George Russell stormed to pole position at the Canadian Grand Prix and will start on the front row alongside his Barcelona rival Max Verstappen.

Verstappen was hit with a 10-place penalty and three penalty points after colliding with Russell’s Mercedes during the Spanish Grand Prix. Now, the duo’s fight will head to extra time as they start alongside one another in Montreal.

Russell looked strong all weekend and took his first pole since the Las Vegas Grand Prix, a race he went on to win, with a time of 1m 10.899s.

Verstappen had topped the timesheets until Russell’s final run usurped the Dutchman, while championship leader Oscar Piastri will start third for McLaren.

Piastri’s title rival and team-mate Lando Norris endured a tough afternoon and is down in seventh, starting on the fourth row alongside the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

Andrea Kimi Antonelli starts fourth for the second Mercedes, with Lewis Hamilton fifth and Fernando Alonso taking a standout sixth for Aston Martin. Isack Hadjar and Alex Albon round out the top 10.

Yuki Tsunoda was hit with a 10-place grid drop and three penalty points during the session after stewards ruled on a red flag infringement during FP3. This means he will start from the back of the field having been 11th fastest in Q2.

Franco Colapinto improved on his weekend so far and will start in the 11th spot vacated by Tsunoda, with Nico Hulkenberg and the Haas pair of Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon following close behind.

There were some surprising names out in Q1, with Pierre Gasly the slowest and Liam Lawson also knocked out in 19th. Home favourite Lance Stroll struggled on his return from injury and is down in 18th.

There was a delay during the session with a red flag needed after Albon’s Williams shed a large part of bodywork down the back straight.

His team-mate Carlos Sainz was then left fuming with Hadjar, who had clearly impeded the Williams driver as he narrowly missed the cut, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto also eliminated. 

Photos from Canadian GP – Practice & Qualifying

F1 Canadian GP results – qualifying 

Shane van Gisbergen will lead the NASCAR Cup Series field to the green flag in the inaugural event in Mexico City.

The New Zealander had set the fastest lap at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez when NASCAR deemed the session official because of rain. The pole-winning lap was 93.904 mph (1m32.776s).

“That’s awesome,” van Gisbergen said. “What a really cool achievement for us and a great starting spot for tomorrow. I’m excited. That’s really cool.”

The pole is the second for van Gisbergen in his career. He is 33rd in the point standings and earned his first, and so far, only, Cup Series victory in the inaugural event at the Chicago street course.

“We made some big swings last night,” van Gisbergen said. “The Safety Culture car was a bit better, a lot more front grip, which is what I needed. But my laps were average. You’ll see everyone is beating me on the first half of the lap and then my lap gets good at the end. I went for another lap, and was on a ripper, and mucked it up. We’ve got a lot of speed today, which is good; it’s been a great improvement. But we’ll see what happens with the weather and see where we end up, but a really good starting point.”

Ryan Preece qualified second with a lap at 93.839 mph.

Ross Chastain qualified third (93.830 mph), Ty Gibbs qualified fourth (93.757 mph), and Michael McDowell qualified fifth (93.704 mph). Kyle Larson qualified sixth (93.694 mph), Todd Gilliland qualified seventh (93.657 mph), AJ Allmendinger qualified eighth (93.655 mph), and Joey Logano qualified ninth (93.628 mph).

Daniel Suarez, the local hero, rounded out the top 10. Suarez qualified at 93.616 mph.

Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott just missed the top 10. Busch and Elliott qualified 11th and 12th respectively.

Cup Series point leader William Byron qualified 27th. Christopher Bell, who won the most recent Cup Series road course race at Circuit of the Americas, qualified 31st.

Ryan Truex qualified 36th for Joe Gibbs Racing as he drives Denny Hamlin’s car this weekend. Katherine Legge qualified last, 37th.

RESULTS

UP NEXT: Cup Series race in Mexico City at 3pm ET Sunday.

A sad day for Henderson Motorsports. Team owner Charlie Henderson has died. Parker Kligerman is among the many drivers remembering him today. Kligerman drove for Henderson off and on throughout his NASCAR career, winning three races, with two being official.

