Alonso will start 2nd in Canada and Sainz, 3rd!

He is 40 years old. And that? The next month he was 41 and he didn’t care. For him to be 21, with the same hunger he had when he started more than two decades ago in F1, Fernando Alonso has once again shown himself. He has been out of F1 for over two years. We repeat the question: So what? He came back last year to experience days like this Saturday. He said he wanted to continue for another two or three years because he was feeling at the best. How to say no. Fernando wants to be in the top weekend after weekend, but his car doesn’t allow it. You must wait for those special days, where hands are key, to shine and choose for positions of honor. Like this Saturday. The Canadian sky gave a golden opportunity to a Fernando Alonso that he did not intend to miss. Common sense and logic do not participate in the classification. They were replaced by rain, which brought emotion, uncertainty and madness to an unpredictable classification in which Max Verstappen only imposed his superiority in the end, although there was much suspense against an expert Alonso (2nd ) and Sainz (3rd) who lost to the pole in the final sector.

Thrill from start to finish

It’s been two years since Canada hosted an F1 race because of the Covid-19. There was a huge desire for the ‘Grand Circus’ in Montreal, a mythical circuit itself, with the famous ‘Wall of Champions’ as a mythical venue, always filling its stands to receive the highest category of world motorsports. And the prize was fat for the fans who gathered after two years of waiting at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit.

In Q1, the track was very wet, for extremely wet tires, but with each lap each driver improved the session time due to how quickly the track dried. So Magnussen, Russell, Verstappen or Sainz took the lead in just a few minutes. And ultimately, with the track mostly for intermediates but no time to change gears, the Dutchman will achieve the best position against Alonso (0 “058”) and Sainz (0 “562) in a Q1 where the men had to do well in the water like Gasly or Vettel, they were removed in the first change along with Stroll, Latifi and Tsunoda

In Q2, the key is to take a risk and ride the intermediates or wait. Asphalt is on that boundary between good and evil. Max didn’t take any chances. While his teammate ‘Checo’ Pérez paid for the placement of intervals with a fall on the wall that stopped the session by a red flag, when Albon also left the track. The clock stopped where Alonso took the lead on his first attempt, leading Verstappen and Sainz in the third. The Spaniards’ resilience to delicate and changing climatic conditions is remarkable. They are always on top. And that’s to a Max who was so hungry that he didn’t even want to lose this pole despite knowing that it would be more beneficial for him to focus on putting in the race settings to crush Sunday. Max wants a pole and win races. I want everything.

When Q2 resumed, the track was dry and wet. Faster, but very fine. Going into the dry lane or over braking can lead to an incident. And again, with each lap the pilots took, the clock stake went up. The track improvement is overwhelming at every turn. But Fernando and Carlos continued their thing, progressing with each lap, always with the best. No mistakes in a very difficult time. Verstappen, Carlos, Fernando are the names most repeated above. Everyone can aspire to be there. But they are the most consistent. Alonso was already ahead with zero clock. But Max gave the blow to achieving Q2’s best time with a 1 ”102 advantage over Alonso, who was second, and 1” 4 over Sainz, who was fourth behind Russell.

Surprises happen. Mick Schumacher entered Q3, as did Zhou for the first time, and drivers like Leclerc (he didn’t want to risk it because you’ll still start from the bottom), Norris (14th), Pérez (injured, 13th) and Bottas (11th) were left. This is the best option of the season for Alonso and Sainz. Without two men typically fighting for the pole like Leclerc and Pérez, and without many key men in the center zone in a Q3 that again seems exciting due to the massive track improvements expected consecutive laps, due to the skepticism in knowing if someone would risk putting on soft rubber and because of the great risk that there was an accident that would change everything.

After the first attempt of Q3, Verstappen was still ahead of Sainz (2nd at 0 “231) and Alonso (3rd at 0” 396). But the track continues to improve and nothing is decided. And Russell decided to spice things up and add suspense to the thing, since he was the only one riding the soft rubber to dry with 3 more minutes. The cards are already on the table. But few would doubt the bet on George. Max sets the record and Russell’s decision takes a corner as he goes to the lawn in the second, damaging his wing. He played it and it didn’t go on, but we have to applaud Russell, who finished second in ‘qualy’ in the rain in 2021 at the Spa with a Williams.

The pole was played by Verstappen, Sainz and Alonso. Alonso stopped his first round. So did Sainz with 40 seconds left. Sainz set the record in the first sector, improving Verstappen’s time by the tenth. Sainz lost tenth in the second sector. They played it ultimately, of power. And in the last corner the Spaniard slipped to put himself 7 tenths behind. Fernando Alonso came from behind, who at 40 overtook Carlos and placed himself in second position, at 0 ”645.