Verstappen took pole position and Alonso third in the rain in Canada

On a wet track, two of the greatest talents that F1 history has ever produced, will face off in a battle for pole position. On one side, the great favorite, the current champion, Max Verstappen, behind the wheel of the best car on the grid. On the other hand, a Fernando Alonso who wants to make history by returning to pole position after more than 10 years, for the first time with Aston Martin. In two different generations, face to face. Two champions who have endless respect for each other and are waiting to meet in difficult conditions. In Barcelona, ​​Alonso couldn’t stand until the end because of the mistake he made at the start of ‘qualification’, where he broke the bottom of his car. He did not want to miss the opportunity that Canadian water gave him, on a track where, certainly in the wet, last year he performed the miracle of qualifying in second position with an Alpine.. however, an accident with 7 minutes left prevented that battle from continuing and everything stopped.

Verstappen was ahead of Hülkenberg (2nd) and Alonso, who would start 3rd against Hamilton (4th) and Russell (5th) in this Sunday’s race, which is expected to be dry.

Alonso set a time two tenths behind Max on his first attempt. i was there Max improved his time as the track progressed. So did Hülkenberg, who placed 2nd in the Haas. Alonso will also improve his time to get to the front line and dream of fighting. But Piastri’s accident brought out a red flag before Alonso crossed the finish line. I was 3rd and after the break it started to rain. “We will not improve like this,” said Alonso from the pitlane. I am clear. The post has been decided. Max achieved it, on his own merit, yes, but without the Spaniard having a chance to fight to the end.

Red Bull played its cards to the wall better. He always puts Verstappen first in the pit lane to ensure he is the first to set lap times in the event of rain. It helps to have a car with very warm tires. Hülkenberg took advantage of the pit position to get behind Max. And ended up making a difference.

Sainz, bad day

Carlos Sainz is 8th after a Saturday that was the complete opposite of what he wanted.

Carlos Sainz arrives with excellent options to fight for the top positions in the classification this Saturday at the Canadian GP. He felt very comfortable at the last Grand Prix behind the wheel of his Ferrari and has just come back from being second in the Barcelona classification while his partner suffered and fell in Q1 in the rain. On Friday, Carlos Sainz showed himself with confidence behind his car, with good weapons to attack this Saturday. But it wasn’t his day.

After setting the second best time in Free Practice 2, the Madrid native, on a delicate track due to water, hit the wall at turn 1. Thus, he had to restore confidence directly in qualifying. And there he was hurt by the inaction of his wall. At the end of Q1, with many cars lapping or looking for space on the track due to how much the track had improved, he was slow in the penultimate corner of the track for his final lap. But at that moment, Pierre Gasly was coming and Carlos stopped him. “It’s running at 300 km/h!” exclaimed the French pilot furiously. Carlos was not warned from the wall that he had to move away, the same thing that happened to Leclerc in Monaco and cost him a penalty. It should also penalize Sainz a few places. He will have to return to racing this Sunday in Canada, with doubts as to whether his Ferrari this time will allow him to push less than he experienced in Barcelona.

Leclerc and Pérez, sunk

Charles Leclerc and ‘Checo’ Pérez did not raise their heads. The Monegasque Ferrari driver was 11th in yesterday’s qualifying session and did not enter the final Q3 battle, again outside the top 10. In the wet, where the hands count the most and the ability of the driver and the team to read the changing track conditions, ‘Il Principino’ failed again for the second race in a row. In Barcelona he was surprised when he was eliminated in Q1, with 19th position, while his teammate Carlos Sainz finished 2nd. There, Leclerc was sure that something had gone wrong with his car, that something was wrong with the left corner and it needed to be checked. But two weeks later, Charles admitted the team didn’t see anything unusual in the car. The ‘thorn’ had to be removed yesterday in Canada, again with wet asphalt and changing conditions from Q1 to Q2. But it sank in Canadian waters.

The same thing happened to ‘Checo’ Pérez. The Mexican driver has not entered Q3 for three consecutive races, and so, with the best car on the grid, it is impossible for him to make things difficult for Max Verstappen in the fight for the title.

The Mexican is fading as the championship progresses and is already 53 points behind his teammate, the current world champion, who seems to have a clear path to follow for his third crown. Unlike Perez, Max is always there.