Global Courant
MONTREAL –
Max Verstappen has no secret about driving in the rain, but it is something he has prepared himself for from an early age.
The Formula 1 leader weathered the storm on Saturday and drove his Red Bull to pole position during qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix.
“I remember my father literally standing on the track in karting days and telling me where to drive in the rain,” said Verstappen. “It’s also a lot of feeling, knowing how to ride it, what lines to take. It’s hard to fully explain why that happens, but it’s something you’ve been learning since a little kid.”
The 25-year-old completed a lap of one minute, 25.858 seconds on a wet track at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to secure his spot at the front of the grid in Sunday’s race.
It is Verstappen’s fifth pole of the season and the 25th of his career. The Dutch driver is chasing a fourth win in a row and his sixth in eight races this year.
With a win on Sunday, Verstappen would tie the late Brazilian icon Ayrton Senna for fifth all-time with 41 career wins.
“When I was a little kid I never thought I’d be on that list. So for me it’s definitely a great achievement,” said Verstappen earlier this week.
Nico Hulkenberg surprised by finishing second, which looked to give Haas its first-ever front row start. However, hours after the race, the German driver received a three-place grid penalty for breaching the red flag.
Despite the loss, a fifth-place start is a good result for the seventh-ranked Haas, who is unlikely to finish that high on Sunday.
“We have to be realistic. Lately our race pace has not been the strongest,” Hulkenberg said.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso moved up to second, seven-time Canadian Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton, who has never qualified outside the top-5 in Montreal, will start third and Mercedes team-mate George Russel fourth.
All three drivers are in excellent position to secure points with several top cars starting from further back on the grid.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, second and seventh in the standings, both retired early and Carlos Sainz in sixth was given a three-place penalty for impeding Alpine driver Pierre Gasly.
As a result, Leclerc, Sainz and Perez will start 10th, 11th and 12th on Sunday.
“Obviously it’s a huge opportunity for us,” said Alonso, who is third in the drivers’ standings. “In terms of points for the constructors and multiple drivers, ultimately, if (Perez) doesn’t score too many points.”
Alonso’s teammate Lance Stroll will have a harder time picking up points for Aston Martin.
The Montreal-born driver finished 13th in qualifying, dropping even further to 16th after taking a three-place grid penalty himself for impeding Alpine’s Esteban Ocon.
“It wasn’t ideal. I’m disappointed with the session,” said Stroll. “But it was a difficult session, it could have gone either way. It’s a bit of a strange order on the grid today. But overtaking is always possible here, it’s a long race.”
The session started with no rain after rain all day Saturday. But the precipitation returned and got heavier over the last 30 minutes.
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri slid off the track in the tricky conditions to slow down the final session.
Verstappen, who won the Canadian Grand Prix last year, leads the Formula 1 drivers’ standings with 170 points, 53 ahead of Perez.
Red Bull’s 287 points lead the constructors’ standings, while Mercedes is second with 152.
After two days of rain, drivers and fans can face a dry race on Sunday as the forecast predicts a mix of sun and clouds.
It is the 52nd Canadian GP and the 45th anniversary of Gilles Villeneuve’s victory when Montreal hosted for the first time in 1978.
Since then, no Canadian has won the race.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on June 17, 2023.
