available in SQ3. That means we’ll see the drivers on the C4 medium tires until SQ3, when we will see the C5 softs.
4:30: A green light at the end of pit lane and Hamilton is first on the track, followed by Leclerc.
In addition to Albon, Lawson will also miss qualifying, as VCARB reports that the hydraulic issue his challenger suffered in FP1 could not be resolved in time for SQ1.
4:29: Qualifying is set to begin, and drivers are already lining up in pit lane.