George Russell starts from pole at the Canadian Grand Prix

George Russell is officially in the fight. After a brilliant, elbows-out Sprint victory, he cemented his status by taking pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix. The Mercedes upgrade package is clearly doing the work, keeping the team at the front of the pack—just.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli sits right beside him on the front row to lock out the start for Mercedes. It is a massive statement of intent, even if the Sprint showed that maintaining pace throughout the full Grand Prix distance against the charging McLarens and Ferraris will require a perfect tactical performance.