Verstappen prevails for pole but rain scrambles grid at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve; lucky Hulkenberg takes P2 when Red Flag disadvantages P3 Alonso
With variably wet and rainy conditions playing havoc during Saturday qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix, Red Bull ace Max Verstappen nevertheless prevailed over both the elements and his adversaries to earn pole in tricky conditions at a sodden Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. While it wasn’t surprising to see Verstappen notch his third consecutive pole and fifth out of eight rounds run, he also benefitted from smart strategy by being first to set a banker lap in Q3 and then watching as conditions deteriorated and times got slower and slower as the final quali session wore on. This had the effect of scrambling the grid behind Verstappen resulting in the surprise result of Nico Hulkenberg setting the second fastest time in his Haas ahead of the P3 Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso. Alonso lost out on a higher grid spot when a Red Flag came out for Oscar Piastri’s spun out McLaren directly after Hulkenberg crossed the line but before Alonso could get there with what looked to be a superior time. The Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell did well in those tricky conditions to take P4 and P5 on the grid respectively and will be the only contending team with two cars within the Top 10 to start the race.
To that point, Carlos Sainz had the lone surviving Ferrari in Q3 after teammate Charles Leclerc waited too long to make a quick switch to slicks in a briefly drying Q2 session. While the Spaniard was only able to qualify a relatively perfunctory P8, it’s likely he will be dropped form even that humble position after a couple of dangerous incidents where his Prancing Horse clearly seemed to be dawdling in the middle of the road to set himself up while other drivers sped his way at full chat. Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate and, for now, closest championship rival Sergio Perez also missed the boat on tire strategy in Q2. He frankly seemed a bit spooked by the conditions in choosing to remain on Intermediate wet tires throughout rather than gamble on slicks, as many others had done successfully. Checo missed Q3 for the third race weekend in a row and will have fight his way to the front from down in P12. And Alonso’s Aston teammate Lance Stroll also failed to emerge from Q2 after a lurid slide in that session and will to start from P13 at his home race.
Top 10 qualifiers for the Canadian GP:
| 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 |
Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.
Tomorrow’s race air live on ABC beginning at 2PM Eastern here in the States. With less of a chance of rain in the forecast for Montreal tomorrow, it should intriguing to watch the grid re-sort itself on a dry circuit. Whether anyone has anything for Verstappen is quite a different matter. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!