© Getty images2024 Canadian Grand Prix - Qualifying ReportMax's misses out on pole by a margin of zero
TherewasliterallynothinginitinqualifyinginMontréalasMaxmissedoutonhiseighthpolepositionoftheseasonbythemarginofzeroseconds.
The Championship leader went into the final runs of Q3 knowing that he would have to pull out all the stops if he was to take a third straight Canadian Grand Prix pole.
And despite struggling for grip throughout the tricky session, the Dutchman almost did it. Max crossed the line in 1:12.000, identical to Russell’s time from run one, but with Russell setting the time first, Max lost out.
“It is how it is, right?,” Max smiled afterwards. “I think overall we still had a good qualifying. I mean, the whole weekend has been a bit tricky for us. So to be P2, I’ll take it. I mean, going into qualifying, I would have definitely taken that. That it was that close at the end makes it really exciting for tomorrow as well.”
For Checo, though, there was no reward at the end of the difficult session. Also struggling for grip, the Mexican failed to make Q2.
Watch:Checo'sQualiReaction
After a disjointed Friday, the final hour of practice was a lot smoother. With plenty of work to do on both sides of the garage, there were still few conclusions to be drawn by the time the chequered flag was flown at the end of the session. The Bulls early runs on Mediums were disrupted by a red flag five minutes in when Zhou Guanyu spun off on the exit of Turn 1. When the action resumed, on harder compounds, Max was third, while Checo, was near the bottom of the order.
In the later Soft tyres runs, Max ended the session in second place with a lap of 1:12.293 that included a brush with the notorious ‘Wall of Champions’. That left him almost four tenths off the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton. Checo, meanwhile, finished in P9, 0.002s behind Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
With race control estimating the risk of rain for qualifying at 80%, a long queue formed at the pit exit ahead of the start of Q1. The Bulls were in the first handful to take to the circuit. Max’s opener of 1:15.194 was the first representative time of the session but he was soon beaten by Lando Norris who dipped into the 1m14s bracket. Checo, meanwhile, slotted into fourth on 1:16.352.
The Bulls slid down the order as the times began to tumble, but with his second run Max returned to P1. The Dutchman stopped the clock at 1:13.368 to sit a little under two tenths clear of Norris. Checo’s second run netted him an improvement to 1:14.494, but with eight minutes to go that left him in the drop zone in P17.
As both made their way to the pits, Mercedes’ George Russell jumped to the top of the order, 0.126s ahead of Max, with Hamilton in P3. More improvements were coming elsewhere, too, and as the Bulls waited to start their final runs, Norris moved to the top of the order on 1:12.959 ahead of Russell, before Hamilton took P1, a tenth ahead of the McLaren driver.
Max, meanwhile, was back on track and the Champion’s final flyer of 1:12.360 vaulted him back to the top of the timesheet, almost four tenths of a second ahead of Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda, who took an impressive P2 ahead of Hamilton.
However, Checo failed to make Q2 after finishing in P16 ahead of Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg and the second Sauber of Zhou Guanyu
Tough Day For Checo © Getty Images
As Q2 got underway, drops of rain began to fall on the Île Notre Dame, but the field again took to the track on Softs. In the opening exchanges it was Russell who set the pace. The Mercedes driver took P1 with a lap of 1:12.323 that put him 0.139s ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. Max, on used tyres, found himself in tenth place with a lap time of 1:12.940.
In the final runs, Norris jumped to P1 with a lap of 1:12.201, ahead of Tsunoda.
With a minute remaining Max was in 14th place, but out on track and with new Softs on board. When he crossed the line after his final flyer, he moved to a solid P6, which became P7 when Albon’s final flyer pushed him ahead of the Dutchman.
At the top of the timesheet, Russell took P1 with a lap of 1:11.742, ahead of Hamilton and Norris, with Tsunoda in fourth ahead of Piastri.
While Albon’s late rise up the order bumped Max to seventh, it meant that Charles Leclerc ended qualifying in 11th place, one ahead of Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz. Also ruled out at the end of Q2 were Williams’ Logan Sargeant in P13, ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.
Max Heading Out For His Final Run in Q2© Getty Images
In the first runs of Q3, with all 10 drivers on used Soft tyres, it was Russell who set the early pace, with a 1:12 dead. Hamilton took second 0.280s behind his team-mate, while Max slotted into third place on 1:12.358.
In the final runs, the McLarens were first on track, and they split the Mercedes, with Norris in P2, just 0.021s behind Russell who held on to provisional pole, as Piastri took third.
Behind them Max headed out for his final run and he dug deep to post an identical time to Russell. When the Mercedes driver failed to lower the benchmark any further, Max booked a front-row berth for what is shaping up to be a thrilling Canadian Grand Prix tomorrow.
Max Congratulates His Fellow Front Row Starter© Getty Images
| Rank | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | | 1 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:12.000 | - |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1:12.000 | +0.000 |
| 3 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:12.021 | +0.021 |
| 4 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:12.103 | +0.103 |
| 5 | Daniel Ricciardo | Visa Cash App RB | 1:12.178 | +0.178 |
| 6 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:12.228 | +0.228 |
| 7 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:12.280 | +0.280 |
| 8 | Yuki Tsunoda | Visa Cash App RB | 1:12.414 | +0.414 |
| 9 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:12.701 | +0.701 |
| 10 | Alex Albon | Williams | 1:12.796 | +0.796 |
| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |
| 16 | Sergio Pérez | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1:13.326 (in Q1) | +0.966 (In Q1) |
Ready To Head Out© Getty Images
