2024 F1 Round 9, Canadian GP Qualifying: Russell Takes Pole After Matching Verstappen at 1:12.000, Setting the Time First in F1’s Second Such Pole Tie

Qualifying for the 2024 Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix, Round 9 of the season, took place at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in the early hours of 9 June, Beijing time. Mercedes driver George Russell took pole with a 1:12.000, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen set exactly the same time but had to settle for second because he recorded it later. It was the second such pole-position tie to the thousandth of a second in F1 history. RB driver Yuki Tsunoda qualified eighth, reaching Q3 for the fourth consecutive round.

The previous identical pole times dated back to the 1997 European Grand Prix at Jerez, where Jacques Villeneuve, Michael Schumacher and Heinz-Harald Frentzen all recorded a 1:21.072. Twenty-seven years later, Russell and Verstappen repeated the remarkable feat in Montreal. Russell’s earlier lap gave him the final say and the second pole of his career.

McLaren’s decision to adjust its running order and begin the final runs earlier paid off. Lando Norris was third, just 0.021 seconds away, with Oscar Piastri fourth. Daniel Ricciardo took fifth, ahead of Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton deliberately waited until late to leave the pits, gambling on the track continuing to improve, but finished seventh, 0.280 seconds behind his team-mate. Tsunoda was eighth, Lance Stroll ninth and Alexander Albon tenth.

Before qualifying, RB had officially confirmed Tsunoda for the 2025 season, and the Japanese driver rewarded the team with a fourth consecutive Q3 appearance. Ricciardo, whose contract was also in its final year, beat his team-mate by 0.236 seconds. It was his second Grand Prix qualifying victory over Tsunoda this season, following China.

Q1 began in dry conditions, with an air temperature of 21°C and a track temperature of 31°C, but surprises and incidents soon followed. Sergio Pérez was 16th and exited in Q1 for the second successive round, leaving him visibly disappointed afterwards. Stroll hit the rear of his car hard against the Wall of Champions but still scraped through in tenth. Nico Hülkenberg, usually strong at this circuit, was only 19th, six places behind team-mate Kevin Magnussen in Q1. Albon lost valuable time when a problem arose with the right-rear wheel during a tyre change in Q2, yet still progressed to Q3 in sixth.

Conditions changed in Q2 as light rain arrived. A long queue briefly formed in the pit lane, and spectators put on their rain ponchos. Ferrari endured a nightmare: Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz both used old tyres on their final flying laps and were eliminated in 11th and 12th, missing the cut by 0.032 and 0.069 seconds respectively. Sainz briefly pushed Tsunoda outside the qualifying places, but the RB driver then fitted new soft tyres and went fourth to make it through. Ricciardo was eighth, putting both RB cars into Q3.

Sunshine broke through the clouds as Q3 began, and no wet-weather tyres were used during qualifying. With Pirelli supplying its softest three compounds, C3, C4 and C5, the pole battle ended with a rare identical-time contest. The race is scheduled for 02:00 Beijing time on 10 June, with 70 laps of the 4.361-kilometre circuit ahead.