Mercedes continued to stamp their authority on the 2026 Canadian Grand Prix weekend as rookie sensation Kimi Antonelli recovered from a difficult start to Saturday by leading the way in the opening phase of qualifying at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The young Italian delivered the fastest lap in Q1, immediately putting himself back in contention after an earlier setback during the afternoon sessions.
Although Antonelli’s benchmark was impressive, it remained around four tenths slower than the sprint pole lap produced by teammate George Russell on Friday, showing how much the teams were still fine-tuning their cars ahead of the main qualifying showdown in Montreal.
The biggest surprise of the session came in Q2, where Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar briefly stole the spotlight. The Frenchman produced a superb lap to top the timing screens in an ultra-competitive session that saw the top five drivers separated by only 0.104 seconds. Hadjar edged out Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and McLaren star Lando Norris in one of the tightest qualifying segments of the season so far.
At the opposite end of the grid, Aston Martin and Cadillac endured another frustrating afternoon. Both teams failed to progress beyond Q1, despite Fernando Alonso managing to reach Sprint Qualifying’s second phase on Friday. Alonso could only manage 19th place, while teammate Lance Stroll struggled further down in 21st. Cadillac also found themselves locked out near the back, with Sergio Perez qualifying 20th and Valtteri Bottas ending the session in 22nd.
Several late steward decisions also reshaped the provisional order after qualifying concluded. Grid penalties applied following technical irregularities and power unit changes forced a handful of drivers further down the starting lineup, creating additional opportunities for midfield runners to gain valuable positions on race day.
Among the most notable adjustments were penalties connected to component allocations and setup infringements discovered after parc fermé inspections. The FIA confirmed revised grid positions shortly after the session, with teams scrambling to recalculate their race strategies for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
The updated starting grid for the 2026 Canadian Grand Prix now places Mercedes firmly at the front of the field, with Antonelli and Russell both in strong contention for victory. Hamilton and Norris remain close enough to challenge, while Hadjar’s breakthrough qualifying performance has positioned Racing Bulls for one of their strongest race starts of the campaign.
Drivers eliminated in Q2 included Nico Hulkenberg, Liam Lawson, Gabriel Bortoleto, Pierre Gasly, Carlos Sainz and Ollie Bearman. Meanwhile, Esteban Ocon, Alex Albon, Alonso, Perez, Stroll and Bottas were all eliminated in Q1.
This year’s qualifying format also featured two key regulation tweaks. With 22 cars now on the Formula 1 grid, six drivers are eliminated in both Q1 and Q2 instead of five, while Q3 has been extended from 12 minutes to 13 minutes to give teams more flexibility during the pole-position shootout.