Verstappen, Alonso, Hamilton, and the Haas team come through as Perez and Leclerc struggle.
MONTREAL, Canada—Even a downpour and, later, a drying track could not stop Max Verstappen from posting a 1:21:299 quickest time to take pole for Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix at the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit Saturday afternoon. “With tricky conditions, we stayed calm and didn’t make mistakes,” Verstappen commented.
But the real excitement this day was the performance of second-place Fernando Alonso, who, for the first time in 10 years, put his Alpine on the front row.
For the veteran Alonso, it is obvious what his strategy will be on Sunday. “The goal is to lead the race in Lap 1, so turn one for maximum attack,” Alonso said. “And then after that, they can go fight. But it would be sweet to lead the race.”
Lewis Hamilton managed to take fourth, a big surprise when it seemed that the Mercedes he was driving could not do anything to his liking. But now, the second row could give Hamilton a chance to grab a podium on Sunday.
Alonso and Hamilton weren’t the only surprises on Saturday. The American Haas team came through, too, as Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher had their best qualifying result for the American Haas team ever, placing fifth and sixth on the grid to lock in the third row.
Esteban Ocon placed his Alpine in seventh, giving his French team a chance to score double points in Sunday’s race. George Russell, who gambled on putting on slick tires late in the final session, nearly spun out at turn one but managed to finish eighth. McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo took ninth, which gave him more confidence after having until Baku a series of no-point finishes. Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanygu finished his best qualifying session in tenth.
While the top ten responded in the tricky weather, others had trouble. Due to an engine change, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will start last. Things also went south for Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull, who went straight into the wall at turn three and could not get out of reverse in the second session. Perez, as well as Leclerc, will have a difficult time moving up the grid on Sunday,
ABC will carry the race beginning at 2p Eastern Time.
