Max Verstappen drove with extreme poise and skill on Saturday as he claimed pole position for Red Bull ahead of Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg in a rainswept qualifying session at the Canadian Grand Prix.
The defending double world champion and series leader outpaced the German driver by 1.244 seconds in a very wet top-ten shootout to secure his 25th career pole.
It also completed a hat-trick for the Dutchman after poles in Monaco and Spain. It will be the third front row starting position for Hulkenberg and the first for the American-owned Haas team.
Two-time champion Fernando Alonso was third-fastest for Aston Martin and will share the second row of the grid with seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes.
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George Russell was fifth in the second Mercedes ahead of Esteban Ocon of Alpine, Lando Norris of McLaren, Carlos Sainz of Ferrari and Oscar Piastri in the second McLaren.
Alex Albon was 10th for Williams while both Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc failed to proceed from Q2 for the second consecutive event.
The biggest story, however, was Hulkenberg and his lap time early in the session that would prove to be enough for P2 as the weather continued to get impossible for driving.
The session was red-flagged after five minutes when Piastri crashed his McLaren at the exit of Turn Six, smacking the wall and damaging the rear end.
This left Verstappen leading the way ahead of Hulkenberg, in his Haas.
“It was fun, it was good. Obviously this comes unexpected, but very happy and very proud,” Hulkenberg said on Sky Sports.
“It was a wild Qualy, crazy. Changing conditions are tricky, especially around here.
“Wet, dry and back to wet, you have to readjust all the time. This was a bit unexpected but I’m very happy and proud. It was super smooth, so very happy.
“In this weather it’s just a lot of communication. A lot of radio going back and forth. We did it well today, no major mistakes and that’s why we are standing here now.
“First row is nice, let’s see how long we can keep that. A dry race will be very different. I just want to go out there, race as hard as I can and hopefully get a nice result.”
Haas pit crew members and officials were seen celebrating well before the end of the session.
It piles the pressure on Hulkenberg to break one of the saddest stats in Formula 1.
The German hold the record for the most Grands Prix appearances without ever finishing on the podium.
He has raced in more than 180 Grands Prix and has a best finish of fourth.
“It’s an incredible stat,” F1 guru Martin Brundle said on Sky Sports.
Hulkenberg’s qualifying effort on Sunday morning also his first front row start since 2016.
At the other end of the spectrum it was sheer misery for Ferrari — again.
As in 2022, the qualifying session began in cold and damp conditions with an air temperature of 16 degrees and the track at only 18, insufficient to generate optimum tyre temperatures for most teams, notably Mercedes.
Albon boldly took the gamble on slicks for Q2, with rain forecast to arrive after six minutes. Ferrari more cautiously asked Leclerc to stay on intermediates for an early “banker” lap — eve though he told the team he should be put onto softer tyres.
Verstappen and the rest then switched to slicks as Albon went top — and the rain arrived.
Unperturbed, Albon trimmed his time to 1:18.725 while Mercedes unhappily remained on intermediates before Hamilton was finally switched to slicks.
As Hamilton squeezed into 10th, both Leclerc and Perez faced a second consecutive elimination from Q2, their teams having failed with their strategy.
It was the first time Williams had topped a qualifying segment since Felipe Massa in Belgium in 2016.
Leclerc was absolutely filthy with his team’s strategy and was heard screaming on his team’s radio.
“The tyres are not ready! Come on,” he could be heard yelling.
His emotions had not subsided yet by the time he faced reporters after the session.
“We will have a talk. We need to keep it inside the team but I’m really not happy today, once again,” he said.
“It creates frustration and … we need to be better than that but I’ve been saying that for a while now. It’s frustrating and I hope they will listen to me a bit more in the future.
“Our performance had been good in FP2, so it’s even more a shame but it is what it is.”
Canadian Grand Prix qualifying result, starting grid
1. Max Verstappen
2. Nico Hulkenberg
3. Fernando Alonso
4. Lewis Hamilton
5. George Russell
6. Esteban Ocon
7. Lando Norris
8. Carlos Sainz
9. Oscar Piastri
10. Alex Albon