The Canadian Grand Prix qualifying session will give the stewards a tough time, as several drivers have been penalized for impeding their opponents and more. Firstly, Williams failed to bring both cars to scrutineering on time, but they only received a fine for that. Carlos Sainz, Lance Stroll, and Yuki Tsunoda all appeared before the stewards, guilty of creating an obstacle for their fellow drivers during qualifying. Tsunoda is even accused of doing it twice. In addition to them, Nico Hülkenberg is also under observation for going too slowly during the red flag period in Q3.
Given the applied penalties, Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso will once again start from the front row, closely followed by the two Mercedes drivers, and finally the Haas driver. Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz, on the other hand, will start in 11th place, behind his Maranello teammate. Lance Stroll will start from 16th, while Tsunoda will start from 19th, unless AlphaTauri decides to make a last-minute component change and start from the pit lane.
The provisional grid:
1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
3) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
4) George Russell, Mercedes
5) Nico Hulkenberg, Haas
6) Esteban Ocon, Alpine
7) Lando Norris, McLaren
8) Oscar Piastri, McLaren
9) Alex Albon, Williams
10) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
11) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
12) Sergio Perez, Red Bull
13) Kevin Magnussen, Haas
14) Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo
15) Pierre Gasly, Alpine
16) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
17) Nyck de Vries, AlphaTauri
18) Logan Sargeant, Williams
19) Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri
20) Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo
Why provisional? This is because the teams’ technicians could still encounter problems with the cars before Sunday’s race at the 4.361-kilometre Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal, and if they deemed it necessary to replace a component subject to regulatory constraints, the Federation would be forced to move the driver of that particular car back a few positions on the grid.
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