With little running on Friday, it was all to play for in an important Qualifying Session around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Q1
In Qualifying 1; Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas, Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg, and Zhou Guanyu were the five slowest drivers. After being knocked out in Q1 in Monaco and then receiving a 2-year contract extension this week, Sergio Perez was at it again as he appallingly got knocked out of Q1 for the second-straight weekend! Valtteri Bottas once again confirmed that Kick Sauber aren’t very good whilst Esteban Ocon didn’t exactly bounce back in a great way either. Nico Hulkenberg also had a bit of a shocker to be down in P19 whilst Zhou Guanyu was once again the slowest driver in Qualifying! Max Verstappen topped Q1 for Red Bull by just under 4 tenths to Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda!
Q2
In Qualifying 2; Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz, Logan Sargeant, Kevin Magnussen, and Pierre Gasly all failed to make it into the Top 10 shootout. After an incredible Monaco Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc found himself out in Q2 and the same can be said about Carlos Sainz as Ferrari had a pretty abysmal afternoon! Logan Sargeant pulled out his best Qualifying performance for some time to get his Williams into P13 whilst Kevin Magnussen will be pleased to be the leading Haas car. Pierre Gasly was the slowest man in Q2, but at least he to outqualified his teammate. It was George Russell who managed to top the time sheets in Q2, ahead of Lewis Hamilton for a Mercedes 1-2!
Q3
In Qualifying 3, a 1:12.000 was enough for George Russell to take a spectacular Pole Position for Mercedes! What a simply incredible result for George and Mercedes, congrats to them! Unbelievably, Max Verstappen set exactly the same time, but he will have to start from second whilst Lando Norris was only 21 thousandths back in third! Oscar Piastri did a really good job to complete a second-row lockout for McLaren whilst Daniel Ricciardo pulled out a splendid lap to get his Visa Cash App RB into the Top 5! Fernando Alonso will start 6th for Aston Martin after a much better performance whilst Lewis Hamilton will be very disappointed with just 7th in his Merc! Yuki Tsunoda will once again start inside the Top 8 ahead of hometown boy Lance Stroll whilst Alex Albon rounded out the Top 10 after a strong performance for Williams.
Starting Grid for the 2024 Canadian Grand Prix and My Qualifying Grades
George Russell: 10
Max Verstappen: 10
Lando Norris: 9
Oscar Piastri: 8
Daniel Ricciardo: 10
Fernando Alonso: 8
Lewis Hamilton: 5
Yuki Tsunoda: 8
Lance Stroll: 5
Alex Albon: 8
Charles Leclerc: 3
Carlos Sainz: 2
Logan Sargeant: 6
Kevin Magnussen: 5
Pierre Gasly: 4
Sergio Perez: 1
Valtteri Bottas: 3
Nico Hulkenberg: 1
Zhou Guanyu: 1
Esteban Ocon: 2
My Predictions for the 2024 Canadian Grand Prix
Max Verstappen
Lando Norris
George Russell
Oscar Piastri
Lewis Hamilton