Earlier this season, Kligerman and Henderson Motorsports earned their third win together at Daytona. However, in post-race inspection, the truck was disqualified.

Following the news of Charlie Henderson’s passing, Kligerman took to social media to pay tribute to his friend and team owner. The two had forged quite a relationship over the last decade.

“Very sad day for this sport and the Henderson family. Charlie, his whole family & this race team have meant so much to me over the last decade. When I first got to Henderson Motorsports, I’ll never forget looking at a banner in their race shop full of the amazing drivers who had driven for them since the 70s. True heroes of the sport.

“I wasn’t sure if my name would make it up on that banner, but by the time we got our first win, I knew I had a home. Charlie and his family In some of my tougher moments in my racing career, have always been there to give me a shot and truly believed in me when many others didn’t. And together we have done some incredible things!”

Here is the full statement from Parker Kligerman. A tough day for the driver, and of course, the entire Henderson family and organization.

Charlie Henderson, longtime team owner, passes away

Charlie Henderson was not only the owner of Henderson Motorsports but also the owner of Food Country USA. The company was often featured on his race trucks throughout the years.

Earlier this season at Daytona, Parker Kligerman won the Truck Series season opener. That win was vacated after a post-race disqualification. Since their debut in 1982, Henderson Motorsports has raced in all levels of NASCAR.

In total, Henderson Motorsports earned five wins, three Xfinity and two Truck Series victories. The organization earned eight pole awards across those two series. WCYB in Virginia reported on his passing.

Charlie Henderson started his NASCAR organization in 1982. That year, Brad Teague drove a combination of Chevy and Pontiac cars. In 1983, Henderson qualified for its first-ever Daytona 500 with Ronnie Hopkins behind the wheel. Morgan Shepherd would make the final Cup start for Henderson at Martinsville in 1984, finishing P26.

It was with drivers like Teague and Rick Wilson that Henderson found its greatest successes in the Xfinity Series. Parker Kligerman won races at Talladega and Mid-Ohio for Henderson in the Truck Series. Of course, he won at Daytona this season, but officially, it doesn’t go into the record books.

Our thoughts are with the Henderson family and NASCAR organization during this difficult time. Charlie Henderson dedicated much of his life to stock car racing and the pursuit of speed and victories. He will be missed.

Daniel Suarez captured the victory in Saturday’s The Chilango 150 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez holding off Taylor Gray to score his fourth victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Taylor Gray finished second with Austin Hill, Christian Eckes, and Connor Zilisch inside the top-five. William Sawalich, Austin Green, Jeb Burton, Harrison Burton, and Sammy Smith rounded out the top-10.

Recommended Articles:

TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 STARTING LINEUP:

POS. DRIVER

1st – Shane van Gisbergen

3rd – Ross Chastain

5th – Michael McDowell

6th – Kyle Larson

8th – AJ Allmendinger

10th – Daniel Suarez

· Gearing up for a history-making race in Mexico City, Shane van Gisbergen captured his first pole win of the 2025 season to lead the field to the green flag in Sunday’s Viva Mexico 250. Turning in a best lap of 93.904 seconds, at 132.776 mph, in his No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, the qualifying effort delivered the 36-year-old Auckland, New Zealand, native his second career pole in NASCAR’s top division.

· Chevrolet owns half of the pole wins this season in NASCAR’s top division, with Shane van Gisbergen giving the manufacturer its eighth pole award heading into the 16th points-paying race. The pole triumphs have come on now three different racetrack configurations, with the road course of Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez being accompanied by one short-track pole win, as well as six on intermediate ovals.

· The Bowtie brand’s speed prevailed in qualifying with Chevrolet drivers taking six of the top-10 starting positions for the NASCAR Cup Series’ first-ever international points-paying race. Accompanying Shane van Gisbergen with strong qualifying efforts includes his Trackhouse Racing teammates, Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez, who piloted their Chevrolet-powered machines to third and 10th-place qualifying efforts, respectively. Spire Motorsports’ Michael McDowell qualified fifth, Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson qualified eighth and Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger qualified eighth to give four different Chevrolet organizations representation in the top-10 of the starting lineup.

Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet – Pole Winner Quotes

Where were the improvements in your car today for qualifying?

“We made some big swings last night. Our No. 88 Safety Culture Chevrolet was a bit better. We had a lot more front grip, which is what I needed. But my laps were average.. like you’ll see everyone was beating me on the first-half of the lap, and then my lap gets good at the end. We had a lot of speed today, which is good. It’s been a great improvement. What a really cool achievement for us and a great start for tomorrow. I’m excited.. that’s really cool.”

What are the tough parts of this track, and how much of an advantage is it starting on the pole tomorrow and having that No. 1 pit stall?

“Yeah, going into turn one, it’s crazy. The brake zone there, there’s going to be a lot of action there tomorrow. And then looking after the brakes, there’s no air, so the brakes are really going to struggle. We struggled yesterday on the long run, but being out front, you’ll get the most air in there.”

GM PR

Terran Swanson has always had a profound love of cars.

From watching his father, Brian, race vintage cars at Sonoma Raceway while growing up to working his first job as a parts washer at an auto shop, there was nothing that could separate the Petaluma native from the four-wheeled machines.

“I distinctly remember that I was not allowed to skip school on Friday to go to the racetrack,” Swanson recalled. “Turns out my uncle had barrel-rolled a car in the first practice session, so he came home early and was done for the weekend. So I didn’t get to see that, but later on I was going to the racetrack in pouring down rain and hanging out in the van all day.”

His life in motorsports reached new heights recently as a member of the pit crew for Alex Palou’s No. 10 car, this year’s winner of the famed Indianapolis 500.

Swanson is what is referred to as a rear-end mechanic, meaning he works on the back of Palou’s IndyCar for Chip Ganassi Racing. It’s a position he has held for the past two years, having worked his way up over five years as part of the Ganassi team.

But on Memorial Day weekend, Swanson was front and center for the No. 10 crew, working on the front right tire during pit stops. He was also responsible for guiding the car into the pit lane and sending it out once the crew is finished.

But Swanson, who now resides in Indianapolis, said being part of that city’s namesake racing circuit wasn’t a goal growing up.

“Funny enough, IndyCar wasn’t necessarily a dream,” Swanson said. “It was something I knew existed but never really followed it. What was the big passion was working on historic cars and club racing. There wasn’t a focus on IndyCar; I just wanted to work with race cars, that was the thought.”

Growing up on the east side of Petaluma and attending Casa Grande High School, Swanson’s first motorsports gig took him to Veloce Motors West on Petaluma Boulevard North. It was a job he took after graduation, washing car parts for about three years.

While working for Veloce, he attended Santa Rosa Junior College before moving out to Indiana to attend Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, now known as IU Indianapolis. The school was one of the only few that offered a Bachelor of Science degree in motorsports engineering.

After school, Swanson stayed in Indianapolis and got a job with Ganassi a few years later. Fast forward five years, and he was standing up on the pit wall at Indianapolis Motor Speedway May 25, watching Palou cross the finish line first despite a late caution.

“It is very much as people say — it’s a fleeting moment,” Swanson said of seeing Palou take the checkered flag. “It happens that quick, and then a few hours later the adrenaline wears off and you’re like, ‘I can’t believe this is real.’”

So what comes next after helping a driver to one of the biggest trophies in motorsports? Swanson said one of his goals is to continue to move up and eventually become a car chief. The big goal, he noted, is to become an Indy 500-winning car chief.

And his family back in Petaluma will be watching.

“I’m super proud,” Brian Swanson said of his son. “He’s doing a really good job, and it’s cool to see him following something that he loves to do.”

Terran tries to get back to Petaluma once or twice a year, and when he does he and his dad will race their vintage Formula Ford vehicles. In Indianapolis, Terran has a go-kart that he takes out as much as he can.

Clearly, his early desire to race is still there — when he’s not part of winning the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”

You can reach Staff Writer Kienan O’Doherty at 415-887-8650 or kienan.odoherty@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @kodoherty22.