Verstappen claims Pole in Canada, Leclerc and Perez knocked out in Q2

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Canadian GP 2023 Qualifying Report
17 June 2023 at 22:15
Last update 18 June 2023 at 01:53
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  • Kada Sarkozi
  • Editor

Max Verstappen has won an eventful qualifying session at the Canadian Grand Prix in the rain. Nico Hulkenberg will start alongside the reigning champion, setting the second fastest time just ahead of Oscar Piastri causing a red flag. Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez were knocked out in Q2, and will start from P11 and P12 respectively.

The final session got underway with more and more rain coming to the circuit, therefore, each driver had one shot to set a time worthy of pole position. Max Verstappen was the fastest in these difficult conditions, and after the Dutchman has crossed the line, Oscar Piastri crashed his car exiting Turn 7, causing a red flag.

After the restart, noone else could improve. Verstappen’s 1:25.858 was by a second quicker than everybody else’s lap, but surprisingly so, it was Nico Hulkenberg who was the closest to the Red Bull driver, jumping Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell in the process. Esteban Ocon finished in P6, ahead of Norris, Sainz, Piastri and Albon.

Q2

Lando Norris said first he is thinking about putting on slick tyres, but Alexander Albon was the bravest and the first one to do so, while Stroll spun in between Turn 5 and 6 still on intermediates. The Thai driver was proven right and finished first in the session thanks selecting the tyres with pinpoint accuracy, while Norris finished in P3.

As the rain returned to the circuit in the last five minutes, some drivers set their best lap times on softs, others on intermediates in such changeable conditions. On their final laps, nobody could improve on their fastest times, leading to both Sergio Perez and a furious Charles Leclerc getting knocked out, as Hamilton hang onto P10. The Mexican failed to make Q3 for the third time in a row.

OUT - P15 Bottas, P14 Magnussen, P13 Stroll, P12 Perez, P11 Leclerc

Q1

The struggle continued on from the free practise sessions in Q1, as Zhou Guanyu lost power as he entered the track, therefore, he had to stop in sector 1. The Alfa Romeo driver could restart his car and come back to the garage, but the red flag had to be waved.

Other than the drivers finding the escape roads and the grass occasionally, the rest of Q1 continued without any trouble on intermediate tyres. While there were changeable conditions, no frontrunner was knocked out, with Alonso topping the session. Pierre Gasly was caught up in traffic ahead of his final lap, and as a result, he was knocked out alongside the two AlphaTauris, Logan Sargeant and Zhou.

OUT - P20 Zhou, P19 Sargeant, P18 De Vries, P17 Gasly, P16 Tsunoda