Verstappen takes Canadian GP pole

Verstappen will start ahead of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.

Canadian Grand Prix qualifying results: Verstappen on pole from Alonso

What happened in Canadian Grand Prix Q1?

In soaking wet conditions, Verstappen set the early pace at 1m35.830s. The times then tumbled, with George Russell (Mercedes), Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), Russell again, Verstappen, Alonso, Sainz and Verstappen again all taking turns at the top.

Verstappen ended Q1 with the fastest time at 1m32.219s, ahead of Fernando Alonso (Alpine) and Sainz, the latter suffering an off at Turn 3 and appearing to impede Esteban Ocon’s Alpine as he rejoined – although stewards later exonerated him.

Falling at the first hurdle were Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), the Aston Martins of Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll, Nicholas Latifi (Williams) and Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri, who was taking a grid penalty anyway).

Canadian Grand Prix Q1 results: Verstappen fastest from Alonso

What happened in Canadian Grand Prix Q2?

Alonso set the early bar at 1m30.910s, half a second clear of Verstappen. Then Williams’s Alex Albon nosed into the tyrewall at Turn 6, a feat that was emulated moments later at Turn 3 by Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who brought out the red flag as he struggled to get reverse gear and the car was firmly wedged in the barrier anyway.

The track was now starting to dry, so the field were all on intermediates for the restart with nine minutes to go. Verstappen took the P1 time down to 1m27.764s, with Sainz and Verstappen then trading the top time between them as a dry line emerged.

Alonso grabbed P1 with 1m24.848s as the chequered flag came out, before Verstappen beat him with 1m23.746s on his final lap, with Russell in third.

Knocked out at this point were Bottas, Albon, Perez, Lando Norris (whose McLaren was stricken with engine issues) and Leclerc, who didn’t run due to his grid penalty.

Canadian Grand Prix Q2 results: Verstappen fastest from Alonso

What happened in Canadian Grand Prix Q3?

With the track still too wet for slicks, Verstappen laid down the intermediate target time of 1m22.701s – over a second clear of the opposition. Mick Schumacher briefly put his Haas in second, before Sainz and Alonso demoted him.

For the final runs, Russell…