Max Verstappen secured pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix in a challenging wet qualifying session, lining up alongside the surprise challenger of Nico Hulkenberg whose well-timed efforts earned him P2.
Qualifying 1:
Alex Albon was the first to take to the damp Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, leading his teammate and the remainder of the grid out of the pit lane on intermediate tyres to commence Qualifying in Canada.
On his first out lap, Zhou Guanyu reported of a loss of power, forcing the Alfa Romeo driver to park on the side of the road.
This brought out the first red flag of the session, however, Zhou was able to get his Alfa Romeo back up and running to make it back to his garage.
After Carlos Sainz’s heavy FP3 crash, Turn 1 continued to test the drivers in the wet conditions.
Oscar Piastri was the first forced to navigate the new exit situation of the corner, bouncing across the grass to rejoin the track, followed shortly by Nyck de Vries.
The session resumed with just under 15 minutes remaining, with only the Williams and Valtteri Bottas having set times.
Max Verstappen was the first to set a time after the red flag, a lap easily jumping to P1 ahead of an impressive effort from Kevin Magnussen.
Fernando Alonso put Aston Martin’s heavy haul of upgrades to work, jumping over 7-tenths ahead of the Dutchman on his first attempt.
The two drivers traded the top spot across the opening qualifying session, while their teammates fell further down the order.
Lando Norris found himself with the third fastest time before Leclerc joined him, the Ferrari driver momentarily working his way into the top four.
It wasn’t a clean run for Leclerc, however, who was impeded by Yuki Tsunoda. The incident was noted by the stewards.
Mercedes seemed comfortable during the opening session, as Hamilton sat within the top four not far ahead of his teammate.
While his teammate tussled for the quickest time, Lance Stroll bordered on the cusp of the elimination zone, sitting in P17 with a minute remaining in the session.
The home racer jumped to a vulnerable P8 on his final smooth attempt, ending the session safe by a slim margin of half a tenth.
Q1 ended in controversy, as a fast-approaching Pierre Gasly quickly arrived to a track blocked by Carlos Sainz, seeing the Frenchman knocked out in P17 and visibly angry.
The incident was noted by the stewards.
Joining Gasly in the elimination zone are both Alpha Tauris, Logan Sargeant and Zhou Guanyu.
Qualifying 2:
The second qualifying session was all about tyres.
Questions were immediately raised by engineers on making the switch to the dry tyre, with Albon being the first driver to put on the soft tyre ahead of Verstappen.
The Thai driver made huge advances on the rest of the grid, setting times within the 1:18.000s just before the rain began to fall again.
Stroll had a moment in front of his home crowd, spinning and clipping the wall, however, recovering well.
Mercedes were at threat of missing the optimal track conditions for the dry tyre, with George Russell being one of the last to make the switch.
Despite not improving on his last attempt, Lewis Hamilton was safe, as was his teammate, earning them both a spot in the top-ten shootout.
Piastri set the fastest first sector on the red-marked tyre, losing out in the final sector due to a slow-moving Aston Martin, the same car that impeded Esteban Ocon in an incident that was noted by the stewards.
The Australian rookie was, however, safe from the elimination zone at the chequered flag, sitting in P4 just behind Norris.
Nico Hulkenberg impressed on the slick tyre, beating out some heavy competition to advance to Q3.
Williams’ call to be the first to switch to the slick tyre rewarded Albon with a spot in the fight for pole position after finishing Q2 with the fastest time.
Sergio Perez was at threat of not advancing through to Q2, sliding around on his final attempt and failing to improve as he crossed the line.
He wasn’t alone in his disappointment, with Leclerc also missing out on a place in the top-ten shootout in a session that should have more for the Monegasque.
Behind Leclerc and Perez in the elimination zone were Stroll, Magnussen and Bottas.
Qualifying 3:
Teams were quick to send their drivers out to queue ahead of the green light for the final session of qualifying, with the threat of rain at its peak.
With 10 minutes to go, Verstappen’s lap read purple sector after purple sector.
However, as he crossed the line, heavy rainfall threatened anyone’s chances of beating the sole remaining Red Bull’s improved time of 1:25.858.
Piastri fell victim to tough conditions, losing it on the exit of Turn 7 and finding the rear of his McLaren lodged in the wall, prompting a red flag.
Hulkenberg was the last driver to cross the line before the red flag was called, jumping to P2 just seconds before the decision was made, a time that would prove extremely beneficial in the latter stages of the session.
At the restart, Sainz led the charge from the pit lane, however, reports of wetter conditions quickly disbanded any hope of improvements across the board.
Verstappen returned to his garage with 5 minutes remaining, complacent with his time on provisional pole.
Hamilton said the conditions were suitable for extreme wet tyres as he followed Sainz in taking to the Turn 1 run-off, before joining the rest of the grid in an early end to the Q3.
With no one improving on their times, Max Verstappen had secured pole position for tomorrow’s Canadian Grand Prix, however, it was the second-place getter who was celebrating the most.
Nico Hulkenberg will be starting from the front row, his best qualifying result since Brazil in 2010.
Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton make up the second row of the grid, ahead of George Russell and Esteban Ocon.
With his teammate crashing, Lando Norris was unable to improve from P7.
The McLaren will currently line up alongside Carlos Sainz who is under investigation for impeding Pierre Gasly, seeing him at risk of a three-place grid penalty for tomorrow’s race.
Oscar Piastri rounds out those who made an attempt during Q3, set to start from P9, while Alex Albon didn’t set a time and will start from P10.
Lights out for the Canadian Grand Prix will take place at 4:00 AM Monday, AEST.
Qualifying Results:
| POS | DRIVER | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:20.851 | 1:19.092 | 1:25.858 | |
| 2 | 1:22.730 | 1:20.305 | 1:27.102 | |
| 3 | 1:21.481 | 1:19.776 | 1:27.286 | |
| 4 | 1:21.554 | 1:20.426 | 1:27.627 | |
| 5 | 1:21.798 | 1:20.098 | 1:27.893 | |
| 6 | 1:22.114 | 1:20.406 | 1:27.945 | |
| 7 | 1:21.998 | 1:19.347 | 1:28.046 | |
| 8 | 1:22.248 | 1:19.856 | 1:29.294 | |
| 9 | 1:22.190 | 1:19.659 | 1:31.349 | |
| 10 | 1:21.938 | 1:18.725 | DNF | |
| 11 | 1:21.843 | 1:20.615 | ||
| 12 | 1:22.151 | 1:20.959 | ||
| 13 | 1:22.677 | 1:21.484 | ||
| 14 | 1:22.351 | 1:21.678 | ||
| 15 | 1:22.332 | 1:21.821 | ||
| 16 | 1:22.746 | |||
| 17 | 1:22.886 | |||
| 18 | 1:23.137 | |||
| 19 | 1:23.337 | |||
| 20 | 1:23.342 |
Download the full F1 Canadian Grand Prix event guide HERE with track stats and facts and a full event schedule, plus our extensive driver profiles.
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