© Getty ImagesFront row to back row for the Bulls in MontrealRead the Qualifying Report below.
MaxVerstappenisinthehuntforafourthstraightCanadaGPwinafterhetookP2inatightqualifyinginMontreal.Yuki,meanwhile,facesafightbackfromlastplaceonthegridafterhequalified11thbutwashitwitha10-placegridpenalty.
Yuki was the first of the Bulls on track in FP3, but it wasn’t long before McLaren’s Oscar Piastri clipped the ‘Wall of Champions’ and brought out the red flags.
When the track when green again, Max headed out for the first time and over the rest of the session, the Champion chipped away at his lap time, eventually working his way to a best lap of 1:12.072 that left him in P5, 0.273s off FP3 pacesetter, Lando Norris.
Yuki returned to the track late in the session on soft tyres, but he was unable to rapidly find a comfort zone, and, though he improved to 1:13.573, that left him in last place. He was also noted for passing Oscar under the red flags and was summoned to see the stewards after the session and was subsequently handed a 10-place grid penalty for the race.
Let's Go Canada© Getty Images
Yuki headed out early at the start of Q1, looking to make up for the time lost in FP3, and he immediately eclipsed his earlier times, posting a time of 1:13.287 to end up in P7 as he headed back to the garage.
At the top of the order, Mercedes’ George Russell set the early pace, posting a lap of 1:12.574 to sit in P1 ahead of team-mate Kimi Antonelli. Oscar then moved ahead of both to take top spot on 1:12.332, a little over a tenth of a second ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.
Max, the last man on track for the opening runs, left the garage with 11 mins on the clock and the Dutchman immediately jumped from 20th on the timesheet to 1st with a lap of 1:12.273.
He didn’t hold on to top spot for long, however, as Fernando Alonso, also with medium tyres on his Aston, went quickest on a time of 1:12.239. Yuki headed out for his second run and was able to lower his best time to 1:12.609 which put him in ninth place.
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With a little over five minutes left, the red flags were thrown when Alex Albon was involved in a strange incident when the left side of his Williams engine cover seemingly blew up. The Thai driver headed back to the pits but with debris scattered across the back straight the session was halted.
When the track went green again, it was Lando who went quickest. The McLaren driver took top spot with a 1:11.826, a tenth clear of Oscar. Then came the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, and Max eased through to Q2 in fifth place. Yuki’s final flyer initially pushed him back into the top 10 and in the end, he progressed in P14.
Ruled out at the end of the session were Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto in P16, followed by Williams’ Carlos Sainz, Lance Stroll, VCARB’s Liam Lawson and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.
Max was first on track at the start of Q2, on medium tyres, and the Champion took top spot with a lap of 1:11.638. Lando, on used softs, couldn’t match that and the McLaren driver ended his lap 0.038 off the Red Bull. Oscar, on new softs, slotted into third ahead of Charles and Lewis. Yuki, meanwhile, took his RB21 to ninth place with his first flyer of 1:12.937 set on used softs.
Charles headed out early for his final run and he took top spot with a lap of 1:11.626. Max, back on soft tyres, couldn’t match that and when George, on mediums, put in a 1:11.570 and Lando crossed the line just under three hundredths behind, Max went through in fourth place.
On The Pit Straight© Getty Images
Yuki, with a good final run of 1:12.102, looked to have done enough to make it through to the top 10 shootout, but in the final moments Hadjar went 0.099s quicker to bump Yuki to 11th and out of the session. With his grid penalty on top, Yuki is set to start from the back of the grid.
Alpine’s Franco Colapinto, Kick Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg, Haas driver Ollie Bearman and the other Haas of Esteban Ocon also exited at the end of the Q2 session.
At the start of Q3, Charles, again, went early, and the Ferrari driver set the bar at 1:11.729, a tenth slower than his Q2 best. Lando was the next on the road, but the McLaren driver made a mistake at the end of his flyer and had to back out of the final chicane, and even when he continued with a second flyer on the same set of tyres, it was only good enough for P5. That left the door open for Oscar and the championship leader took provisional pole with a lap of 1:11.273. He couldn’t hang on to it, however, as Max was flying, and the Dutchman crossed the line 0.025s ahead of the Australian.
In the final runs, Max went back to the medium tyre and it proved the right choice. As Lando continued to struggle, Oscar jumped to P1 with a time of 1:11.120. Max was finding more pace on the yellow-banded tyre, however, and when the Dutchman crossed the line, he vaulted back to top spot, 0.061s ahead of the McLaren.
But just when it looked like Max has sealed his 44th career pole, George popped up. The Mercedes driver also bolted on a set of medium tyres for his final run, and he took a second consecutive Montreal pole, 0.160s ahead of Max.
Max Secures Second© Getty Images
Behind the champion, Oscar held third ahead of Kimi, with Lewis in fifth ahead of Fernando. Lando was left with P7 ahead of Charles and Isack and the final top 10 place went to Alex Albon.
