George Russell, from Mercedes AMG F1, celebrated his pole position in the classification parc fermé for the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, Canada, on June 8, 2024. Russell acknowledged that securing pole position in the race was a relief for Mercedes, as it proved that their promises translated into real results. Despite a slow start to the season, Mercedes expressed confidence in their recent improvements, which put them back on track with their W15 car. During the practice sessions at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the team showed promising speed, and Russell delivered when it mattered, narrowly beating Max Verstappen. However, Russell was surprised that he did not improve his initial time in Q3 when he switched to new tires. He described the weekend as challenging, with variable conditions in all sessions and laps. Nevertheless, his lap on used tires was strong, and even though he did not find the expected improvement on new tires, his first lap was enough to secure pole position.
Russell believes that his recent standout performance proved the team’s renewed optimism and shows that their previous struggles are a thing of the past.
“It’s great to see my name near the top of the timing sheets, but what’s even better is how the car is handling smoothly in the corners,” Russell explained.
“We used to struggle a lot with understeer before. Last year, we had a lot of oversteer, so we’ve been trying to find a balance between the two. It seems like we’re finally getting there.”
Russell expressed a sense of relief seeing his hard work translate into a better position.
As for the next race, Russell anticipates that tire preservation and wear prevention will be crucial to his chances of converting pole position into victory.
“It will be a challenging race for everyone,” he evaluated. “Tire wear seems to be a concern, and with the new track surface, nobody really knows what to expect.”
“But our car is incredibly fast right now, so we have to aim for the win. However, it will be a long race. Once the tires start to deteriorate, it will be difficult to recover.”
Russell believes that the race may involve some strategic decisions, although not as extreme as those seen in Monaco last week.
