Russell snatches Canada GP pole from Mercedes teammate Antonelli

MONTREAL, Canada, May 23 : George Russell snatched pole position from Formula One championship-leading Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli with a last-gasp lap at the Canadian Grand Prix on Saturday.

Russell, winner of the day's earlier sprint race from pole, crossed the line 0.068 of a second faster than the Italian right at the end of the session after the 19-year-old had gone quicker than everyone else.

"That is the most exhilarating feeling in the world when it comes last minute out of nowhere," the Briton said on the team radio after a whoop of joy. "We made that a bit tricky..." 

McLaren's Lando Norris, the reigning champion, will start in third place on Sunday with Australian teammate Oscar Piastri alongside for what could be a wet race with race director Rui Marques declaring a 'Rain Hazard'.

VERSTAPPEN FRUSTRATED BY LACK OF SPEED 

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton qualified fifth, but facing an enquiry for alleged impeding, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen sixth and frustrated at a lack of straight-line speed.

"I have no idea what is going on. I don't really have a lot of words," said the Dutch four-times world champion.

"Everything is so confusing. I also didn't like the set-up change we made. I think (Sunday) will be chaos regardless of the weather."

The pole was a third in a row in Canada for Russell, who converted the position into victory at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve last year and whose team have brought a major car upgrade to Montreal.

It had not looked at all certain minutes earlier when the Briton aborted his first attempt to return to the pits and was still to set a time with six minutes to go. He then went out and did two flying laps, sealing pole with the second.

Russell had not figured in the top three in the two