Max on pole in rainy Montreal: 'Stay on top of everything'

Published on 18 June 2023 by Misha van der Kroon

Max Verstappen defied the rain in Montreal and put his Oracle Red Bull Racing RB19 convincingly on pole position. The qualifying session of the Canadian Grand Prix took place under varying and difficult circumstances. The two-time World Champion however was on top throughout the whole session. A surprising second place was there for Nico Hülkenberg, who was on track at the right time and on the right tyres. Fernando Alonso took the third place of tomorrow’s starting grid, just ahead of Lewis Hamilton. 

“Friday wasn’t fantastic, so we made a few changes to the car,” Max starts. “Of course today was completely wet, so it was a little bit different. But I think the car has improved. And in the wet you have to stay on top of all the conditions.” 
He continues: “It was super slippery in some places. We just made all the right calls, and were at the right time on the track. I’m very happy to be on pole here.”
Max knows what it’s like to drive in the rain. “I like driving in the wet. I come from the Netherlands, we’re used to driving in the wet.”

Looking ahead of the race, Max concludes: “Maybe it’s dry tomorrow, and then it can be a bit different. But normally we have a good race car.”

The qualifying session in Montreal starts on a wet track, and after only a few minutes the session is stopped by a red flag when the Alfa Romeo of Zhou Guanyu grinds to a halt. The Chinese driver manages to drive his car back to the pits, and Q1 resumes shortly after. 

With every lap around the circuit the times get faster, although some cars do slide off the track. No car actually gets damaged, and when the clock is at zero, Max Verstappen tops the timesheets of Q1, ahead of Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. Both cars of AlphaTauri are out, with Yuki Tsunoda on P16 and Nyck de Vries on P18. For Pierre Gasly (P17), Logan Sargeant (P19) and Zhou Guanyu (P20) the qualifying session is over as well.

The remaining 15 drivers start Q2 on intermediates, except for Alex Albon. He goes out on slicks, and soon the other drivers follow his lead. Over the team radio Max informs them that it’s raining again. He does improve his own time, but is still three tenths slower than Albon as the rain started to fall again. Knocked out in Q2 are Charles Leclerc (P11), followed by Sergio Perez, Lance Stroll, Kevin Magnussen and Valterri Bottas.

Rain is still falling when the lights turn green for Q3. Sliding around the wet track, Max takes P1 with a lap time of 1:27.059, followed by Alonso and Hamilton. The reigning World Champion lowers the bar to 1:25.858, and Nico Hülkenberg climbs to P2 with a lap time of 1:27.102. Then, Oscar Piastri spins and crashes his McLaren into the wall, bringing out a red flag.

With only 7 minutes remaining the session resumes, but there’s so much water on track that none of the drivers manage to improve their times. Max takes a well-deserved pole position, after showing his dominance and being fastest in the different weather conditions. Hülkenberg surprisingly takes P2, starting alongside Max tomorrow. Alonso with his Aston Martin will start on the second row, next to the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton who secured the fourth starting position.
It looks like it will be dry tomorrow during the race, which will start at 20:00 Dutch time.

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