George Russell won the sprint qualifying.

      Sunny. Dry. Air +20°C, track +42…40°C

      In 2026, the Canadian stage was held for the first time in a format with a Saturday sprint. After a single practice session, which was interrupted three times by red flags due to accidents, the teams went out for sprint qualifying.

      In practice, the best time was set by Kimi Antonelli, completing a lap on Soft in 1:13.402 – Mercedes brought many updates and increased their advantage over competitors, but only qualifying allowed for a judgment on the changes in the competitive landscape.

      Alpine managed to repair Colapinto's car by replacing the battery, while Williams faced serious damage after an accident when Albon hit a groundhog crossing the track during practice. Williams reported that they would not be able to repair the car in time for the session – a gearbox and power unit replacement was required. Lawson also could not participate due to hydraulic issues.

      Pirelli brought a "soft" trio of compounds – C3, C4, and C5 as Hard, Medium, and Soft.

      Wildlife representatives were present during qualifying, but incidents were avoided.

      In the first session, drivers went out on Medium, as required by the rules. The asphalt under the clear sky warmed up to 42 degrees, which partly resolved the issues with slow tire warming on a non-abrasive asphalt track with settings for low downforce, but drivers still worked in series of laps – the tires allowed it. It was important not to make a mistake on the fast lap.

      Two minutes before the end, the session was stopped with red flags – Alonso went off the track and crashed into the barrier at turn three. Fernando apologized to the team, saying it was his fault – he locked up the front tires.

      The pause turned out to be long. The car was quickly evacuated, but the damaged TecPro barrier had to be replaced. The time count was traditionally stopped, but when the green light came on at the pit lane exit, there were 1:46 left in the session – many did not manage to start a lap.

      Hamilton topped the protocol, completing a lap in 1:13.889. Peres, Stroll, Gasly, Bottas – and non-participants Albon and Lawson were eliminated from further contention.

      In the second session, everyone went out on Medium again. In the first attempt, Russell was the fastest – 1:13.466. In the second, Hamilton edged him out by a thousandth, but George also improved – 1:13.026, gaining almost half a second.

      Hulkenberg, Bortoleto, Colapinto, Ocon, Berman, and Alonso did not make it to the final.

      In the final, everyone put on Soft – and the picture changed. On the first fast lap, many cars slid, but everyone immediately adjusted for two.

      As a result, Russell topped the protocol, completing a lap in 1:13.194 and beating Antonelli by just 68 thousandths.

      George Russell won the sprint qualifying in Canada, securing his second career pole in the Saturday sprint.

      In the sprint, Mercedes drivers will occupy the entire front row of the starting grid, McLaren drivers will take the entire second row, two Ferraris will start from third, and two Red Bulls will start from fourth.

      Sprint qualifying results

      | Driver | Team | 1st session | 2nd session | 3rd session |

      |--------|------|--------------|--------------|--------------|

      | | Time | Laps | Time | Laps | Time | Laps |

      | 1. D. Russell | Mercedes | 8 | 1:14.772 | 6 | 1 | 1:13.026 | 7 | 1 | 1:12.965 | 6 |

      | 2. K. Antonelli | Mercedes | 2 | 1:14.010 | 6 | 3 | 1:13.551 | 5 | 2 | 1:13.033 | 5 |

      | 3. L. Norris | McLaren | 4 | 1:14.265 | 7 | 6 | 1:13.957 | 3 | 3 | 1:13.280 | 5 |

      | 4. O. Piastri | McLaren | 7 | 1:14.665 | 6 | 5 | 1:13.858 | 4 | 4 | 1:13.299 | 5 |

      | 5. L. Hamilton | Ferrari | 1 | 1:13.889 | 11 | 2 | 1:13.465 | 6 | 5 | 1:13.326 | 6 |

      | 6. C. Leclerc | Ferrari | 9 | 1:15.006 | 7 | 4 | 1:13.554 | 6 | 6 | 1:13.410 | 6 |

      | 7. M. Verstappen | Red Bull | 3 | 1:14.028 | 6 | 9 | 1:14.412 | 4 | 7 | 1:13.504 | 5 |

      | 8. A. Hadjar | Red Bull | 6 | 1:14.541 | 6 | 8 | 1:14.239 | 5 | 8 | 1:13.605 | 6 |

      | 9. A. Lindblad | Racing Bulls | 5 | 1:14.517 | 7 | 7 | 1:14.140 | 7 | 9 | 1:13.737 | 5 |

      | 10. C. Sainz | Williams | 11 | 1:15.500 | 10 | 10 | 1:14.547 | 8 | 10 | 1:14.536 | 6 |

      | 11. N. Hulkenberg | Audi | 12 | 1:15.673 | 7 | 11 | 1:14.595 | 7 |

      | 12. G. Bortoleto | Audi | 15 | 1:15.801 | 7 | 12 | 1:14.627 | 7 |

      | 13. F. Colapinto | Alpine | 10 | 1:15.484 | 8 | 13 | 1:14.702 | 8 |

      | 14. E. Ocon | Haas | 13 | 1:15.760 | 9 | 14 | 1:14.928 | 8 |

      | 15. O. Berman | Haas | 16 | 1:15.872 | 9 | 15 | 1:15.305 | 8 |

      | 16. F. Alonso | Aston Martin | 14 | 1:15.760 | 7 | 16 | – | 0 |

      | 17. S. Perez | Cadillac | 17 | 1:16.002 | 8 |

      | 18. L. Stroll | Aston Martin | 18 | 1:16.354 | 9 |

      | 19. P. Gasly | Alpine | 19 | 1:16.642 | 8 |

      | 20. V. Bottas | Cadillac | 20 | 1:16.866 | 8 |

      | A. Albon | Williams | 21 | – | 0 |

      | L. Lawson | Racing Bulls | 22 | – | 0 |