George Russell threw down the gauntlet to Max Verstappen ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix after snatching pole position from the Dutchman.
Russell produced a scintillating final lap in qualifying to clinch his first pole of the season, pipping Verstappen by 0.160 seconds, with championship leader Oscar Piastri is third.
Russell and Verstappen, arch rivals from their feud last year, clashed on track last time out in Spain. The Dutchman was penalised for causing a collision, demoting him from fifth to 10th and resulting in three F1 penalty points.
Verstappen is now one penalty point away from a race ban and Russell could not help but goad the Red Bull driver ahead of the grand prix and turn one on Sunday.
Asked about the start, Russell replied: “I’ve got a few more points on my licence to play with! Let’s see, let’s see!
“Today was awesome to get the pole. That last lap was one of the most exhilarating laps of my lap, every corner I was going one-tenth quicker.
“P1 was a real surprise, so chuffed with it.”
Verstappen, however, was satisfied with his work in qualifying as he beat both McLaren drivers to the front-row.
“I felt quite good all weekend, car was in a good window, this track is cool,” he said.
“You need to be efficient on the straights, overall I’m very happy with qualifying.
“I’d always pick P1, we’ll see what we can do tomorrow. Hopefully tomorrow we can have a solid race.”
Lando Norris finished down in seventh, while Russell’s teammate Kimi Antonelli will start in fourth.
Norris, whose championship challenge has been derailed by errors in qualifying, made a mistake on his first run in Q1 and had to abort the final right-left chicane.
TOP-10 – CANADA GP QUALIFYING
1. George Russell
2. Max Verstappen
3. Oscar Plastri
4. Some Antonelli
5. Lewis Hamilton
6. Fernando Alonso
7. Lando Norris
8. Charles Leclerc
9. Isack Hadjar
10. Alex Albon
“So, Lando let’s just reset and remember your braking references,” Norris was told by his race engineer, Will Joseph.
Norris’s error handed the advantage to both Verstappen and Piastri, with the former holding a 0.025 seconds advantage over the Australian.
Norris came round again but he was 0.377sec off the pace with his father, Adam Norris, grimacing in the back of the McLaren garage.
On to the final runs and it was Piastri who went fastest only to be usurped by Verstappen and then Russell.
Norris, who trails Piastri by 10 points in the standings, was a distant 0.726 behind Russell and half-a-second adrift of Piastri in the other McLaren to deal another blow to the Briton’s title hopes.
Lewis Hamilton starts fifth, with Fernando Alonso in sixth and Charles Leclerc in eighth.
The race on Sunday starts at 7pm (BST).
Additional reporting by PA
