George Russell credited Lewis Hamilton for serving to him enhance on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve after securing back-to-back F1 pole positions in Canada.
Russell produced an excellent lap in qualifying on the Canadian Grand Prix to beat Max Verstappen to pole place.
The British driver has taken pole place on the Canadian Grand Prix in 2024 and 2025.
After qualifying, Russell defined that studying from Hamilton was key to his improved type in Montreal.
Hamilton has an unimaginable file in Canada, successful on seven earlier events.
In an interview with TSN, Russell stated: “I discovered loads from Lewis my first yr I got here right here.
“He’s all the time been so robust and he’s the GOAT, nicely he’s the Montreal GOAT prior to now, and that helped me take one other degree right here. So two poles within the final two years is fairly good.”
Throughout their time collectively as teammates at Mercedes, Russell out-scored Hamilton in two seasons (2022 and 2024).
Russell additionally turned simply the second teammate – Nico Rosberg is the opposite – to out-qualify Hamilton throughout a season.
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Consideration now turns to the race, with Russell beginning the grand prix from pole place.
He might be alongside his major nemesis, Verstappen, with the pair clashing final day out on the Spanish Grand Prix.
Russell overtook Verstappen at Flip 1 following the Security Automobile restart.
Verstappen ran broad as a consequence of Russell carrying an excessive amount of velocity into the nook, however because the Purple Bull driver reduce the observe to remain forward, he was instructed to provide the place again.
Verstappen was irked by the instruction, which was later proved to be incorrect, and collided with Russell.
The four-time F1 world champion was hit with a 10-second time penalty, dropping him from fourth to tenth.
Verstappen was additionally awarded three penalty factors, placing him on 11 total.
If Verstappen hits 12, he might be compelled to serve a one-race ban.
After qualifying in parc ferme, Russell made reference to Verstappen’s penalty level scenario when requested a few potential head-to-head battle into Flip 1.
“I’ve received a couple of extra factors on my licence to play with so let’s see,” Russell stated.
