Formula 1 - Canadian Grand Prix qualifying: How the action unfolded as George Russell took pole position from Max Verstappen

Thank you for joining me, live from the track here in Montreal.

That was a brilliant session, and a great result for George Russell, who'll start on pole for tomorrow's race.

We will, of course, be back to do it all again with another live blog - so make sure you join us.

The race is due to begin at 2pm EST, or 7pm if you're in the UK. We'll be here an hour before that for all the build-up - see you then!

Fresh from the pen of our man in Montreal, here's Jonathan McEvoy's report from a brilliant afternoon of qualifying at the Canadian Grand Prix.

George Russell took an extraordinary pole position at the Canadian Grand Prix – tied on 1min 12.000sec with Max Verstappen.

The Brit takes the honour of leading the race off, having set his time first.

So, a breakthrough for the beleaguered Mercedes team, and now the possibility of victory at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve tomorrow. ‘There’s no reason I can’t keep Max behind,’ declared a delighted Russell after stepping out of his car to huge cheers.

Read the full report below...

'I am super happy, first of all congrats to Mr Russell. He's been quick all weekend. But I'm happy with third. Third is a good job by us, I'm happy and excited for tomorrow.

'A lot of the time [in Montreal] you think you're going to crash.

'Two overtakes tomorrow? Easy - light work. I'm exciting to see what we can do. Two very fast drivers ahead, plenty of fast drivers behind, we'll put on a good show tomorrow.'

Verstappen: 'It's how it is... overall, we still had a good qualifying. The whole weekend has been a bit tricky for us, but P2 - I'll take it. It makes it exciting for tomorrow.

'I felt good in Monaco but it wasn't our track. This weekend, again we didn't have a good build-up. Hopefully it will be very exciting tomorrow.'

Some words from the pole-sitter, George Russell:

'Ah, amazing. It feels so good, so much hard work back at the factory has gone into this. Hopefully this is the start of something for us this season, and I think it is.

'It's awesome here, such good energy from all the fans. First step done, but now we've got our eyes on that win.

'The car's been feeling amazing, since we brought some upgrades in Monaco.'

That's the second time in Formula 1 history that we've had a dead heat for pole position in qualifying.

The last time - at Jerez in the 1997 European Grand Prix - Jacques Villeneuve, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Michael Schumacher all set exactly the same time.

1: George Russell - 1:12.000

2: Max Verstappen - 1:12.000

3: Lando Norris - 1:12.021

4: Oscar Piastri - 1:12.103

5: Daniel Ricciardo - 1:12.178

6: Fernando Alonso - 1:12.228

7: Lewis Hamilton - 1:12.280

8: Yuki Tsunoda - 1:12.414

9: Lance Stroll - 1:12.701

10: Alex Albon - 1:12.796

Oh my goodness. Max Verstappen sets EXACTLY the same time as George Russell - to the thousandth of a second. Because Russell posted his first, he takes pole position. Wow.

He has never beaten his team-mate Lewis Hamilton in Montreal, until now - and he's beaten the rest of the field too.

Russell P1, Verstappen P2, Norris P3.

Here we go - who's taking pole?

...but Russell still reigns supreme right now.

Norris just went P2 and Piastri is P3, knocking Hamilton to P4, but it's still Russell atop the tree.

There's just two minutes to go.

Can anyone steal top spot from these Mercedes?

Just as I posted that last update, Verstappen was usurped by not one but BOTH Mercedes'... George Russell is P1, and Lewis Hamilton is P2.

There's not much between them, and the silver cars are going toe-to-toe.

In the very early stages of Q3 here in Montreal, it's Red Bull and Max Verstappen at the top. He's clockeda 1:12.358 - just 0.002 seconds quicker than his best effort in Q1.

Behind him are Piastri, Alonso and Stroll.

We reach the business end of qualifying, with 10 cars ready for a 12-minute shootout to decide who's on pole. Let's see what happens.

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell have never locked out the front row since becoming team-mates in Formula 1.

And the last time Mercedes started a Grand Prix 1-2 was all the way back in 2021 in Saudi Arabia, when Hamilton led then-team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

Could they do it this afternoon?

Mercedes are back? Ferrari are gone? Verstappen is struggling?

We have a huge Q3 in store this afternoon, with Mercedes the big winners of the first two parts of qualifying. They look very, very quick - at the track where Lewis Hamilton won his first ever F1 race back in 2007.

A remarkable story emerging in Montreal. We said before the session that the Ferraris looked way off the pace, and that has turned out to be the case - with both drivers bombing out in Q2.

Joining them on the sidelines are Logan Sargeant (who made Q2 for the first time this season), as well as the second Haas of Magnussen, and the second Alpine of Pierre Gasly.

