George Russell taunts Max Verstappen to reignite tensions at Canadian Grand Prix | F1 | Sport

George Russell cracked two jokes about Max Verstappen during his post-qualifying interview after pipping his rival to pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix. The Mercedes man will be looking for revenge on Sunday after the dramatic crash at the Spanish Grand Prix last time out.

Verstappen looked destined to secure a dominant pole position on medium compound tyres before Russell snuck his way through on his final run. Oscar Piastri will start behind in third, while championship rival Lando Norris could only put his McLaren on the fourth row of the grid.

Despite sharing a handshake with Verstappen after climbing out of the cockpit, Russell opted to provoke his rival with some jokes in a post-session interview with Jacques Villeneuve. “We’re mates, so it’s all good,” he replied with a smile when asked about starting alongside the Dutchman.

Villeneuve then asked whether or not Russell would fight Verstappen aggressively in the Grand Prix. “I’ve got a few more points on my licence to play with,” he fired back in a cheeky response. “Let’s see.”

The reigning world champion is treading a tightrope with two races remaining before some of his 11 penalty points are wiped from his FIA super license. Passing this milestone would earn him a one-race suspension that would deal a deadly blow to his title challenge.

Assessing his qualifying session, Verstappen said: “I felt quite good all weekend. The car actually was in a good window. You need to be quite efficient on the straights, which we are in general, so overall I’m quite happy with qualifying. The car was again working quite well.

“The tough choice was the tyres, which one to use. But I think we did the right thing [by using the medium].” Asked if his P2 starting grid slot could be a positive, he replied: “I would always pick P1 as you always start a bit more forward.

“But it’s fine, we will see what we can do tomorrow. I’m already very happy with what we achieved today, to be on the front row. Hopefully, tomorrow we can have a solid race.”

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