Just over 20 minutes until Q1 began at the 4.361-kilometre Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve and it had started raining lightly again here in Montreal. And various weather apps were suggesting some heavy stuff could be on the way for the second half of the qualifying hour. That would certainly have made the fight for pole spicy. Coincidentally, last year’s Saturday at the Canadian GP was also wet and Max Verstappen delivered an incredible performance by topping all three segments of Qualifying on his way to pole position.
The drivers had to read the conditions and really judge to make sure they we on the right tyres at the right time to get the right lap in.
With just a few minutes until the start of the qualifying session for the Canadian Grand Prix, Ferrari confirmed that Carlos Sainz’s car was repaired after his Practice Three crash and the Spaniard was ready to go for the start of Q1. Sky Sports F1’s Ted Kravitz explained: “They have just finished. Carlos is getting his head together and needs to focus. The car has had its laser scan so all of the setup is perfect and he knows he needs to deliver.”
Alex Albon led everyone out of the pits. If the rain was coming soon, these opening laps were crucial because that’s when the track was at its best. Unfortunately for Zhou, he had a technical issue. H couldn’t make it back to the pits and was forced to stop out on track in the middle sector. The car was deemed to be in too dangerous of a position for the session to continue, and we have a red flag. However, just moments after the red flag was waved, the Alfa Romeo was miraculously on the move again. So we didn’t need a clear-up job, and were back under way very shortly.
So we had 3 minutes and 27 seconds of running. Only Logan Sargeant, Alex Albon and Valtteri Bottas set a flying lap. Martin Brundle pointed out if it rains heavily, the trio would be very happy. Sargeant did a 1:27.231, which was four seconds slower than Max Verstappen’s time in Final Practice earlier today.
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Oscar Piastri and Nyck de Vries locked up on their flying laps. The outside wall at Turn One had been extended so re-joining the track was not easy and Sky Sports F1’s David Croft did not think it was a safe solution.
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And away we went again with everyone on intermediate tyres. The Red Bull cars were waiting for two minutes at the end of the pit lane to be at the front of the queue. Max Verstappen did a 1:24.106 but there were some fast sectors out there as we got ready for a flurry of laps. Fernando Alonso went half a second faster than Max Verstappen, only for the Dutchman to hit back by going 0.7s quicker on his next lap. Martin Brundle pointed out that the Ferrari was doing a lot of bouncing on the main straights, which he said could have been a contributing factor to Carlos Sainz’s crash earlier. Charles Leclerc seemed to be coping reasonably well, and was up in third, while the Spaniard was down in seventh.
There was then a big lap for George Russell as he jumped up to fourth. Lewis Hamilton was sliding his car everywhere and was only in eighth. Max Verstappen was then asked over the radio whether he thought it was time for slick tyres yet: He answered: “No I don’t.”
With less than five minutes to go in Q1, it seemed unlikely we would see them in this first segment of the session. Yuki Tsunoda was noted by the stewards for impeding Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari driver was unhappy with the AlphaTauri through the final chicane. Yuki Tsunoda briefly put himself out of the drop zone but finds himself back down in 16th. Lance Stroll puts in a good lap to go eighth. Yuki Tsunoda, Pierre Gasly, Nyck de Vries, Logan Sargeant and Zhou Guanyu were out in Q1. Pierre Gasly was the biggest name to be eliminated after that dramatic end to Q1.
Q2 was under way and it was Max Verstappen who was first out of the pit lane. McLaren told Lando Norris the current rain would be “intermittent”. Unfortunately it was confirmed that Carlos Sainz will be taking another trip to the stewards after qualifying. His incident with Pierre Gasly for impeding will be investigated after the session, but the Spaniard is surely going to be in trouble for blocking Pierre Gasly at the end of Q1. Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer isn’t happy either. He told Sky Sports F1: “It’s ridiculous, in a word. Terrible. I think Pierre would have been P6, and now he’s out in Q1.” Martin Brundle added: “Why is Sainz going so slowly in that corner, comprising the preparation of his own lap? It makes no sense for him or Ferrari. It’s unacceptable.”
Lando Norris thought slicks were the way to go and Alex Albon was going for it. He was on the softs! Charles Leclerc also confirmed the track is drying: “I think we should box for softs.” Ferrari told Charles to do a banker lap on the intermediates. It was a 1:20.135 from Max Verstappen, which was the fastest time today and showed how fast the track was at this stage. Sergio Perez was 0.824s slower. The Dutchman then pitted to put the soft tyres on. Alex Albon was fastest through the final sector when on the soft tyres which confirmed it is was time for slick tyres. Dry tyres were the way forward as Alex Albon went fastest by 0.627s from Russell. But with 8 minutes to go in Q2 the rain was falling again in parts of the track as more and more drivers went onto the soft tyres. Only Alonso, Hamilton and Stroll were still on intermediates.
Meanwhile, the other Ferrari was also in trouble. Charles Leclerc was shown a black and white flag for failing to follow the race director’s instructions in relation to track limits. That was a final warning for him. Sergio Perez was close to getting eliminated from Q3 for the third race in a row. After locking up at the final chicane on his penultimate flying lap, the track was then far too wet for him to improve to get into the top 10. Charles Leclerc was unfortunately also looking set to make an early exit.
Charles Leclerc, Sergio Perez, Lance Stroll, Kevin Magnussen and Valtteri Bottas were out in Q2.
That heavy rain which we talked about during Qualifying was definitely here. The best laps could happen right now as Nico Hulkenberg was told the rain would be getting “worse and worse”. All ten cars were out on track. Some big slides for Max Verstappen and it was a 1:27.059. Fernando Alonso went quicker in the middle sector but he was 0.2s slower at the end of the lap. It was Verstappen, Alonso, Norris, Ocon and Hulkenberg at this stage. Oscar Piastri hit the barriers and we had a red flag. Nico Hulkenberg just completed his flying lap before the red flag was called and got his Haas onto the front row! Fernando Alonso was about to beat Hulkenberg’s time, but didn’t get to the line before Q3 was stopped for Piastri’s crash.
The track was clear and green light on at the end of the pit lane with seven minutes remaining, but it was difficult to see any other important action. With that rain still coming down hard, it seemed highly unlikely. “I don’t think we will improve anything now, no one,” Fernando Alonso said over radio as he waited at the end of the pit lane. It was already quite heavy, but Carlos Sainz was told even heavier rain was coming. Max Verstappen returned to the pit lane and other cars followed suit. Surely no one would be able to improve their lap times.
Carlos Sainz went deep at the first corner and cut Turn Two. Just Sainz, Alonso, Hamilton, Russell and Norris were out on track. Hamilton said it’s “almost extreme tyres” and Sky Sports F1’s Ted Kravitz agreed, adding it’s “chucking it down.” Everyone was back in the pit lane as it was clear the track was too wet. It was going to be an anti-climatic end to Qualifying here in Montreal.
Chequered flag: It was a fifth pole position in 2023 for Max Verstappen! Just like he did 12 months ago, it rained in Canada and Max Verstappen came out on top in Qualifying. Haas will start on the front row for the first time ever thanks to Nico Hulkenberg’s second place. Fernando Alonso will line up in third, alongside Lewis Hamilton. George Russell will be fifth. Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz will start P8 (but is currently under investigation for two incidents), while his Maranello teammate Charles Leclerc from P11.

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