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This is how the top 10 of the drivers' championship looks before we get 23 laps of Canadian sprint fun under our belts.

Teenager Kimi Antonelli has given himself a 20-point advantage over Mercedes team-mate George Russell with his three wins on the bounce. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who was on for a podium finish in Miami before his race unraveled at the end, is in third sport, 21 points off second-placed Russell.

Reigning world champion Lando Norris and seven-time title winner Lewis Hamilton are level on 51 points after four rounds of the season. Norris is starting higher up on the grid for the sprint in third, with Hamilton two spots down in fifth.

Racing Bulls have also made changes to Liam Lawson's car so the new Zealander will be joining the other four drivers in the pit lane at lights out.

Over at Aston Martin, the mechanics are busy working on Lance Stroll's car on the grid. The Canadian home driver is watching on with his race helmet off and is set to start P18 for the sprint race.

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Canada is hosting its first sprint event this weekend and as one of the drivers' favourite tracks, we should be in for an exciting afternoon.

The shorter race at the 4.361km Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve will be 23 laps.

The fast, low-downforce circuit mixes long straights into heavy braking zones and is a favourite among drivers and fans, with opportunities to overtake at the Turn 10 hairpin and the final chicane at Turns 13 and 14.

But drivers also need to watch out for the 'Wall of Champions' right at the end of the lap, which was nicknamed after three world champions - Damon Hill, Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve - all crashed at the same place during the 1999 weekend.

Following Montreal, the final three sprint races will be held at Silverstone in July, Zandvoort in August and Singpore in October.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Montreal

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Max Verstappen, struggling with a car he said was "jumping" at the rear, was just 0.101 seconds clear of Red Bull team-mate Hadjar.

"My feeling in the car was not very good," said Verstappen. "I was struggling a lot with the ride. All over the bumps I couldn't put my foot down. Actually my feet were even flying off the pedals and it made it very difficult to be consistent."

Outside the top 10, the most notable performance was from Fernando Alonso, who got an Aston Martin through the first part of qualifying for the first time this season, despite crashing on his final attempt.

The veteran Spaniard was 14th fastest, having been running just outside the top 10 for the first part of the session, when he locked a front wheel at Turn Three and slid into the barriers.

Alonso will start 16th after being unable to take part in the second session because his car was stuck out on the circuit.

Aston Martin have no upgrades on their car for this race and attributed the improved performance to Alonso himself.

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Lewis Hamilton said his fifth place on Friday was "probably the best qualifying session" Ferrari has had for some time. "The car felt really fantastic from P1," he added.

The seven-time world champion outqualifed team-mate Charles Leclerc, who starts sixth, and said his decision not to do any simulator work between races and instead trust his gut with the set-up of the car has paid off.

"I was having so much fun out there, and the fact I didn't do the sim and it was the best I felt all year. I chose a set-up we've not used before and it's transformed the car for me," said Hamilton.

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World champion Lando Norris is the only driver to break Mercedes' tight grip on pole positions and race victories this season with a a dominant win at the Miami sprint last time out.

McLaren have brought their second upgrade in two races to Montreal and Norris said it was "a good surprise" to qualify in P3 - team-mate Oscar Piastri is alongside him on the second row in fourth - despite some early worries about the car's performance in first practice.

"But we changed some things on the car and seemed to make a good improvement. I could have got more out of it, but not enough to close the gap to the guys ahead," Norris added.

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Sprint qualifying "wasn't particularly clean" for Kimi Antonelli, as the Italian 19-year-old said he made a mistake in SQ2, and then decided not to do a preparation lap in the final part of qualifying resulting in cold tyres for his first run. "My second lap was faster, but it still wasn't great," he added.

In the Miami sprint, Antonelli also started second on the grid, but another slow getaway off the line saw him swallowed up by the cars behind.

He did win the scrap with team-mate George Russell for fourth on track, but was penalised for exceeding track limits too many times and given a five-second penalty, dropping him to sixth.

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Since his victory at the season-opener in Australia followed by a sprint win in China, George Russell has had to watch on as his teenage team-mate Kimi Antonelli has made history over the course of three race weekends.

But with an upgraded car to boost his chances, and driving a track he's won at from pole position last year, Russell was able to beat out Antonelli on both runs in final qualifying.

"It feels great after a tough Miami but I never doubted myself," said Russell. "I always knew what I could do. This is an amazing circuit, high grip, and feels like you're driving a proper grand prix car."

Of that significant upgrade package, Russell said the car is "definitely feeling great".

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If you're new to Formula 1 and the sprint format, only the top eight finishers in the shorter race score points, with eight points awarded for first place down to one point for eighth, which will then get added to the overall drivers' championship standings.

Here are the eight driver starting in those points places. Brit rookie Arvid Lindblad of Racing Bulls and Williams' Carlos Sainz are just on the outside in ninth and 10th respectively.

1. George Russell (Mercedes)

2. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)

3. Lando Norris (McLaren)

4. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

5. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)

6. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

7. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

8. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull)

Lorraine McKenna
BBC Sport Journalist

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Hello, folks. Friday in Montreal was a small comeback for George Russell after what he said had been a "turbulent" start to the season.

Mercedes locked out the front row for today's 23-lap sprint race, with Russell edging out his younger team-mate and title leader Kimi Antonelli by 0.068 seconds to take the first pole position on offer this weekend.

There were three red flags in first practice yesterday, one of which was shown for Alex Albon hitting a marmot. The incident caused extensive damage to the Williams driver's car and he had to sit out of sprint qualifying.

Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson also missed qualifying because of mechanical issues with his car.

Lights out for the third of six sprint events this season is at 17:00 BST.

Haas' Oliver Bearman, who qualified P15, Alpine's Pierre Gasly, who was P19, Cadillac's Valtteri Bottas in P20 and finally Albon are all starting from the pit lane after set-up changes were made to their cars while under parc ferme.