Which driver had what it took to take Pole Position in damp and changeable conditions in Montreal?
Q1
In Qualifying 1; Yuki Tsunoda, Pierre Gasly, Nyck de Vries, Logan Sargeant and Zhou Guanyu were the five slowest drivers. Yuki Tsunoda will be disappointed with only qualifying in 16th whilst Pierre Gasly got completely screwed over by Carlos Sainz which is gutting for the Frenchman (Tsunoda also wasn’t helped by Sainz much either). Nyck de Vries did ok for Alpha Tauri, but he needs to beat his teammate more whilst Logan Sargeant at least got his car off the back of the grid. Zhou Guanyu qualified last after bringing out a red flag earlier in the session due to a loss of power. Max Verstappen topped Q1 by over 6 tenths to Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin.
Q2
In Qualifying 2; Charles Leclerc, Sergio Perez, Lance Stroll, Kevin Magnussen and Valtteri Bottas all failed to make it into the top 10 shootout. Charles Leclerc was once again frustrated with Ferrari's strategy as he made it back-to-back races without a Q3 appearance whilst Sergio Perez’s run is now up to 3 as he once again struggled for pace. I’m starting to be quite concerned about Checo’s performance levels because they just aren’t good enough. Lance Stroll never got a lap in the optimal conditions which is why he could only manage 13th in his home race whilst Kevin Magnussen will be disappointed with only 14th for Haas. Valtteri Bottas was the slowest driver in Q2, but it was still a better performance than recent weeks for the Fin. Williams’ Alex Albon topped Q2 (after a brilliant strategy decision) by over 3 tenths to Max Verstappen!
Q3
In Qualifying 3; Max Verstappen set a 1:25.858 to take Pole position by nearly 1.3 seconds! That guy is just too quick and he would’ve been joined on the front by Nico Hulkenberg! Unfortunately, Hulkenberg received a 3-place penalty for a red flag incident, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that he had no right to put his Haas into P2. Fernando Alonso qualified P3 for Aston Martin whilst Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton finished ahead of teammate George Russell. Good showing for the Mercs. Esteban Ocon put in another splendid effort to put his car up in 6th whilst Lando Norris can be happy with P7. Carlos Sainz didn’t have a good day as he could only manage 8th whilst Oscar Piastri qualified 9th after crashing earlier in the session (that’s what brought out the red flag). Alex Albon rounded out the top 10 after he wasn’t able to set a lap time in the final part of Quali.
Starting Grid for the Canadian Grand Prix and my Qualifying Grades
Max Verstappen: 10
Fernando Alonso: 9
Lewis Hamilton: 8
George Russell: 7
Nico Hulkenberg: 10
Esteban Ocon: 9
Lando Norris: 8
Oscar Piastri: 5
Alex Albon: 8
Charles Leclerc: 3
Carlos Sainz: 5
Sergio Perez: 3
Kevin Magnussen: 4
Valtteri Bottas: 4
Pierre Gasly: -
Lance Stroll: 3
Nyck de Vries: 2
Logan Sargeant: 2
Yuki Tsunoda: 3
Zhou Guanyu: 1
My Predictions for the Canadian Grand Prix
Max Verstappen
Fernando Alonso
Lewis Hamilton
George Russell
Esteban Ocon
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