Max Verstappen took his 25th career pole position in Formula 1 in a tricky wet qualifying session at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Although a drying line had emerged by the start of Q2, offering drivers to take a chance on running with soft tyres, the conditions had worsened by the start of the final part of qualifying and the rain picked up in intensity.
Using the intermediate rubber, Verstappen recorded a lap time of one minute, 27.059 seconds with his first lap of the session, as Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso got to within 0.25 seconds of the championship leader’s opener in their respective opening gambits.
But although rain continued to fall, Verstappen found enough tyre temperature to produce a one minute, 25.858 seconds, although Alonso had eclipsed the defending champion’s second sector in his follow-up effort.
But the session was red-flagged, as Oscar Piastri took too much throttle on the exit of Turn 7 and backed his car into the wall, breaking the right-rear corner of his McLaren.
Nico Hulkenberg managed to put in a time good enough for second moments before the red flag emerged, but Alonso was unable to complete his lap and had to retreat to the pits.
The session resumed with seven minutes left, but the continued rainfall dampened any chances that the drivers could improve in the final half of the session.
Alonso claimed the third-fastest time having been denied another shot to beat Verstappen, and starts on the second row alongside Lewis Hamilton.
George Russell and Esteban Ocon completed the third row, ahead of Lando Norris in seventh.
Carlos Sainz could only manage eighth, but will likely have to visit the race stewards having impeded Pierre Gasly in Q1 in a session where the Ferrari seemed to be of constant irritation to other drivers.
Piastri’s time prior to his crash was good enough for ninth, as Alex Albon’s Q3 effort was chalked off due to a track limits violation.
Albon had been the first to risk the soft tyres at the start of Q2 as a drying line began to appear, and it was a gamble that paid off once the Anglo-Thai driver collected enough tyre temperature.
The Williams driver fired his way to the top of the timing board and, although then eclipsed by Alonso on the intermediate compound, Albon posted a one minute, 18.725 seconds to book his place into Q3.
This prompted everyone to try slicks, although Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez discarded their sets of softs without having set a competitive time on them.
The Red Bull driver bolted on intermediates again as rain returned to the circuit, but was left in the drop zone and was one of the two high-profile eliminations from the session.
Leclerc was one position ahead, having been dumped into the drop zone as Hulkenberg broke into the top ten on his own soft-tyre lap.
Home hero Lance Stroll recovered from a spectacular spin on the exit of Turn 5 and narrowly missed the wall, but could only set a time good enough for P13 – beating Kevin Magnussen and Valtteri Bottas.
Q1 was red flagged after just three minutes as Zhou Guanyu lost drive and had to park up on the exit of Turn 7, although the Alfa Romeo driver was able to perform a reset to get the car back to the garage.
The drying nature of the circuit in Q1 gave the drivers to opportunity to set faster lap times, and the session resembled musical chairs as the midfielders battled against the drop zone.
But both Yuki Tsunoda and Gasly encountered a slow moving Sainz at the chicane, and neither made it through into Q2 – Gasly venting his fury over the radio to suggest that the Ferrari driver “should be banned”.
Tsunoda missed out on the cut having been 0.016 seconds shy of Hulkenberg in P15, who felt the AlphaTauri driver had impeded him during the session.
Nyck de Vries could not improve upon P18 on his final lap, as Logan Sargeant joined Zhou on the final row of the grid as the Alfa Romeo driver was able to return to the circuit – despite an issue earlier.
So congratulations to Max Verstappen in scoring pole position and yet the highlight of the Canadian Grand Prix is Nico Hulkenberg scoring a solid P2 for Haas.
Canadian Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:25.858
2 Nico Hülkenberg Haas 1:27.102
3 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:27.286
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:27.627
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:27.893
6 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:27.945
7 Lando Norris McLaren 1:28.046
8 Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 1:29.294
9 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:31.349
10 Alexander Albon Williams No time
11 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:20.615
12 Sergio Pérez Red Bull 1:20.959
13 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:21.484
14 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:21.678
15 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 1:21.821
16 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1:22.746
17 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:22.886
18 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri 1:23.137
19 Logan Sargeant Williams 1:23.337
20 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 1:23.342
Canadian Grand Prix qualifying review as reported by Formula1.com.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen took pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix as wet weather conditions dominated Saturday’s qualifying session in Montreal, with Nico Hulkenberg a surprise second for Haas due to a well-timed effort.
Verstappen got down to a 1m 25.858s in the early stages of Q3 to put one hand on pole position in the tricky conditions, just before McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri brought out the red flags by rear-ending the wall at Turn 7.
Seconds from the session being halted, Hulkenberg delivered a lap good enough for a spot on the front-row, with another deluge of rain during the break ensuring that no improvements could be made when the action resumed.
Fernando Alonso rounded out the top three positions for Aston Martin, with Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and George Russell taking fourth and fifth as they look to continue the team’s upward trajectory.
Lando Norris led McLaren’s charge in seventh, while Carlos Sainz was the fastest of the Ferraris after team mate Charles Leclerc – along with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll – dropped out in a dry/wet Q2 phase.
Alex Albon used the changeable conditions in the second segment to his advantage, being the first to bolt on softs and rising to P1 before more rainfall arrived, and then completing the top 10 behind Piastri in the pole shootout.
