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George Russell will start the Canadian Grand Prix on pole, but does he expect to stay in front in the race?
Russell struck his iconic intro pose after securing pole at the 2024 Canadian Grand Prix (Image Credit: @F1 on X)Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team have started the 2024 Formula One World Championship on the back foot, struggling to understand their car’s operating window and languishing fourth in the Constructors’ Standings.
However, the W15 appeared to be hooked up around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, which became evident when Lewis Hamilton set the quickest time in FP3 by almost four tenths of a second.
The sudden upturn in performance continued into Qualifying, as Russell secured Mercedes’ first pole position since the the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix. Hamilton was disappointed with P7, which goes to show how fast the Brackley-based outfit have been so far this weekend.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen set an identical time of 1:12.000 to Russell, but since the British driver put his best time on the board first he was handed P1 as per the rules of the sport.
Will Russell be able to keep the likes of Verstappen and third-placed Lando Norris behind to win the Canadian Grand Prix?
Unreal performance
Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after Qualifying, Russell started off by thanking his team for preparing a fast car. He said: “The car has been so quick this weekend. The team have done an amazing job bringing all these upgrades to the car and finally this hard work is translating into results.
“This last upgrade we brought, it was a small change but it’s bringing more performance than we initially expected. So we’re pursuing that direction now.
“It’s only been two races and definitely unique circuits, but the performance this weekend has just been unreal,” stated Russell.
The 26-year-old has high hopes for staying ahead of his rivals to secure his first win of the season. He continued: “I see no reason why not. Obviously, Ferrari weren’t in the mix today and it’s becoming increasingly close between all of the teams, and that’s really great to see.
“Let’s see how that pans out tomorrow and in the coming races but I think we’re all just so happy to actually get a result.”
A lot of unknowns
However the British driver admitted that due to the lack of dry running, there are a lot of question marks leading up to the race: “We had the fastest car this weekend, I’m feeling really good behind the wheel, but there are a lot of unknows.
“We’ve got this brand-new tarmac, we had no real practice to understand how the tyres are degrading, and I think we saw in Practice Three as soon as they go they really go.
“So you’re going to have to be playing the long game which is going to be difficult. You’re trying to maintain the lead, preserving the tyres, but keeping the pace up enough to give yourself a bit of a buffer. I’ll have a good night’s sleep and go for it.”
The Canadian Grand Prix will commence at 19:00 BST (14:00 local time) on Sunday 9 June.
Feature Image Credit: REUTERS