Max Verstappen took pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix on Saturday. The Red Bull Racing driver was by far the fastest in qualifying in which the heavy rain played a major role for a long time and a number of drivers performed surprisingly well.
For a long time, the rain caused a lot of problems in Montreal. Gradually, the track dried up and the drivers drove faster and faster times, with Verstappen in particular distinguishing himself. In the battle for pole, he scored 1.21.299 in the third and final session.
Behind the Dutchman, who took pole for the fifteenth time in his career, Alpine driver Fernando Alonso surprisingly clocked the second time (1.21.944). On Sunday, Carlos Sainz (third) and Lewis Hamilton (fourth) surprisingly took the second row of the grid.
Behind it is the surprisingly strong Haas duo Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher. Alfa Romeo’s Guangyu Zhou made it to Q3 for the first time and will start in tenth position.
Qualifying was disappointing for Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Pérez. The Mexican lost control of his car during the second session, slid off the track and was unable to continue. Charles Leclerc, who starts from the back on Sunday due to a grid penalty, also called it quits in Q2.
Canada GP Top 10 Qualifying
- 1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull): 1.21,299
- 2. Fernando Alonso (Alpine) +0,645
- 3. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +0.797
- 4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) +1,592
- 5. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) +1,661
- 6. Mick Schumacher (Haas) +2,057
- 7. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) +2,230
- 8. George Russell (Mercedes) +2,258
- 9. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) +2,450
- 10. Guangyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo) +2,731
Drivers have all the trouble on wet track
The drivers barely had any grip in the pouring rain during qualifying. For example, Verstappen’s teammate Pérez had to be careful during Q1 that he would not be one of the five dropouts. In the end, Pierre Gasly, Sebastian Vettel, Lance Stroll, Nicholas Latifi and Yuki Tsunoda dropped out.
During the second session it rained considerably less and many drivers switched to intermediates. Pérez experienced that it was necessary to keep an eye out; Verstappen’s teammate shot off the track, was unable to continue and, along with Valtteri Bottas, Alexander Albon, Lando Norris and Leclerc, did not survive Q2.
In Q3, George Russell was the first to make the move to slicks, but the Mercedes driver’s gamble backfired: he shot off the track. Verstappen was clearly the fastest in a field with some surprising names.
Rain also caused problems in third free practice
Earlier in the evening, Verstappen chose to largely stay indoors during the final free practice due to the bad weather. He was not one of the fastest drivers at the time and shot off the track twice in the final phase, when he went outside for a while.
With his pole position, the Red Bull driver continued the line of the first two free practice sessions in Montreal. He was then twice the fastest of all.
The Canadian Grand Prix starts on Sunday at 8 p.m. Dutch time. The last edition, which dates from three years ago due to the corona pandemic, was won by Hamilton.
