George Russell claims his "last lap came from nowhere" during qualifying, after he snatched pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix from Kimi Antonelli.

Russell – the winner of Saturday's sprint race – endured a largely frustrating qualifying session, having to abort his first lap.

However, a stunning final run saw him pip Mercedes team-mate Antonelli to the top of the grid.

The Brit finished just 0.068 seconds quicker than Antonelli, who has won each of the last three Grands Prix.

"That last lap came from nowhere," Russell said.

"It was such a great feeling when it was such a challenging session, and you pull it all together on that last lap – to throw yourself up the leaderboard is epic.

"There are times when you expect to be on pole and every lap is the quickest, but the times when it comes together at the end are the sweetest.

"The car was out of sync, out of balance [for much of the session]. I knew I needed a big lap, and on my preparation lap, I saw Kimi on the TV screen going purple [fastest], and I was like, right, I need to bring something big here."

It is a Mercedes one-two on the grid, with McLaren's Lando Norris just falling short in the fight for pole as he finished third, 0.083secs behind Antonelli's best time.

Oscar Piastri was just behind Norris, but ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who faced an investigation on charges of impeding Alpine's Pierre Gasly, but no action was taken.

Hamilton's team-mate Charles Leclerc also struggled in qualifying, with the two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar separating the two Ferraris.

Arvid Lindblad and Franco Colapinoto rounded out the top 10.

But with rain forecast for Sunday's race, Piastri believes that could shake things up and offer McLaren a better chance to challenge the two Mercedes cars.

"I think we are a bit closer to Mercedes, yes, but I still don't think we have their ultimate pace," Piastri said.

"Their pace in the sprint, before they started battling, was impressive.

"We will wait and see with the weather in the race [and if it rains], I think that is going to be the biggest opportunity.

"Our starts have been okay, but the run is very short to Turn One, so there is not the same ability to make progress."