The top 10 going into Q3 looks like this: Russell, Hamilton, Norris, Tsunoda, Piastri, Albon, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Alonso, Stroll.

Wow, that is incredible! Both Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc are OUT in Q2.

Lando Norris has the fastest time of all 15 drivers out on track right now, with a 1:12.201. Behind him, Yuki Tsunoda, George Russell and Oscar Piastri.

This is turning into a big qualifying session for the RBs. Ricciardo is 5th, and Tsunoda 2nd.

Right now, Verstappen, Tsunoda, Stroll, Albon and Gasly are in the drop zone. There's 2 mins 30 to go of the session.

An update on Alex Albon - his car is fixed and he's back out on track.

Wow, wow, wow. Very nearly a huge crash for George Russell on turn four.

'Holy moly, I just had a big moment on four', comes the Brit over team radio.

He is very lucky - that wasn't far away from being a red flag incident.

Only five drivers out on the track as I type, but the rest of them are heading out of the pits now for a big five minutes.

The Williams driver is back in the pits and not moving for at least the next few minutes. He's currently 14th and heading out in Q2, so will need the mechanics to work quickly on his car to get him back out.

Q2 well underway now, and Lewis Hamilton has just had a bit of a moment on the final corner. Another lucky boy just avoiding the Wall of Champions.

As it stands, Verstappen, Stroll, Albon, Gasly and Sargeant make up the bottom five. Needless to say, that won't stay that way.

If the rain continues to fall, and the track gets gradually wetter, these laps could turn out to be very important.

All cars are out of the pits and trying to lock in an early time.

Right now, Oscar Piastri is the fastest man out there, with the two Mercedes behind him - Hamilton ahead of Russell.

Confirmation from Sky Sports' Ted Kravitz that the rain is, indeed, falling.

The cars are heading out for Q2... a big 15 minutes ahead!

As his teammate Max Verstappen tops the timesheets, Sergio Perez bombs out in Q1 for the second race in a row.

That's pretty inexplicable, in a car that leads the constructors' standings.

He'll start P16 for tomorrow's race.

A four-letter word - not broadcastable - comes through Sergio Perez's team radio. That's a disaster for the Red Bull driver, on the week he extended his deal with the team. Perez out in Q1 - again!

Elsewhere, both Sauber drivers are gone, the Alpine of Ocon, and Hulkenberg's Haas.

A shoutout to Logan Sargeant, who makes it through to Q2 with ease - and is currently P9 in the standings.

Perez and Sainz both need big laps, here. 1:12.851 the leading time as it stands - Lewis Hamilton at the top of the pile.

Right now, it's Hulkenberg, Bottas, Tsunoda, Perez and Zhou occupying the bottom five... 2 minutes left to get themselves out.

Here we go, then - the exciting bit of Q1 is upon us.

Plenty of cars are in and out of the pits, and Sergio Perez is leaving it very late. He's just had a new set of tyres put on, is getting his car re-fueled as I type, and will then have about 3 minutes to get round before one timed lap to finish the session. He's 18th and heading out, as it stands.

Charles Leclerc just came on team radio and sounded very, very angry with the RB of Yuki Tsunoda.

'Come on, the RB... ridiculous!'

A bit of traffic building around the final few corners as cars wind up for a push lap.

Around eight minutes left of Q1, with the current bottom five looking like this:

16th: Piastri

17th: Perez

18th: Gasly

19th: Ocon

20th: Zhou

That pesky Wall of Champions nearly claimed another victim, with Lance Stroll getting a bit squirrelly on the final turn. He's on team radio and says the car seems fine, but Aston Martin are checking that out. He definitely gave the wall a bit of a whack.

He's a lucky boy...

The first man to break into the 1:13s is Lando Norris, with the McLaren man moving himself to the top of the standings.

We're still a way off what these cars are capable of achieving, but the times are tumbling now.

Right now the top three looks like this:

1 - Norris

2 - Stroll

3 - Ricciardo

Some loud cheers from the partisan Canadian crowd, as their man goes top of the timesheets, very temporarily.

Seconds later, the Mercs arrive and George Russell takes top spot. Right now, the top three are separated by less than a tenth of a second.

The first man to put in a meaningful lap at the start of Q1 is world champion Max Verstappen, who sets a 1:15.194 - almost 10 full seconds quicker than his nearest rival.

A reminder that we begin with an 18-minute Q1 session... with the bottom five dropping out at the end of that. After that, Q2 will see us lose another five drivers - before the remaining 10 battle it out in Q3.

We'll bring you all the lap-by-lap updates over the next hour.

A big queue of cars at the end of the pit lane - headed up by Valtteri Bottas - and we have a green light to begin the session.

Qualifying is underway!

Wow - an 80% chance of rain in the next hour, according to latest weather reports.

That aforementioned wind in Montreal is blowing the weather through pretty quickly, and now it seems like we might get a wet session. Exciting news!

Get yourselves locked in, because it's nearly go-time in Montreal.

The drivers are getting strapped in, and we're close to the start of Q1.

The wind has really picked up here - let's see if that wreaks any havoc on track.

Here's where we're at - officially - with drivers for 2025.

We are, of course, reporting Bearman to Haas, so lock that one in too.

Elsewhere, it'd be a big surprise if Lance Stroll was dropped out of Aston Martin given the fact his dad owns the team.

At Mercedes, it's looking increasingly like young Kimi Antontelli will replace Lewis Hamilton, and Liam Lawson is the most favored to join Tsunoda at RB.

Any thoughts on the others? Tweet me @bennagle17 or comment below!

Montreal is famous for its Wall of Champions on the final turn, so named because of the wealth of winners that have ended up at its mercy.

Just this morning, Max Verstappen had a little tap and got away with it, while Alex Albon also sustained some damage. Expect a bit more where that came from when the real action gets underway in just 15 minutes' time.

Who's my money on? Well, as you've asked...

I think Red Bull and Max Verstappen will have sorted out their FP1 and FP2 issues ebough to get the Dutchman back firing on all cylinders. There's been a lot of question marks over whether they're still as dominant as they were previously, but my prediction is that he'll pull a big lap out of the bag and nick pole.

Behind him, I think Oscar Piastri will complete the front row, with Lewis Hamilton P3. Norris P4, and Sergio Perez P5.

Worth screenshotting this so you've got it later.

The young Brit - still only 19 - walking round the paddock this morning with a big old smile on his face. It's almost like he's had some good news.

The grandstands are filling up, and we're just half an hour away from the start of the session here in Montreal.

The weather is a mixture of cloud and sunshine, and it's expected to stay dry throughout. Excitement really building.

So after Mail Sport broke the news of Bearman to Haas, there's another confirmed place on the grid for 2025 with Yuki Tsunoda staying at RB.

There's still some question marks over who will be alongside him, with current team-mate Daniel Ricciardo out of contract at the end of 2024. Liam Lawson still looks to be an option.

They were one of the last teams to confirm their 2024 line-up, so don't expect it to be locked down any time soon.

As for Bearman's partner at Haas, that's also yet to be decided. Nico Hulkenberg is definitely off to Sauber (soon to be Audi!), and there's question marks over whether they'll move away from Kevin Magnussen in a new direction. Some options: Bottas, Zhou, Ocon

We'd heard whispers in the paddock this afternoon, and now it's official: Yuki Tsunoda is staying with Red Bull's sister team, Visa Cash App RB, for 2025.

Here's how they all shook out at the end of FP3...

Well, that's the million-dollar question. But it's looking like it'll be a lot, lot closer than it would have been a couple of months ago.

Much to the excitement of the majority of F1 fans, Red Bull's dominance looks to be waning ever so slightly, and there's some question marks over how they'll perform in Montreal this afternoon, and in tomorrow's race.

In FP3 - which finished an hour or so ago - Lewis Hamilton produced a blisteringly quick lap to top the timesheets, so we wait to see whether that was an anomaly or a sign of things to come.

Elsewhere, McLaren look very quick again, Aston Martin are having a good weekend - and Ferrari look considerably off the pace they anticipated. That said, the real work starts in qualy, so we'll see what happens.

While we're building up to qualifying (T-minus 50 minutes now) here's a look at why this race is so beloved - and is perhaps the best North America has to offer.

It's been a crazy couple of days of weather here in Montreal. The first day of running yesterday was marred by thunderstorms, hail and heavy rain ahead of FP1, and then we've had some bright sunshine this morning for FP3.

In the last hour, it's rained very heavily again - but the sun's now back out and it doesn't seem as though there's any more on the forecast.

From a racing perspective, it would have been nice to have a wet session - but that's looking unlikely!

Where better to start than with an exclusive story from my esteemed colleague Jonathan McEvoy, who this morning broke the news of young English sensation Oliver Bearman joining Haas for the 2025 season.

He starred earlier in the season when he jumped in a Ferrari in Jeddah, and now he's been tied down for his first season in the sport.

For the full story, click below...

Hello and welcome to Mail Sport's live blog for the qualifying session at the Canadian Grand Prix.

I'm Ben Nagle, and you join me live from trackside at Montreal, where preparations are well underway for the session, which starts in a little under an hour.