George Russell claimed pole position at the Canadian Grand Prix with a surprise move: a perfect lap on Medium tyres, beating Max Verstappen and putting Mercedes back on top for the first time this season. It was an unusual choice, but one with interesting technical reasoning, as explained by Pirelli’s Motorsport Director, Mario Isola.
“It’s very rare to see a driver take pole with the Medium – the last time was Portugal 2020 with Lewis Hamilton,” Mario Isola recalled, commenting on a qualifying session full of surprises.
In Q3, no fewer than four different drivers led during the final minutes, but it was Russell who stopped the clock at 1:10.899 using the C5 compound, selected by eight drivers in total during qualifying.
Soft C6: Fast but Hard to Use
Mercedes’ strategy was carefully planned: “Many teams focused on the Soft in FP3 to preserve fresh Mediums for qualifying.”
Isola explained that the C6 (Soft) has a narrower optimal operating window compared to the C5 (Medium): “Since its debut at Imola, the C6 has shown only a slight performance advantage – about a tenth or so – but it’s less predictable.”
On a tricky circuit like Montreal, where the margin for error is small due to walls and curbs, tyre confidence becomes crucial. That’s why George Russell, Kimi Antonelli, Max Verstappen and others opted for a more stable and familiar compound.
“The expansion of the 2025 tyre range has increased strategic variety: each team can adapt with very different approaches,” Isola added.
Looking ahead to Sunday’s race, the Pirelli executive expects a two-stop strategy to be most viable, favouring Medium and Hard compounds: “A one-stop strategy could theoretically work, but it likely won’t pay off given the overtaking opportunities and the relatively short pit lane loss time of around 18 seconds.”
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