George Russell takes a cheeky dig at Max Verstappen after beating him to secure pole position for the F1 Canadian GP

George Russell took a cheeky dig at Max Verstappen, alluding to his penalty points status as he gets ready to battle the Red Bull driver for the win in the F1 Canadian GP. The Mercedes driver has been in prime form all weekend. It began with how well he did on Friday when he ended the day on top of the charts.

A part of the reason why Mercedes tends to do well is when the temperatures are not lower, and that means the tires are in the right working window. This helped the driver and the team on Friday, but in qualifying, it did appear that George Russell was nowhere close to having the kind of advantage that he enjoyed earlier.

Even after the first runs, it was a battle between Max Verstappen and the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who were expected to put up the fight for pole position. It wasn't until the dying stage of Q3 that the Mercedes driver made full use of the medium tires he had on the car.

With a lap in 1:10s, a first in these regulations, George Russell pipped the chasing pack, comprising the likes of Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri, to secure pole position for himself. His Mercedes teammate also had a strong run, as Kimi Antonelli would start the race in P4.

The front row would have George Russell and Max Verstappen, just like it did last season as well. The Mercedes driver was questioned after the session if things were alright between him and the Red Bull driver, considering how things have been in the past. The Brit joked as he said he didn't have much to worry about as he had more penalty points available on his license compared to the Dutch driver, who was on 11 penalty points and knocking on the door of a ban.

"We are mates, it's all good! I've got a few more points on my licence to play with. Let's see."

George Russell on his qualifying lap

George Russell's lap came as a surprise to everyone because, unlike the free practice sessions, the Mercedes driver had hovered close to the top but never at the top of the timesheets during qualifying. This was precisely why, when the dying stages saw Russell jump to the top, it came as a surprise. Looking back at his lap, Russell said,

"Today was awesome! That last lap was probably one of the most exhilarating laps of my life because on my steering wheel you have the delta and I was seeing every corner I was one tenth quicker. I got into the last corner and I was six tenths up so I was like 'this lap is mighty'. Crossing the line and seeing we were P1 was a real surprise but I was so chuffed with it."

The driver has now made it two out of two in the last two Canadian GPs. Even last time around he was accompanied by Max Verstappen on the front row. This time around he would be hoping to pick up a win as compared to what happened in 2024.