Formula 1 qualifying for the 53rd Canadian Grand Prix took place on Saturday, June 8th at the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit just outside of Montreal, Canada with Mercedes driver George Russell taking the pole, the second of his career.

Russell ran the exact same time, 1:12.000, as Red Bull's Max Verstappen but, since Russell ran it first, he was awarded the pole with Verstappen sitting outside the pole.

"It's been a great day. It was such a tight fight for pole position. The previous few races I've been a matter of hundredths of a second behind the car ahead, so it's nice to be on the upside of that today," said Russell.

"On a track which was rapidly evolving and where all teams were going through their tyre allocation quickly, Max just got stronger and stronger through the qualifying," said Red Bull's Team Principal, Christian Horner. "To miss out on the top place whilst exactly matching the pole time was an outstanding effort after a tricky day yesterday and it's great to be lining up on the front row alongside George, in an exciting looking grid."

Despite running the quickest time in the earlier Free Practice session, Russell's teammate, Lewis Hamilton, was only able to put in a P7 qualifying effort.

"It was a tough session on my side. We were quick in FP3, but I struggled a little more in Qualifying. I found it difficult to get the tyres working throughout and that was the same on my final lap in Q3," said Hamilton.

Verstappen's teammate, Sergio Perez, did not make it out of Q1.

"I had no grip, I was sliding too much and that meant our qualifying was a total disaster," said Perez. "We need to look at it and understand the reason behind it, [the car] was stepping away from me all the time."

The pair of McLaren's, Norris and Piastri, will start on Row 2.

Ferrari's Leclerc and Sainz did not make it out of Q2, qualifying P11 and P12, respectively.

Aston Martin seemed to start coming into their earlier season form with Alonzo and Stroll both making into Q3 and qualifying P6 and P11.

"We achieved our target of getting both cars through to Q3 this afternoon in Montréal with the prospect of rain not amounting to much in the end," said Mike Krack, Aston Martin Team Principal. "Our pace has been better at our 'home' race but we are not getting carried away. It was a close battle and encouraging to only be a few tenths away from pole position."

RB's Yuki Tsnoda continued his string of impressive qualifying sessions and will start outside the fourth row (P8) on Sunday. Tsunoda has made it into Q3 in all but two Grand Prix's this season.

Qualifying Results Summary: Russell, Verstappen, Norris, Piastri, Ricciardo, Alonso, Hamilton, Tsunoda, Stroll, Albon, Leclerc, Sainz, Sargeant, Magnussen, Gasly, Perez, Bottas, Ocon, Hulkenberg, Zhou

Montreal Qualifying Results

Pos	Driver		Team		Time		Gap


1	Russell		Mercedes	1:12.000	135.494 mph
2	Verstappen	Red Bull	1:12.000	0.000
3	Norris		McLaren		1:12.021	0.021
4	Piastri		McLaren		1:12.103	0.103
5	Ricciardo	RB		1:12.178	0.178
6	Alonso		Aston Martin	1:12.228	0.228
7	Hamilton	Mercedes	1:12.280	0.280
8	Tsunoda		RB		1:12.414	0.414
9	Stroll		Aston Martin	1:12.701	0.701
10	Albon		Williams	1:12.796	0.796
11	Leclerc		Ferrari		1:12.691	
12	Sainz		Ferrari		1:12.728	
13	Sargeant	Williams	1:12.736	
14	Magnussen	Haas		1:12.916	
15	Gasly		Alpine		1:12.940	
16	Perez		Red Bull	1:13.326	
17	Bottas		Stake		1:13.366	
18	Ocon		Alpine		1:13.435	
19	Hulkenberg	Haas		1:13.978	
20	Zhou		Stake		1:14.292

(image provided by Aston Martin F1 Media)