Max Verstappen may have pulled out a lap to match the best Mercedes could offer when it counted – but he doesn’t believe he could have reached their quickest time of the weekend.
George Russell claimed pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix with a lap of 1’12.000. Verstappen equalled that with his final run.
But while that was Red Bull’s quickest time of the weekend, both Mercedes drivers had already gone faster. Russell led Q2 with a 1’11.742 while Hamilton produced a 1’11.979. For both drivers these were the best laps and the best three sector times they produced, and neither got within a quarter of a second of them when the conditions shifted in Q3.
“Being on the exact same lap time is great, but in hindsight, I think when you look at their pure pace, I’ll take second,” said Verstappen after qualifying. “After Q2 I saw their lap times and I was like ‘there is no way that I can do something like that’.”
Mercedes looked like they had the speed to join the fight for pole position throughout the weekend. McLaren were in the fight too and locked out the second row. But the surprise of the session was Ferrari, who failed to get either of their cars into Q3.
| P. | # | Driver | S1 | S2 | S3 | Ultimate lap (deficit) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 63 | George Russell | 20.057 (2) | 22.714 (2) | 28.971 (1) | 1’11.742 |
| 2 | 1 | Max Verstappen | 19.987 (1) | 22.902 (6) | 29.09 (3) | 1’11.979 (+0.021) |
| 3 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | 20.121 (5) | 22.642 (1) | 29.216 (10) | 1’11.979 |
| 4 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | 20.155 (7) | 22.792 (4) | 29.056 (2) | 1’12.003 (+0.100) |
| 5 | 4 | Lando Norris | 20.149 (6) | 22.776 (3) | 29.096 (4) | 1’12.021 |
| 6 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | 20.115 (4) | 22.932 (7) | 29.131 (6) | 1’12.178 |
| 7 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | 20.108 (3) | 22.972 (11) | 29.148 (7) | 1’12.228 |
| 8 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | 20.234 (8) | 22.88 (5) | 29.126 (5) | 1’12.240 (+0.063) |
| 9 | 18 | Lance Stroll | 20.258 (11) | 22.963 (8) | 29.21 (9) | 1’12.431 (+0.228) |
| 10 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | 20.249 (10) | 23.037 (13) | 29.159 (8) | 1’12.445 (+0.246) |
| 11 | 23 | Alexander Albon | 20.239 (9) | 22.967 (10) | 29.279 (12) | 1’12.485 |
| 12 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | 20.368 (12) | 22.99 (12) | 29.267 (11) | 1’12.625 (+0.111) |
| 13 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | 20.377 (13) | 22.965 (9) | 29.386 (16) | 1’12.728 |
| 14 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | 20.431 (14) | 23.164 (15) | 29.321 (13) | 1’12.916 |
| 15 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | 20.445 (15) | 23.1 (14) | 29.395 (17) | 1’12.940 |
| 16 | 11 | Sergio Perez | 20.678 (18) | 23.3 (17) | 29.348 (14) | 1’13.326 |
| 17 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | 20.674 (17) | 23.231 (16) | 29.436 (18) | 1’13.341 (+0.094) |
| 18 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | 20.605 (16) | 23.377… |
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