Leclerc and Perez had to settle for P11 and P12 on the grid respectively, having missed the cut when conditions were at their most precarious in Q2, leading to an angry radio message from the Monegasque when his fate was sealed.
Stroll was another big name to miss out on Q3 after a scruffy session that included a wild spin, the home favourite ending up 13th from the other Haas machine of Kevin Magnussen and the lead Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas.
AlphaTauri lost both drivers in the opening Q1 phase, with Yuki Tsunoda in 16th and Nyck de Vries in 18th, as Pierre Gasly suffered a painful elimination in 17th after approaching a slow-moving Sainz at the final chicane on his final lap – an incident that will be looked at by the stewards.
Logan Sargeant was unable to emulate Albon’s heroics as he piloted his upgrade-free Williams to 19th position, while Zhou Guanyu brought up the rear in the other Alfa Romeo after technical gremlins hindered his efforts.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.verstappen-charges-to-pole-for-canadian-gp-as-hulkenberg-grabs-surprise-p2.snbFfMsKnoRZy2J7Rjxjr.html
Nico Hulkenberg felt his Haas Formula 1 team executed a near-perfect qualifying to make the front row for the Canadian Grand Prix, but expects a tougher challenge in the race.
The German driver battled into Q3 as conditions dried out from heavy rain and then nailed his second flying lap in the final part of qualifying to lift himself up to second place just seconds before a red flag for Oscar Piastri’s crash.
With the conditions getting worse during the stoppage as the rain returned, it meant Hulkenberg’s front-row spot was secured next to polesitter Max Verstappen, marking the team’s best qualifying since Kevin Magnussen took a shock sprint race pole in Brazil last year.
Hulkenberg credited his team for making the right calls at the right time throughout qualifying in the changeable conditions.
“It was a wild quali. It was crazy,” Hulkenberg said. “Changing conditions are tricky, especially around here with the walls, so close on the exits and the speeds being high.
“Obviously wet, dry and back to wet, so you have to readjust all the time. But it was fun. It was good.
“This comes as a bit unexpected, but obviously very happy and proud. The team did a solid job. It was very smooth. So super happy.
“It’s just a lot of communications, a lot of radio calls going back and forth. Obviously, you look what the others do, and you think for yourself, but I think we hit it pretty well today. No major mistakes.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/hulkenberg-wild-canada-f1-qualifying-front-row-but-race-different-cup-of-tea/10484324/
Nico Hulkenberg has been summoned to the Formula 1 stewards for failing to stay above the minimum lap time during a red flag in qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix.
The German had posted a time good enough to join Max Verstappen on the front row of the grid in Q3, seconds before the red flag was issued by the stewards following Oscar Piastri’s crash on the exit of Turn 7.
Following the clean-up operation of the Australian’s stranded McLaren, the session resumed but in far worse conditions than those that had preceded the short hiatus.
This cemented Hulkenberg’s provisional position on the front row, as Fernando Alonso was unable to complete his time as he was in contention to join Verstappen on the front row.
According to a document circulated by the FIA after the conclusion of the session, Hulkenberg had earned a summon to the stewards’ room for an “alleged breach of Article 37.6 a) of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations – Car 27 failing to stay above the minimum time set by the FIA ECU at 16:59.”
“There is a minimum time required for the drivers to return to the pitlane following a red flag, but radio messages between Hulkenberg and race engineer Gary Gannon suggested that he was going too quickly to meet the required delta.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/hulkenberg-summoned-for-red-flag-infringement-in-canada-gp-qualifying/10484346/
Fresh from the elation of bagging a front-row start in Montreal, Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg has been hit with a three-place grid penalty for the Canadian Grand Prix after the stewards found him guilty of committing a violation under red flags during qualifying.
Hulkenberg had qualified a surprise second in Saturday’s grid-deciding session, taking advantage of wet conditions to slot between pole-sitting Red Bull driver Max Verstappen and the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso.
However, he was later investigated for a potential red flag breach and, following their review, the stewards decided to give the Haas driver a three-place drop, demoting him from second to fifth – giving spots to Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell in the process.
“The driver had just finished his fastest lap and had started another push lap,” read the report from the stewards, who also gave Hulkenberg a penalty point. “He was at T1 when the red flag was displayed, however at that point he was already 1.5 seconds over his delta time.
“He claimed this made it extremely difficult for him to come below the delta in the next sector. He also admitted to confusion about the beep signal in his headset, and therefore at one stage thought he was going too slow.
“Comparison of telemetry with that of Car 31 [Esteban Ocon] showed that in general for the rest of the lap he was approximately the same speed as Car 31 which complied with the delta times in each mini-sector. We regard this as a mitigating circumstance.
“However, the regulation is very clear and whilst there is no question of the driver acting dangerously or driving unsafely, there was a breach and thus a penalty has to be imposed. The normal penalty for failure to slow under red flags is 10 grid positions. However in view of the mitigating circumstance, a lower penalty is appropriate.
“We note the intention of the regulation is to ensure a car is not speeding during a red flag situation and there is no evidence that the speed was excessive in this case. We also note that the driver should make himself more familiar with the operational aspects of the delta signals.”
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.hulkenberg-loses-front-row-start-in-canada-as-he-lands-three-place-grid-drop.1WcvZS4G9gL64mylfDZ1T2.html