In the ninth race of 2024, Mercedes has regained its connection to the top of Formula 1, with a pole in Canada by George Russell. Although it was a bit of a nail-biter in Q3, and Max Verstappen even drove the same time at the end, Russell is now in high spirits. It is a result that lives up to the expectations of the updates from the last few races.
The Mercedes were fast all weekend in Montreal. “It kind of came out of nowhere, but maybe not, with all the upgrades we’re bringing,” emphasised Russell after qualifying. After having already been just a tenth away from the front row in Monaco: “And these are the first two races with the upgrades.”
Russell secures Canada pole: This is now the breakthrough
“We’ve tried to find the middle ground,” said Russell. “It seems like we’ve found that sweet spot now. We’ve obviously been saying that for a while, I’m being completely honest. So it’s a real sense of relief to see that actually lead to a pole position.”
“One hundred percent” is his answer when asked whether this progress is based on reality. “At the moment I see no reason why that shouldn’t be the case. We think we have more up our sleeve.” For him, Mercedes has been able to increasingly straighten out the zigzag course of development in the last six months: “And we have really managed to get what we want into the car with fine-tuning.”
Russell takes pole with help from Lewis Hamilton
In qualifying in Canada, this even resulted in an advantage of over a tenth over the rest of Formula 1. It continued up to and including the first attempt in Q3, which everyone still drove on used tires. Nevertheless, Russell’s 1:12.000 was only three and a half tenths away from his best Q2 lap on fresh tires, so there was still a lot to be done: “I expected to be three or four tenths ahead, like I have been all weekend.”
But it was precisely on the decisive Q3 shot with the fresh softs that the Mercedes broke down. “Q3 was probably the worst session of the three,” Russell analyzed. He had to rely on the time with the used tires and got away with the closest possible decision in the sport. Max Verstappen drove the same time. But because he drove it after Russell, the Mercedes driver gets pole.
Russell is alone there for the race in Canada. Lewis Hamilton, who had also been strong in every session before, fell to P7 in Q3. He still played a significant role in the pole, as Russell revealed: “This morning Lewis flew, was way ahead of me, and I had to look at his data to understand what he was doing differently. And to be honest, that helped me massively.” In the end, he took his second pole after Hungary in 2022.
Russell is certainly hopeful for Sunday. After rainy Friday practice, the situation is unclear. “It will be tough for everyone,” predicts Russell, who is predicting graining problems for the entire field. “Our car is really, really fast. But it will be a long race.”