Max Verstappen sailed to pole position in a mixed-conditions qualifying hour ahead of shock front-row starter Nico Hulkenberg.
The Dutchman had set a formidable benchmark early in a frenetic Q3 as heavier rain began to fall at the circuit with a lap of 1m25.858s.
Conditions were temporarily improving with all 10 cars on track despite the rain, and the identity of the second-quickest driver was changing rapidly. Esteban Ocon had the place first, followed by Fernando Alonso and then Hulkenberg, who clocked in 1.244s behind Verstappen.
Alonso was set to take the time back, but a red flag was called when Oscar Piastri crashed his McLaren at Turn 7. The Australian lost control of his car on exit, spinning around and rear-ending the barrier, with his right rear taking most of the impact.
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The red flag froze the order seconds after Hulkenberg set his time and just second before Alonso would have cross the line to beat it.
The rain arrived with greater intensity during the suspension, and although more than seven minutes remained when the track reopened, no one could improve in the increasingly wet conditions. That guaranteed Verstappen his 25th career pole and his fifth of the season.
“In the wet you just have to stay on top of all the conditions,” he said. “We just made all the right calls at the right time at the track to do the lap times, so I’m very happy to be on pole.”
But Hülkenberg’s second row stole the show, taking Haas’s best qualifying result since Kevin Magnussen’s pole position at last year’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
“It was a wild quali,” he said. “It was crazy. Changing conditions are tricky, especially around here with the walls so close.
“Obviously this is a bit unexpected. We can be very happy and proud — the team did a solid job. It was super smooth, so I’m very happy.”
The German was noncommittal about his Sunday target from so high on the grid, though.
“We’ll have to see,” he said. “Obviously the first row is nice, very sweet. Let’s see how long we can keep that.”
Alonso was satisfied to take third despite being second away from a front-row start and was hopeful of being able to challenge Verstappen in the race.
“I think tomorrow we have a chance to put some pressure,” he said. “Hopefully tomorrow [Red Bull] have to push a little bit more.”
Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and George Russell qualified fourth and fifth ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Carlos Sainz qualified eighth but will see the stewards later today for allegedly impeding Pierre Gasly in Q1 in an incident that ended the Frenchman’s qualifying session early.
The crashed Piastri was ninth fastest ahead of Alex Albon, who couldn’t set a time before the red flag. The Williams driver had been sensational throughout qualifying and was the first driver onto slicks in Q2, which saw him through to the pole shootout in top spot.
Charles Leclerc failed to make Q3 for the second race in a row after Ferrari mistimed the switch from slicks to intermediates early in Q2 as the track dried.
📻: "TYRES WERE NOT READY, COME ON!!!!"
Charles Leclerc is OUT of qualifying ❌#CanadianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/xuaudR3My0
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 17, 2023
Leclerc asked to be switched to a set of softs early in the session but was overruled by the team; by the time he was allowed to use the slicks, he’d missed the best of the conditions, leaving him 11th.
Sergio Perez had an even worse time, missing Q3 for the third straight race and fourth time this season. The Red Bull driver’s day-long struggles with tire temperature meant the switch to slicks was unsuccessful, and he failed to string together a clean lap back on intermediates at the end of the segment. He qualified 12th, having qualified 11th and 20th at the last two weekends.
Lance Stroll survived a spin early in Q2 but couldn’t pull himself together for better than 13th ahead of Kevin Magnussen and Valtteri Bottas. Stroll, too, will see the stewards for allegedly impeding Ocon.
Yuki Tsunoda qualified 16th but will face two stewards investigations, one apiece for impeding Leclerc and Hulkenberg.
Gasly ended the afternoon 17th after missing out on Q2 by 0.156s. The Frenchman was on course to improve his time when he came across a slow-moving Sainz in the braking zone for the final chicane, forcing him to cut the corner and abandon the lap.
“They should be banned for such a thing,” Gasly fumed over team radio. “I’m coming at 300 [kilometers per hour]. What the hell do they think?”
Nyck de Vries was 18th ahead of Logan Sargeant and Zhou Guanyu, who caused a brief red flag early in the session for stopping on track before restarting his car and returning to pit lane.
