Formula 1 - George Russell makes Formula 1 sit up and take notice with Canada pole: But the fear remains

Mercedes had been looking good throughout the entire Formula 1 Canadian weekend – but as George Russell himself noted: Especially here in Montreal, only the last lap of qualifying counts. Russell nailed it, though, including the perfect tire decision for mediums. But the race still leaves a scare.

Russell had resurfaced from obscurity with his final shot in Q3. He had already set the fastest time in Q2, but on the medium. This was clearly the best qualifying tire, at least for the Mercedes in Canada. The slightly harder rubber simply gives the drivers a bit more stability in the corners, which they don't find on the soft.

"It felt like a good lap, but the medium just gave me that last bit of confidence," said Russell. He knew from the start that he wanted to finish qualifying on the medium. On his first Q3 attempt on the soft, he was still two and a half tenths off pole. Then he fitted the last of his three sets of medium tires to the car.

"It was one of the most exciting laps of my life," he rejoiced afterward. He could already see the time dropping from his steering wheel. Two tenths faster after Turn 3. Three and a half after Turn 5. Four and a half after Turn 7. "And then six in the final corner." The final time was 1:10.899. This was six tenths faster than his previous soft time, and over one and a half tenths faster than second-placed Max Verstappen.

"It was a powerful lap," Russell said. In retrospect, the jump was so big that it wasn't just the medium's trick. No, the Mercedes would probably have taken pole anyway: "I don't want to say I would have done as good a lap with the soft, but the medium is certainly not three-tenths better than the soft."

Kimi Antonelli underscored Mercedes' strength with fourth place on the grid. Despite having only used medium tires at the end because he had to defend himself against an early exit in Q2: "The grip was still decent, but it disappeared, especially towards the end. Then I made a big mistake in Turn 10, which cost me several tenths." He was surprised that he still managed to finish fourth.

After qualifying, both drivers quickly offered an explanation as to why the Mercedes was so damn fast in Q3. It's not as if the recent underbody update and the better-understood suspension update from Imola had really made a difference here, even though the parts are now definitely considered progress. It's more like the old Mercedes refrain: Performance depends on temperature.

Towards the end of qualifying, the asphalt began to cool down again in the late afternoon. "When it's cooler, the car feels great and gives me that confidence," said Russell. An early red flag also pushed Q3 back a good 10 minutes. "The track cools down in that time window, so it's no shock that we did better in Q3 than in Q1."

"That could easily go the other way in tomorrow's race," Russell fears. The race starts at 2:00 p.m. local time (8:00 p.m. CEST), two hours earlier than qualifying. Russell pleads with the weather gods: "Something as simple as a few clouds could give us a two-tenth advantage over McLaren. If the sun comes out, that neutralizes everything."

But overall, Mercedes is less afraid of Canada than of some other races. Wear is lower, and controlling the graining phenomenon on the rear tires is key. Precisely because of the weather factor, Russell isn't daring to make any predictions. He's also on the front row next to his arch-rival Max Verstappen. "I have a few more points on my license," he teased after qualifying. You can see the Dutchman's annoyed reaction here: