A furious Max Verstappen lashed out at criticism of his driving, saying it was “childish, annoying and pissing me off” after his nemesis George Russell beat him to pole position for Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix.
Russell snatched top spot with a brilliant final lap at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to leave Verstappen trailing by 0.160sec, with the McLaren pair Oscar Piastri third and Lando Norris a disappointing seventh. It means Mercedes’s Russell and defending champion Verstappen will line up on the front row together, a fortnight after their collision in Spain.
The Red Bull driver Verstappen accelerated into Russell and was demoted from fifth to 10th by the stewards at the Circuit de Barcelona. He was also hit with three penalty points which leaves him one point away from a race ban.
Moments after he landed his second pole in as many years in Montreal, Russell joked of his rivalry with Verstappen: “We are mates so we are all good. I’ve got a few more points on my licence to play with, so let’s see.”
But when the subject arose in the post-qualifying press conference, Verstappen did not see the funny side. “I don’t need to hear it again,” he said. “It is really pissing me off. You speaking about it on Thursday, it is such a waste of time. It is very childish.
“I don’t want to say too much because it is really annoying this world that we live in.”
Russell insisted earlier this week that Verstappen’s attempts to “scare” him in Barcelona did not work and he believes a ban for the Dutch driver – if he reaches 12 points – would be justified. On Saturday, Russell said: “I don’t think any driver goes out there looking to crash into somebody and get penalty points on their licence. Max is one of the best and there is no reason for him to race any differently.
“But I am not sitting here thinking he will give me more room but probably the opposite to prove a point so I will keep an eye on that. We are here to win and we will not do something which jeopardises the race.”
Norris is 10 points behind Piastri and his championship challenge has been derailed by errors in qualifying. He made another two in Montreal when it came to the crunch, aborting the final right-left chicane on his first run in Q3 and then grazing the wall on the exit of Turn 7 with his last effort to leave him seven tenths off the pole pace and four places and half-a-second behind Piastri in the other McLaren.
“It is a very easy track to push 1% too much and pay the price – and that’s what happened today,” said Norris. “Mistakes have cost me. A podium will be tough because we don’t have the pace we have had of the past few races. I am not as confident as in other places but I am confident we can go forward but it will be a struggle.”
Kimi Antonelli will line up from fourth for Mercedes, one place ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton. Charles Leclerc made an error on his last lap and is eighth on the grid.
Meanwhile, Derek Warwick has been suspended from his role as a driver steward in Montreal as a result of “recent unauthorised media comments”, the FIA announced. The 70-year-old former driver’s suspension follows remarks circulated by a gambling platform about a variety of matters including the 10-second penalty given to Verstappen at the Spanish Grand Prix.
The FIA confirmed that Enrique Bernoldi, who raced for the Arrows Formula One team, will replace Warwick in Montreal, but added: “After discussion, Derek acknowledges that his comments were ill-advised in his role as an FIA steward and has apologised. Derek will resume his duties as a steward in the forthcoming Austrian Grand Prix.”
