In the treacherous conditions of qualifying for the 2022 Canadian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen maintained his first pole position since Imola in 2022 – Fernando Alonso of Alpine will be in the front row with espanyol after his amazing run.
Verstappen finished a 1m 21.299-second timer with mid-level tyres on the dry Gilles Villeneuve circuit, giving him a 0.645-second lead over Alonso – his first front-row start in Germany's 10-year history of scoring pole position.
Completing the top three is Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, whose teammate Charles Leclerc will start the P19 after receiving the new power unit elements. Lewis Hamilton showed his ability to finish 4th in wet weather, while Haas drivers Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher performed well, tied for third in the P5 and P6.
Esteban Ocon finished 7th ahead of George Russell's second Mercedes – the Briton tried to make a lap on baldness in the final stages but slipped at Turn 2 – daniel Ricciardo ahead of Zhou Guanyu. The Chinese driver made his Q3 debut but will be investigated after the race for a violation at Turn 14.
Valtteri Bottas came in 11th, ahead of Alex Albon's Williams, followed by Sergio Perez – who knocked out his Red Bull in Q2, sending a red signal – ahead of Briton Lando Norris, who had problems with the powerplant.
Leclerc is P15 but his penalty will back down, promoting Pierre Gasly, Sebastian Vettel, Lance Stroll and Nicholas Latifi, all of whom exited in Q1.
Yuki Tsunoda, who will be brought out from the rear of the field, was also penalized by the engine for a change in the powerplant.
Q1 – FP3 stars Vettel and Gasley failed to pass as both Canadians pulled out
Race Control was unabashed about the weather conditions before qualifying, confirming that the risk of rain was 100% – all participants used extremely wet tyres during the kick-off phase. Pete Bonnington, an engineer in Hamilton, radioed to his driver: "The plan is to get through the risk of red and yellow flags on the board as early as possible. "I don't see a lot of things," Hamilton retorted.
Conditions were tough of course – but with 20 drivers ready for a lap at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit, Max Verstappen led at 1m 32.219s, ahead of Alonso's Alps, driving beautifully in wet conditions and leading FP3 in similar conditions.
Q1 will witness some big scalps, with Pierre Gasly and Sebastian Vettel both exiting for violating conditions – which is P2 and P3 in FP3, and Vettel is frustrated with Team Radio.
The home crowd was also disappointed, with Montreal-born racers Lance Stroll and Nicholas Latifi both out in Q1, while the engine's second AlphaTauri on a free throw took the P20. Charles Leclerc will also start qualifying in P5 after using a large number of new power unit elements, while Alex Albon is also impressive, with him and Williams appearing in Q2 for the first time since Bahrain.
Eliminated: Gasley, Vettel, Stoll, Latifi, Kakuda
Vettel exited with a shocking Q1 exit after finishing P3 in the last practice session
Q2 – Verstappen is once again ahead of Alonso as Perez's smash kick raises a red flag
A handful of riders swallowed their brave pills and set off for the second quarter in Hamilton, in the middle of the green wall, where he was out in the rain – saying conditions were "definitely at the intersection, very close".
Albon and Perez may have different requirements, with runners in the middle finding the wall at Turns 6 and 3 early in the stage, and two riders water skiing and hitting obstacles.
Alpen's impact appeared to be innocuous and did little noticeable damage – although Williams did change his front wing – but Perez both damaged his own front wing and couldn't find a reverse on his RB18, which stuck him in the TECPRO and brought out a red flag.
The Mexican was forced to climb out of the car and cross the park back to the paddock, where his qualifications were on the day red bull was tempted to put their advantage on Leclerc at the starting point.
Despite the hits of Alpen and Perez, all the remaining runners returned to Inter milan in the remaining 9 minutes, with the exception of Leclerc - who were delighted to have stopped the ball because of his penalty – Norris, who reported that his McLaren team's power unit had caught fire and the Briton's header pulled out three minutes before retreating into the pit lane, his problem apparently unsolved.
Times rolled over as the track improved, but the top two finished the same way in Q1, with Verstappen once again leading Alonso with 1m 23.746s. Joining Perez, Norris and Leclerc into the decline zone are Bottas and Alben – the Thai drivers have achieved their best results in qualifying this season, but not enough for Williams to finish their first Q3 of the year.
Alfa Romeo's Zhou Guanyu made his first appearance in Q3 in P7, while Mick Schumacher's second appearance in the top 10 penalty shootout was also impressive, and his Haas teammate Kevin Magnussen also joined the game. Those of Haas, Mercedes and Alps are the only three teams with two cars making it into the third quarter at the same time.
Eliminated: Bottas, Alpen, Perez, Norris, Leclerc
In tricky circumstances, Zhou's debut Q3 on Montreal's first outing was even more impressive
Q3 – Verstappen and Alonso again take a 1-2 lead as the Dutchman takes pole position
In their conditions at the time, you wouldn't bet anyone to get pole position in Saturday's race in Montreal.
Verstappen led Sainz and Alonso at the start, with Schumacher performing well and moving into P4. But the track changes every minute, corner by corner, as the times continue to progress.
Is it dry enough to form an oil slick? George Russell thought it was worth a try, but a harvester appeared at turn 2 and he spun into the grass, which would give him a P8. Don't dare to risk anything...
Verstappen, though flying, took his last lap to 1m 21. The 299s hit appropriately and earned his 15th pole position of his career. But it was Alonso who made the audience happy, the two-time champion whose strength slipped over the wall of champions in his last attempt to capture P2 – Alonso surprisingly became the fastest Spaniard as he beat third-place protégé Carlos Sainz.
Hamilton emerged from the first top four of the year, ahead of the happy Haas boys Magnussen and Schumacher – O'Conn, Russell, Ricardo and Zhou finished in the top ten after the memorable Canadian qualifying.
Key quotes
"Of course, I still don't think it's an easy race," Verstappen said after winning pole position, which will be his 150th Grand Prix. "But I think today in tricky circumstances we stayed calm, we didn't make a mistake, we made the right judgment in the third quarter and of course very happy to get pole position here. Also, it's been a while since I've been back in Montreal and it's great to meet all the fans.
"Here you can really restore the feeling of a go-kart with something like a really proper curb, so we always love driving here and look forward to tomorrow."
What's next?
The 2022 Canadian Grand Prix begins at 1400 at the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit. Will this be Red Bull's six consecutive wins this season? Or can Alonso use his experience to fight for his first victory since Spain in 2013?