George Russell will start the Canadian Grand Prix sprint from pole position after returning to form at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Friday.The Briton won the grand prix at this venue last year and will look to make inroads on Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli's championship lead, though the Italian starts alongside Russell on the front row for the 23-lap sprint.Reigning champion Lando Norris is third ahead of McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, both of whom will be aiming to take advantage of Mercedes' sluggish starts so for this term, should that theme be continued.Ferrari leads the chasing packDavid Kirouac-Imagn ImagesLewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc occupy row three for Ferrari, while Red Bull continues the Noah's Ark-esque grid formation on row four - Max Verstappen ahead of Isack Hadjar.Arvid Lindblad was a standout ninth for Racing Bulls on his first visit to Ile Notre-Dame in Montreal, though was disappointed by his effort in SQ3. The Briton sits alongside Williams' Carlos Sainz, who had one of his better days of the season to take 10th on the grid.Nico Hulkenberg was again 11th for Audi and just ahead of team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto, while Franco Colapinto was the lead Alpine in 13th.Fourteenth went to Esteban Ocon in the Haas, the Frenchman having downplayed speculation over his F1 future ahead of racing, with team-mate Oliver Bearman 15th as the team grappled with a new upgrade package.Fernando Alonso made SQ2 for Aston Martin on a much improved showing for the squad but the two-time champion took no part in the session having crashed out at Turn 3 in SQ1.— Formula 1 (@F1) May 22, 2026Sergio Perez was impressive for Cadillac but was hindered by the late red flag for Alonso's crash in SQ1, as were the rest of those eliminated, including the Spaniard's team-mate Lance Stroll, who lines up 18th for his home sprint.Pierre Gasly was the shock drop-out and will be 19th in the second Alpine, with Valtteri Bottas slowest of those to set a time.Alex Albon didn't take part in the session after a heavy crash in the sole practice session, extensive repairs needed to his Williams after a run-in with a marmot at the exit of Turn 7. He could start either from the last row of the grid or the pitlane, as could Liam Lawson, who also failed to participate in sprint qualifying following a power unit issue in practice.F1 Canadian Grand Prix 2026: Sprint starting gridPositionDriver / Team1George Russell / Mercedes2Kimi Antonelli / Mercedes3Lando Norris / McLaren4Oscar Piastri / McLaren5Lewis Hamilton / Ferrari6Charles Leclerc / Ferrari7Max Verstappen / Red Bull8Isack Hadjar / Red Bull9Arvid Lindblad / Racing Bulls10Carlos Sainz / Williams11Nico Hulkenberg / Audi12Gabriel Bortoleto / Audi13Franco Colapinto / Alpine14Esteban Ocon / Haas15Oliver Bearman / Haas16Fernando Alonso / Aston Martin17Sergio Perez / Cadillac18Lance Stroll / Aston Martin19Pierre Gasly / Alpine20Valtteri Bottas / Cadillac21Alex Albon / Williams22Liam Lawson / Racing BullsAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow