Max seventh in sprint qualifying in Canada: 'I struggled with the car'

Published on 23 May 2026 by Misha van der Kroon

In sprint qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen finished in seventh place, half a second adrift of George Russell, who narrowly edged out his Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli for pole. The McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri locked out the second row in Montreal.

“I’m not surprised by this result,” said Max afterwards. “My feeling in the car was not so good. I was struggling a lot with it. It was very difficult to be consistent. That’s something we need to investigate. We’ll have to deal with it for the sprint, but hopefully we can improve it for qualifying.”

In the first part of the sprint qualifying, all drivers are required to use the medium compound Pirelli tyres. At the front, Lewis Hamilton sets the pace with a 1:13.889, followed by Antonelli and Verstappen. With two minutes remaining, Fernando Alonso runs straight on into the barriers after locking up under braking. Eliminated in SQ1 are Sergio Perez, Lance Stroll, Pierre Gasly, Valtteri Bottas, as well as Alex Albon and Liam Lawson, who both fail to take part altogether.

The second part of sprint qualifying is also run on mediums. While Russell goes fastest ahead of Hamilton and Antonelli, Max struggles with his car. The Dutchman reports a lack of rear grip over the radio. Verstappen scrapes through to SQ3 in ninth place, over 1.3 seconds off the pace. Eliminated at this stage are Nico Hülkenberg, Gabriel Bortoleto, Franco Colapinto, Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman.

The remaining ten drivers switch to soft tyres in the fight for pole, with Russell leading the field. Hamilton briefly looks capable of challenging for the top spot, but Antonelli improves on his second run to move into P2. Norris and Piastri also improve on their second attempts, securing the second row for McLaren. The Ferraris of Hamilton and Charles Leclerc line up together on the third row.

Max ends up half a second short of pole, which leaves him seventh on the grid for the sprint race. His Red Bull Racing teammate Isack Hadjar lines up alongside him on the fourth row at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Results sprint qualifying Canada: