Canadian Grand Prix – Qualifying: Verstappen on pole ahead of Alonso

This qualifying session was shaping up to be a real challenge for the drivers on the grid, as they were rediscovering the Gilles Villeneuve circuit for the first time in two years, with new cars and, above all, rain being part of the equation.

Q1:

Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou’s Alfa Romeo cars were the first ones to hit the track. They were followed by Lewis Hamilton and George Russell’s two Mercedes cars.

At the beginning of the session, many drivers were exchanging the best laps, such as George Russell, Max Verstappen, and Carlos Sainz. As the laps went on, each driver felt more comfortable on the track. Additionally, the frequent passes by the drivers helped clear a less wet racing line.

It’s Max Verstappen who finished this Q1 at the top of the time sheet with a 1’32’219. Only 58 milliseconds faster than Fernando Alonso’s time.

Pierre Gasly, who had finished the third practice session in 2nd position, ultimately found himself eliminated in 16th position during Q1. The Frenchman explained in an interview that it was due to a brake issue. AlphaTauri experienced overall disappointment with Gasly’s garage neighbor, Yuki Tsunoda, who finished in a distant 20th position on Saturday. However, the Japanese driver probably wasn’t aiming to advance from Q1 anyway, as he will start the Grand Prix from the last position due to penalties resulting from engine component changes.

Lack of performance also at Aston Martin with Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll who were eliminated respectively in the 17th and 18th positions.

Eliminated list: Pierre Gasly (16th), Sebastian Vettel (17th), Lance Stroll (18th), Nicholas Latifi (19th), and Yuki Tsunoda (20th).

Q2:

While Alexander Albon had managed to qualify for Q2, the Thai driver had a little scare at the start of the session at the 6th turn, hitting the barriers due to a wheel lock-up. Fortunately for the Williams driver, the contact was relatively minor, allowing him to extricate himself from the situation and return to his garage.

On the other hand, a true catastrophe for Sergio Perez who locked up his front wheels at the approach of turn 3. Unable to stop his car, the Mexican hit the barriers too hard and was unable to rejoin the track, forcing him to retire. A real disaster for the winner of the Monaco Grand Prix, who, in recent races, has emerged as a potential rival to Max Verstappen for the world championship title. This accident caused a red flag.

The rain having subsided, all the drivers were leaving their garages with intermediate tires instead of rain tires. While the drivers were lapping over 1’32 in Q1, the track dried up enough in Q2, allowing the drivers to improve their lap times by 8 seconds.

With Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez absent, Max Verstappen easily set the fastest time in Q2. The Dutchman finished 1.1 seconds ahead of Fernando Alonso’s Alpine. There was also a strong performance from Guanyu Zhou, who made it into Q3 for the first time in his career.

More complicated session for Lando Norris who was deprived of attempts due to engine problems.

List of eliminated drivers: Valtteri Bottas (11th), Alexander Albon (12th), Sergio Perez (13th), Lando Norris (14th), and Charles Leclerc (15th).

Q3:

With 5 minutes remaining, Max Verstappen was the fastest driver with a time of 1’22’701. The Dutchman was ahead of Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari and Fernando Alonso’s Alpine. George Russell then took the very audacious gamble of fitting dry tires on a track that was still drying. However, the still damp first sector proved to be too much for the young British driver, who ended his first attempt in the barriers of the second turn.

Max Verstappen shone in the rain in Canada. The Dutchman secured the 15th pole position of his career. The reigning World Champion seemed untouchable this Saturday during the qualifying session. Fernando Alonso also gave a great performance, confirming the good form he has had since the start of the weekend. The Alpine driver beat Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari by one-tenth.

Very good results for Lewis Hamilton who qualified in 4th position and for the two Haas cars who locked the third row.