George Russell Secures Mercedes’ First Formula 1 Pole Position Since 2021 at the Canadian Grand Prix
In a thrilling qualifying session at the Canadian Grand Prix, George Russell claimed his first-ever Formula 1 pole position, marking Mercedes’ first pole since the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix. This triumph comes on the heels of the team introducing a new front wing to improve the balance shift between high- and low-speed corners.
After final practice, Lewis Hamilton seemed to have the edge, ending the session nearly four-tenths clear of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Russell. However, Russell dug deep to understand what Hamilton was doing differently, analyzing his data to make adjustments that ultimately helped him secure the top spot.
“This morning Lewis was absolutely flying and he was well ahead of me,” Russell explained after taking pole position. “I had to look a lot into his data to try to understand what he was doing differently. And, to be honest, that helped me a huge amount. So ahead of this qualifying, I’m just so glad that we could pull it off, because I feel like we really deserve all of this hard work we’ve been putting in, and the car has been feeling awesome this weekend.”
Russell’s pole position has brought a significant boost to the entire Mercedes squad, which has struggled to make progress with the current generation of ground-effect cars.
“Such a buzz,” said Russell. “It’s been a while since we’ve experienced this feeling. There is so much hard work going on behind the scenes back at Brackley and Brixworth and it’s been a little while to be able to sort of get back in the fight. It almost felt like all of that hard work hasn’t been paying off.”
The Briton’s lap time was identical to that of world champion Max Verstappen, but Russell got the top spot due to logging his lap first. Verstappen, however, was content with second place, acknowledging that Mercedes had shown impressive pace throughout the qualifying sessions.
Mercedes’ strong performance has left them feeling optimistic about their chances in the ongoing Formula 1 season. With Russell’s pole position, the team is hoping to carry this momentum forward and make a stronger push for the top spots in the Formula 1 standings. Stay tuned for more Formula 1 news and updates as the season unfolds.
🔗 Source