George Russell will start in the lead on Sunday at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Russell (Mercedes) and Max Verstappen (Red Bull) managed the same time, 1 min 12 sec. very exactly. However, it is the first to have passed the time, Russell, who has priority. It is only the second time in his career that the Briton has obtained the leading position.
McLaren’s Lando Norris will start in third place, followed by teammate Oscar Piastri. Surprise in 5th place: RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, who had a great qualifying.
The Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll finished in 6th and 9th place respectively. Stroll avoided disaster in Q1, when one of his wheels hit the champion wall. The car remained intact.
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) will line up 7th on the starting line, followed by Yuki Tsunoda (RB). Alex Albon of Williams qualified in 10th place.
The big surprise of the day took place during the second qualifying session, when the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. could not do better than the 11th and 12th times respectively.
If Sainz fils said in his microphone that he completely lacked grip, Leclerc played it cautiously; “I won’t comment here,” he said in frustration before getting out of his car.
Logan Sargeant (Williams, 13th), Kevin Magnussen (Haas, 14th) and Pierre Gasly (Alpine, 15th), also saw their day end in Q2.
Valtteri Bottas (and Guanyu Zhou, at Sauber, both saw their journey end in the first qualifying session, as did Esteban Ocon (Alpine, 18th) and Nico Hulkenberg (Haas). Ocon, even if he took the 18th, will start 20th due to the penalty awarded to him after the Monaco Grand Prix.