George Russell resuscitated his world championship dream by taking pole position for the sprint race in Canada. ‘Nice,’ the Briton enthused over the radio.
And then came some banter with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. ‘Well done, George,’ intoned the Austrian, adding: ‘Well done, George.’
‘Thank you, Toto,’ came the response. ‘Thank you, Toto.’
They hope to say that again and again this weekend.
Russell certainly wants to because he is 20 points behind his team-mate Kimi Antonelli after four rounds and is without a win in the last three races. But this Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve is a favourite of Russell’s, scene of a distinguished victory last year, and there is a sense of needing to deliver now – or panic is at his elbow.
Early signs, yes, just qualifying for the sprint, but as the shadows lengthened over Montreal, in a session delayed by Fernando Alonso planting his Aston Martin in the wall, Russell led the timing screens for today’s 23-lap amuse bouche to the main course, 0.068sec ahead of Antonelli.
George Russell claimed pole position for the sprint race at the Canadian Grand Prix
Russell is trying to close the points gap to his Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli
In all, a maximum of 33 points are on offer this weekend – eight today and 25 in the grand prix proper. Russell is greedy to tuck into them.
He was impregnable over one lap, three weeks after losing out to Antonelli in the US. ‘It feels great after Miami,’ said Russell, adding: ‘I never doubted myself.’
McLaren’s Lando Norris, who was third quickest, a place ahead of his team-mate Oscar Piastri, was once the patient on the psychiatrist’s couch. He was the dreamer assailed by self-doubt as a team-mate crowded in on his ambitions to be world champion.
He listened to his mind-hardening coaches, toughened up, and just got the job done in Abu Dhabi last year, holding off not only the threat of Piastri but a gale called Max Verstappen blowing in from Red Bull.
Now, that life-defining triumph completed, Norris sits in the lee of the title wind. In fact, he is full of banter as he chomps on a madeleine cake in his team’s hospitality area, an almost carefree observer of Russell’s contest at the summit of the scene against his potential usurper, 19-year-old Antonelli.
Last year, Norris was in danger of choking during these race-by-race conversations with a handful of British journalists. He never ducked a session, mind, even as his mettle was questioned.
His mood this weekend was in stark contrast to those introspective worries. Yes, he hopes that McLaren’s upgrade in Miami turns out to be a harbinger of enduring improvement (qualifying suggested, yes, but Mercedes with their new package here are a step ahead). For now, the boot of uncertainty Norris the aspirant felt are snuggly on Russell’s foot.
Norris and Russell go back a long way to their karting days. Do they get on? Yes, sort of, but there is rivalry and niggle, an undercurrent of rancour.
Lando Norris has warned Russell that fighting for the F1 world title is like nothing he has experienced before
He insisted Russell needs to win the Canadian Grand Prix like he did last year, after team-mate Antonelli secured three straight victories to lead the drivers’ championship
Norris praised Russell’s fighting spirit and labelled him as one of the smartest drivers on track
And here comes Norris’s take on Russell, and he does not apply balm on his pal’s psyche.
‘He’s got to win this race,’ said Norris.
‘This situation in which he finds himself is different from anything he has faced before. He is fighting for a world championship. He can forget everything that’s ever happened in the past. He has a strong team-mate.’
Norris is asked if he thinks Russell has the requisite ‘b***s of steel’? The reigning champion ducks the answer a touch. He says, unconvincingly, that he doesn’t know Russell well enough.
‘He certainly puts up a good fight,’ added Norris. ‘He’s shown that already when he tried to fight Max, off the track (in a war of words in 2024 and in Barcelona last year when they crashed). He wanted to stand up for himself and make that kind of point.
‘He’s smart as well, definitely one of the smartest drivers on track.
‘So, he knows how to approach different situations. People underestimate what smartness can add to the table when you’re driving, as well as over the longevity of a season.
‘In the championship fight, there’s the consistent pressure of performing every qualifying, every race. Not wanting to make mistakes.’
How Russell deals with that scrutiny is the question on which the weekend, and his high hopes, hinge.
