George Russell takes Canada Sprint pole ahead of Kimi Antonelli and Lando Norris

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George Russell has taken pole position for the Canada Sprint race ahead of his Mercedes teammate, as Fernando Alonso crashes in SQ1

Ahead of the session, Williams confirmed that Alex Albon would miss Sprint Qualifying following a crash in FP1. The Thai-British driver struck a groundhog on the run down to Turn 7, causing significant damage to the car. Despite the team’s efforts to complete repairs in time, the extent of the damage proved too severe.

Williams revealed that Albon’s FW46 required both a new gearbox and power unit, with the team focusing on analysing data from teammate Carlos Sainz’s car ahead of Saturday’s Sprint race and qualifying session.

Liam Lawson was another absentee from Sprint Qualifying after his Racing Bulls machine lost power and ground to a halt early in FP1. While the team did not officially confirm Lawson would miss the session, the Kiwi was spotted watching on from the pit lane in full team kit rather than preparing to get behind the wheel.

There was better news for Alpine, however, as Franco Colapinto managed to make it out for Sprint Qualifying despite completing just a single lap in FP1. The team fitted a new energy store to the car in time to get the Argentine back on track.

Read More: Kimi Antonelli fastest in Canadian Grand Prix practice as Fernando Alonso reaches the top 10

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After Mercedes topped the timesheets in the earlier practice session, Sprint Qualifying got off to a much trickier start for the Silver Arrows. Max Verstappen initially set the pace in SQ1 before Kimi Antonelli briefly jumped to the top of the order with an impressive lap.

But the benchmark continued to tumble, as Lewis Hamilton then went quickest, edging out both Verstappen and Antonelli for the top spot. Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc, however, struggled to hook up his lap in the opening segment and could only manage P9.

The closing moments of SQ1 were then thrown into chaos when Fernando Alonso brought out the red flag after crashing heavily at Turn 3. The Aston Martin driver, who finished FP1 in tenth earlier in the day, locked up on corner entry before sliding straight into the barriers nose-first, causing significant damage to the car.

Despite the incident, Alonso still found himself provisionally through to SQ2 in P14 when the session was halted, with just a minute and a half left on the clock. The incident means it would be harder for those in the drop zone to make their way around the track and cross the line for a flying lap before the chequered flag.

Sainz led the queue at the end of the pit lane when the session resumed, with Lance Stroll tucked in behind him as the drivers scrambled for one final run before the chequered flag. Despite topping SQ1, Hamilton was third in line as the cars slowly filtered back onto the circuit.

Further back, Oliver Bearman headed out ahead of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, while the two Audi drivers and Franco Colapinto also joined the frantic rush to squeeze in a final flying lap.

As the clock ticked down, the fight to make the line before the chequered flag became increasingly tense. Bearman was the final driver to get through in time to start a lap, crossing the line by the narrowest of margins just ahead of Gasly.

The Frenchman did everything he could to beat the clock, even weaving past several cars waiting to leave the pit lane in a desperate bid to reach the line before the chequered flag fell.

Hamilton initially set the pace on the opening runs of SQ2, edging ahead of Lando Norris before the two Mercedes drivers stormed to the top of the timesheets. George Russell went quickest, with rookie teammate Antonelli slotting in just behind him to underline Mercedes’ impressive pace.

There was a much better start to the session for Leclerc, too, with the Ferrari driver briefly climbing behind Norris on his first push lap. But the order continued to shuffle rapidly, as Oscar Piastri then jumped ahead of both drivers to move into the top four.

Verstappen, meanwhile, found himself in an unusually vulnerable position after aborting his first flying lap, leaving the reigning world champion stuck in the drop zone. Under pressure on his final attempt, the Dutchman managed to piece together a cleaner lap to scrape through to SQ3 in ninth.

The battle for the final spot in SQ3 went right down to the wire, but it was Sainz who ultimately came out on top, knocking Nico Hulkenberg out in the process. It marked an impressive effort from the Spaniard, especially with Williams teammate Albon unable to take part in the session.

Despite looking strong in the early parts of SQ3, Hamilton was unable to keep his provisional pole position, with the Ferrari driver being pipped by both Mercedes and McLaren.

It was a dramatic fight for the Canada Sprint pole, with Antonelli falling short of his teammate by six hundreths of a second.