Russell takes a third consecutive pole in Montreal, both Red Bulls reach Q3 in Canada for the first time since 2018 and Bottas records a career-worst qualifying result. Here are the facts and statistics from qualifying at the 2026 Canadian Grand Prix!
RUSSELL ON POLE AT THE 2026 CANADIAN GRAND PRIX
George Russell took pole position for the 2026 Canadian Grand Prix, securing the ninth pole of his career. He is the 38th driver to secure as many as nine pole positions.
This was Russell’s first pole position since the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
2026 is the third year in a row that Russell has secured pole position at the Canadian Grand Prix. He has taken one third of all of his Grand Prix poles at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
This was Mercedes’ ninth pole position at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, seeing them move ahead of Williams and McLaren at the top of the list of most pole positions at the track.
Kimi Antonelli qualified second, meaning Mercedes locked-out the front row for the fourth time in the first five Grand Prix weekends of 2026.
This was Mercedes’ fourth front row lock-out at the Canadian Grand Prix, after 2014, 2015 and 2016.
The 2026 Canadian Grand Prix is the 33rd race in a row that a Mercedes-powered car has qualified on the front row of the grid. It’s a new record for the manufacturer’s most successive front row qualifications, with Mercedes-powered cars having last qualified on the front row at as many as 32 successive races between the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix and the 2015 Italian Grand Prix.
ALSO IN THE TOP TEN
Qualifying third, Lando Norris equalled his best-ever Canadian Grand Prix qualifying result. He last qualified third here in 2024. This was his best qualifying result of the season to date.
With Lewis Hamilton qualifying fifth and Charles Leclerc eighth, Ferrari recorded the exact same result in qualifying for the 2026 Canadian Grand Prix as they did in 2025.
Leclerc’s eighth place marked the first time he has qualified outside of the top five positions since the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix.
With both Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar reaching Q3, this was Red Bull’s first double Q3 appearance at the Canadian Grand Prix since 2018.
Verstappen qualified sixth, failing to qualify on the front row at the Canadian Grand Prix for the first time since 2019.
Arvid Lindblad reached Q3, making this the third year in a row that one of the Red Bull junior team’s drivers qualified in the top ten at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Qualifying ninth, he equalled his best qualifying result to date, having last qualified ninth on debut in Australia.
Lindblad joined the group of drivers with a 100% Q3 appearance rate in Montreal. Oscar Piastri, Kimi Antonelli, Isack Hadjar and Lewis Hamilton all remained in the group.
Qualifying tenth, Franco Colapinto became the first Alpine driver to reach Q3 at the Canadian Grand Prix since 2023.
This was Colapinto’s third Q3 appearance in his career – and the first time that he has reached Q3 at consecutive races.
ELIMINATED IN Q2
Both Audi drivers exited in Q2 at the 2026 Canadian Grand Prix. It was the first time that both of the Hinwil team’s cars made it out of Q1 in Montreal since 2022 – the season which remains the only one since 2008 that one of the team’s drivers reached Q3 at the track.
With Ollie Bearman out in Q2 and Esteban Ocon eliminated in Q1, 2023 remains the last time that a Haas driver reached Q3 at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Carlos Sainz was out in Q2 at the 2026 Canadian Grand Prix. With Alex Albon out in Q1, this was the first time since 2022 that neither Williams driver reached Q3 here.
Sainz out-qualified Albon for the fourth race weekend in a row.
OUT IN Q1
Aston Martin and Cadillac continued their record of seeing both drivers eliminated in Q1 at every Grand Prix to date in 2026.
This was the Silverstone-based team’s first double Q1 exit in Canada since 2022.
Lance Stroll became the first driver to record as many as six Q1 exits at the Canadian Grand Prix. 2023 and 2024 are the only times that Stroll has progressed past Q1 in his eight home race appearances to date.
Qualifying 21st, this was Stroll’s worst qualifying result to date in Montreal. He had never previously qualified below 18th at the track.
Fernando Alonso recorded his first-ever Q1 exit at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, qualifying 19th. The only other time he has qualified outside the top 14 here was on his debut with Minardi in 2001, when he set the 21st fastest lap time before being excluded.
Setting the slowest lap time in Q1 at the 2026 Canadian Grand Prix, Valtteri Bottas recorded the worst qualifying result of his career to date.
This was Bottas’s second Q1 exit at the Canadian Grand Prix, having also been eliminated in Q1 on his last appearance here in 2024.
Sergio Perez recorded his third Q1 exit from his last five visits to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Having exited in Q2 at every Grand Prix prior to Montreal so far in 2026, Esteban Ocon recorded his first Q1 exit since the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix.
Alex Albon recorded his third Q1 exit of the season at the 2026 Canadian Grand Prix, qualifying 18th. The Miami Grand Prix is the only time so far this year that neither Williams driver has exited in the first stage of qualifying.
This was Albon’s first Q1 exit at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. 2022 was the last time he failed to reach Q3 here. His previous worst qualifying result at the track was 14th, on his first appearance in 2019.