Oscar Piastri warns Mercedes ‘still got a gap’ after George Russell pole

A thrilling Canadian Grand Prix qualifying ended with George Russell snatching pole. Oscar Piastri is not convinced that the true Mercedes performance materialised.

The order at the top evolved throughout qualifying in Montreal, with Russell rebounding out of nowhere to snatch pole position from Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli. Piastri does not believe that Russell found the full performance from his Mercedes. Piastri also warned of “big problems” with the tyres and engines if the Canadian GP is a wet race, as expected.

Oscar Piastri fears Mercedes advantage after Canadian GP qualifying

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Piastri will start the Canadian Grand Prix from fourth, joining his McLaren teammate Lando Norris on the second row. Meanwhile, fans of F1 can get the best offers on BestBettingSites.co.uk ahead of the next race.

Ahead, it was another Mercedes front-row lockout, but certainly not a straightforward one. Russell abandoned his first lap, went onto the second row next time around, and with his final lap snatched pole position from teammate and championship leader Antonelli.

Piastri was asked how tough it was to get the tyres in the right window out there.

“Pretty tough,” he revealed. “I think everybody was doing warm-up laps, which is obviously a bit unusual, but I think George actually did two laps on the same set, so it was tough.

“I think once you did a warm-up lap, it made things a bit easier, but not the easiest to get everything out of the tyres.”

Piastri was also asked about the feeling in general at the wheel the McLaren MCL40.

McLaren brought a new front wing to Montreal, but reverted to the old spec after practice.

“It was, reasonable,” he said. “I think we did a better job of getting the balance nicer today, certainly compared to the Sprint, which was a good thing.

“But we still just lacked that last little bit, so we need to find a bit more.”

Speaking of finding a bit more, Piastri believes that the encouraging, narrow deficit to Mercedes may not tell the full story.

Two tenths covered that top four, but Piastri does not believe that Russell extracted everything from the Mercedes W17 on his pole lap.

Asked how close he was to getting the most out of the McLaren in Q3, Piastri said: “I think reasonably close.

“I think this circuit is one where you always feel like there’s a tenth or two left, but that normally ends up with a wheel or two missing if you try and chase it!

“So I think there was a bit left in there. Turn 3 and 4, I was struggling with pretty much the whole session. But apart from that, it was all pretty good.

“Looking at George’s lap, it’s not a perfect lap either. So, I think the Mercedes has still got a bit of a gap on everyone.”

However, Grand Prix Sunday in Montreal could present a completely different challenge for the drivers. Not only compared to the race weekend so far, but a situation completely unique to anything that most of the drivers have experienced before.

That is driving these F1 2026 cars in the wet, a thought which seems to have triggered sleepless nights up and down the grid.

Piastri noted that “I’ve not really driven these cars in the rain,” and shed further light on why it could prove such a challenge.

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“These power units don’t like it when you’re inconsistent, and it’s basically impossible to be consistent in the rain, so there’s going to be a few issues with that, most likely, up and down the grid,” Piastri suggested.

Piastri has “not heard amazing things” about the Pirelli tyres, so suggested that this, combined with the power units, “will be a big problem” if it is a wet Canadian Grand Prix.

The threat of storms in Miami last time out caused the Grand Prix to be brought forward. The track was dry by the time of the race, after torrential precipitation in the morning, meaning no experience of F1 2026 wet-weather driving was gained.

Piastri said that McLaren “did a lot of preparation” for the scenario in Miami, and the conclusion was “we don’t know what’s going to happen.”

“When you’ve got a few 100, if not 1000s, of the best engineers in the world that don’t know what’s going to happen, it’s an interesting place to be in, so I’m sure it’s the same up and down the grid,” Piastri concluded.

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