Lewis Hamilton shows true colours after George Russell secured Canadian GP pole
Lewis Hamilton suffered disappointment in Canadian Grand Prix qualifying, but his Mercedes team-mate George Russell secured pole position.
Lewis Hamilton wasted no time in congratulating George Russell after his Mercedes team-mate secured the second pole position of his career ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix. Hamilton cut a frustrated figure after qualifying in Montreal, having only managed P7 on the grid despite showing promising pace.
The seven-time world champion looked primed to join Russell near the front of the pack after strong laps earlier in the session.
However, while his best lap in Q3 was less than three-tenths off pole, it left him three rows behind his Silver Arrows partner at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
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Max Verstappen matched Russell's best Q3 lap, 1:12.000, but the Red Bull driver recording his time later in the session meant the latter would start Sunday's race ahead of him.
And despite his disappointment, Hamilton made sure to congratulate his British compatriot for an impressive qualifying session.
"Firstly, congratulations to George for a great job. It's really great for the team," a visibly deflated Hamilton told Sky Sports F1 after the session.
"Obviously everyone has worked so hard to bring upgrades back at the factory, so this will be a real huge boost for everyone back at the factory.
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"The car was feeling great all weekend, and as soon as we got to qualifying, that kind of vanished for me. The grip just disappears for me.
"P3 [practice three], I had plenty of pace in me, and then get to qualifying and the tyres won't work. Nothing had changed on the car."
Russell has now out-qualified Hamilton in eight of nine race weekends since the start of the season, establishing himself as Mercedes' No. 1 driver.
He has 54 points to his name in the Drivers' Championship, 12 more than Hamilton, who will leave Mercedes for Ferrari at the end of 2024.
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An exhilarating qualifying session in Montreal offered hope that Red Bull and Max Verstappen's dominance was easing, setting up an exciting remainder of the campaign.
Behind Russell and Verstappen, Lando Norris trailed by just 0.021 seconds. His McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri (0.103) and RB's Daniel Ricciardo (0.178) also missed out by less than two-tenths.
Fernando Alonso narrowly went quicker than Hamilton in P6 (0.228), but the competitive nature of qualifying's top seven should make for an unpredictable and entertaining Grand Prix.
Hamilton will hope to maintain his pace and restore some grip on the track on Sunday, while Russell has the small task of fending off the reigning world champion on the front row.
