With an eventful Sprint in the books, focus in the F1 paddock shifted to Qualifying for the 2026 Canadian GP. George Russell arrived with momentum after converting Sprint pole into victory earlier on Saturday, while Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli looked to bounce back following a frustrating intra-team battle.
Meanwhile, Lando Norris and McLaren hoped to challenge Mercedes once again as Qualifying set the grid for Sunday’s GP.
Q1
All drivers took to the circuit for Q1 of the 2026 F1 Canadian GP Qualifying, with Norris among the first to set a competitive lap and move to the top of the timesheets. Russell, Verstappen, and Colapinto followed him into the top four, with the leading runners all using used soft tyres.
Hamilton looked aggressive through the final chicane and moved into the top six early on. Leclerc struggled after a lock-up across the kerbs left him without a representative lap time. Albon improved to 13th while the drop zone featured Bortoleto, Alonso, Bottas, Stroll, and Hülkenberg as the track continued to ramp up.
As conditions improved, Antonelli jumped to the top with a 1:13.380 while Hadjar impressed by moving into second on used tyres. Norris, Piastri, and Hamilton also improved during the closing stages as several drivers fought to escape elimination.
Bortoleto secured progression with a strong final lap, knocking Ocon out in the process. Albon aborted his final attempt, while Alonso could only improve to 19th. Antonelli finished fastest in Q1 ahead of Norris, Piastri, Hadjar, and Hamilton. Ocon, Albon, Alonso, Pérez, Stroll, and Bottas were eliminated.
Q2
Q2 for the F1 Canadian GP began with frontrunners switching to fresh soft tyres, although several drivers completed double preparation laps to bring the tyres into temperature. Verstappen initially pushed straight away but aborted his first lap, while McLaren and Mercedes focused on tyre warm-up. Hadjar set the early benchmark with a 1:13.623, before Norris moved to the top ahead of Piastri.
Antonelli continued his strong form from Q1 and went fastest with two purple sectors, finishing 0.159s clear of Norris. Hamilton climbed to second, while Russell could only manage fourth on his first push lap. Hadjar then impressed again by jumping into second place, looking increasingly competitive against Verstappen throughout the session.
The final runs reshuffled the order once more. Hamilton briefly went fastest before Russell improved to third despite a lock-up at Turn 1. Hadjar then stunned the field by topping Q2 ahead of Hamilton, Norris, Antonelli, and Russell. Hülkenberg, Lawson, Bortoleto, Gasly, Sainz, and Bearman were eliminated, while Colapinto and Lindblad progressed to the final session of F1 Canadian GP Qualifying.
Q3
Q3 for the 2026 F1 Canadian GP opened with the leading drivers completing preparation laps on fresh soft tyres. Red Bull appeared competitive for the first time in the session, with Hadjar and Verstappen running close to the front on their first runs.
Norris set the early benchmark with a strong lap, three quarters of a second clear of his teammate Piastri. Hamilton went second but missed Norris by a tenth, while Antonelli posted the fastest final sector but slotted into fourth. Russell struggled badly through the opening and middle sectors on his first run and did not improve, sitting seventh heading into the final push laps.
Leclerc climbed to fourth on his second run while Lindblad split the two Red Bulls in sixth. The session was finely poised heading into the final efforts, with Norris and Hamilton at the front and Mercedes needing a significant improvement.
Antonelli delivered on his final lap. He carried strong pace through the closing sector and went to the top by eight hundredths of a second over Norris, setting up a tense final run. Norris could not improve enough to displace him, and Piastri climbed to third.
Russell, sitting seventh after his first run, went out early for his second attempt. He fought the car through the traction zones and committed fully through the final chicane, and it proved enough.
Russell crossed the line to take pole position, his third consecutive Canadian GP pole, edging out Antonelli and Norris in a tightly fought conclusion to the session.
Leclerc and Hadjar rounded out the top five. Hamilton dropped off the front row to sixth, while Verstappen endured a difficult qualifying hour and could only manage seventh. Lindblad, Colapinto, and Piastri completed the top ten.
