F1: Verstappen Seals Pole In A Wet Canada As Alonso Surprises In Second

Max Verstappen drove a champion's qualifying to claim pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix. Qualifying for the Canadian GP was on a wet track, and even though it had stopped raining well before qualifying got underway, the track never fully dried out as it is largely covered by trees. Verstappen mastered the drying conditions and looked untouchable throughout Q2 and Q3, being almost a second clear of the entire field on multiple instances. Fernando Alonso also showcased a brilliant display of his wet weather driving skills and put his Alpine up on the front row. Alonso also finished first in the wet practice 3, and was leading most of Q1 too, but ultimately had to settle for second. "I think we'll attack Max on the first corner", Alonso cheekily said post qualifying. Carlos Sainz was on a scorcher of a lap in the end of Q3, but a little mistake on the last corner saw him lose 7 tenths to Verstappen and with that the front row start. He will start the Canadian GP in P3.

This young driver @alo_oficial has a bright future ahead of him ????#CanadianGP #F1 @AlpineF1Team pic.twitter.com/ecUPFNsesN

— Formula 1 (@F1) June 18, 2022

There were multiple unrests in qualifying. For starters, news broke out earlier this weekend that Charles Leclerc was set to get a 10-place grid penalty for changing some components in his car's power unit post his engine failure in Baku. Ferrari later decided to change the entire power unit on his car, dropping him to the back of the grid. He will now start the Canadian GP in P19, ahead of Tsunoda, who also has an engine penalty. After finishing second in the wet practice 3, Pierre Gasly failed to make it out of Q1 due to a mechanical issue. Sebastian Vettel also showed strong performance in practice 3, but he couldn't get his car out of Q1 either, as he described that his car was feeling completely different and had a lack of grip. Canadian drivers Lance Stroll and Nicholas Latifi also had a poor qualifying, and will start the race on the second last row of the grid. 

Also Read: Ferrari Power Fails In Baku As Red Bull Trounces To Verstappen Led 1-2

After finishing 3rd in FP3, Vettel couldn't get his car out of the bottom 5.

Sergio Perez crashed out in Q2 bringing an early end to his qualifying. After having a decent run of races and having qualified in the top 5 for every race this season, Checo will now start the Canadian GP in P14. Lando Norris also had a Power Unit related issue which forced him out of qualifying in Q2, and he will start in P13. George Russel was also going brilliantly in qualifying, but he elected to pit for a set of soft tyres for his final Q3 run on a track that hadn't quite dried up yet, and couldn't get enough temperature in his tyres. He lost the rear of his car in turn 2 and went into the barriers, damaging his rear wing. He could keep the car going, but there wasn't enough time for him to get repairs done and attempt another lap, and had to settle for P8 on the grid.

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After being rumoured to miss the Canadian GP due to back issues, Lewis Hamilton had a strong showing in qualifying and he put his Mercedes up in P4. Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher also delivered a strong performance to lock out the third row for Haas, also making it the best qualifying result for Schumacher. Zhou Guanyu also impressed in qualifying by putting his Alfa Romeo in Q3 for the first time in his F1 career, ahead of veteran teammate Valtteri Bottas. The pair will start the race in P10 and P11. Esteban Ocon managed to qualify in P7 making it a double Q3 appearance for Alpine, and Daniel Ricciardo also did enough to put his McLaren in P9.

Also Read: "Wouldn't Miss It For The World" - Lewis Hamilton Shuts Down Rumours About Canadian GP

Kevin Magnussen did brilliantly to put his car up in P5.

2022 F1 Round 9 Canadian GP Qualifying Results: