Following a dry FP3, dark clouds started to appear as qualifying got underway in Montreal.
Q1
Stroll, Norris, Verstappen and Russell all took turns at the top in the first half of the session.
Russell’s 1:13.242 had him a tenth clear of Verstappen. Hamilton backed up his teammate, 0.201s slower away. Norris, Stroll, Alonso, Sainz, Leclerc, Albon and Ricciardo completed the top 10.
Piastri, Perez, Gasly, Ocon and Guanyu found themselves in the relegation zone.
Piastri and Leclerc both complained about traffic, with the Australian looking like he was blocked by Yuki Tsunoda. No investigation was the final result for the Japanese driver.
On a new set of tyres, Pierre Gasly vaulted up to 2nd as he pumped in a 1:13.289. But that was the start of the times tumbling massively.
After falling to 15th with all the improvements, Max Verstappen kept his composure and did a 1:12.360 to end up quickest, 0.388s and 0.491s in front of Yuki Tsunoda and Lewis Hamilton respectively.
Albon and Sargeant did a superb job for Williams, finishing P4 and P9. The McLarens, Russell, Sainz and Stroll also ended up in the top 10.
The big shock once again was Sergio Perez as he could only manage P16, missing out by 0.037s. He was 0.966s slower than teammate Verstappen.
Bottas, Ocon, Hülkenberg and Guanyu also got knocked out. Kevin Magnussen was comfortably faster than Nico Hülkenberg (0.761s), getting through in P13.
Q2
The Mercedes of George Russell put in the first time as he logged a 1:13.121.
Oscar Piastri logged in the first big lap as a 1:12.462 saw him over 0.6s clear of the pack. Russell came back, pumping in a 1:12.323 to go a tenth faster.
Piastri, Hamilton (despite a huge snap of oversteer in the last chicane), Norris, Leclerc, Alonso, Magnussen, Ricciardo, Tsunoda and Sainz completed the top 10 halfway through.
Verstappen, Stroll, Sargeant, Albon and Gasly were in the bottom five.
Ahead of the final runs on new tyres, Sainz and Verstappen moved up to P8 and P10. Tsunoda dropped to 11th.
George Russell had a massive snap of oversteer at turn 4 but avoided hitting the wall as he pushed again.
Mercedes went even quicker on the second runs as a 1:11.742 from Russell put him 0.237s clear of Hamilton. Norris, Tsunoda, Piastri, Albon, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Alonso and Stroll also advanced.
The reigning World Champion was 0.189s slower compared to his Q2 time but made it through despite almost going deep at the last chicane.
Ferrari had an absolute shocker as their lack of pace in FP3 was confirmed in qualifying. Leclerc and Sainz could only manage P11 and P12, missing out by 0.032s and 0.069s respectively. The Spanish driver had a big snap of oversteer on the exit of the last corner, costing him a probable Q3 place.
Sargeant was also unbelievably close to getting into Q3, the Floridian was only 0.077s from advancing. Magnussen and Gasly also got knocked out.
Q3
Moments at turn 4 and the last chicane meant Oscar Piastri only managed a 1:12.713 to kick things off in Q3, with Verstappen beating it by 0.355s seconds later.
Russell and Hamilton delivered again on their first attempts. A 1:12.000 from Russell was 0.280s quicker than Hamilton, with almost all the deficit in the final sector.
Norris and Piastri moved up to P2 and P3 as they went push-cool-push. They were 0.021s and 0.103s off Russell on their opening attempt.
Remarkably, Max Verstappen did exactly the same time as Russell but the Brit starts on pole as he set his time first.
Norris and Piastri locked out the second row, with Daniel Ricciardo completing the top 5 as he finished just 0.178s off pole.
Alonso, Hamilton, Tsunoda, Stroll and Albon completed the top 10. It was incredible disappointment for the seven-time World Champion as he ended up 0.280s off pole.
