18
22:18
Q1 ended
Q1 is over and there are surprises! Vettel and Stroll are both eliminated after the Aston Martins did well in practice and Pierre Gasly also retires in P16. In addition, Nicolas Latifi and Yuki Tsunoda occupy the last places, although the Japanese will start from the back tomorrow anyway due to a penalty. More surprising is the good positioning of Leclerc, who will serve a similar penalty, but is cheerful here. However, it is not yet close to Verstappen.
17
22:17
Max Verstappen’s new best lap
The world champion clearly climbs to the top. He is five tenths ahead of Sainz and Leclerc.
16
10:15 p.m
What is Perez doing?
The Mexican is currently in 16th place and is about to be eliminated. There has to be more if he still wants to get past Vettel in P15. The Heppenheimer must also improve. There is a big drop compared to the training sessions.
15
22:14
Tsunoda says goodbye
Since Tsunoda, like Leclerc, will start at the back tomorrow, he has already parked the car. He will no longer enter the 18th place. In contrast, Leclerc is currently in a surprising 10th place. He doesn’t really need that.
14
22:13
Response from Aston Martin?
At the moment the Aston Martins are in P18 and P19. For Vettel and Stroll there is still some potential for improvement. Only Latifi is behind the duo.
13.
22:12
Ocon takes turf with him
A first clear mistake can be seen when Esteban Ocon misjudges and drives across the lawn in the S-curve as a precaution before he shoots his way out of the qualification completely.
12.
22:12
New best lap by Carlos Sainz
Alonso sets a fantastic time and passes Verstappen by a few hundredths, but Sainz is also fast and undercuts both drivers by more than three tenths!
10
22:10
Steady improvement
Even Kevin Magnussen is now registering, but these times are not representative at all. The track is getting faster and faster and there will probably be fighting here until the end.
8th.
22:07
George Russell’s new best lap
It’s just going back and forth between Verstappen and Russell. Of course, the grip of the Pirellis steadily improves before the tires start to wear off. Carlos Sainz is now also very delicate in front of Verstappen.
6.
22:05
Answer from Verstappen
After it wasn’t enough in the first lap, Verstappen followed up with a clean second lap. For now, he’s trailing Russell by eight-tenths. Ocon and Magnussen are also in between, while Mick Schumacher is currently in P8.
5.
22:04
George Russell’s first best time
George Russell sets a new best lap time. 1:36:688 is a small announcement. This puts him almost eight tenths ahead of Max Verstappen. Vettel is third behind the Dutchman, followed by Ocon and Stroll.
3.
22:02
Pit radio at Mercedes-AMG Petronas
Hamilton is told early on to just put in a good time early as yellow and even red flags can be expected.
1.
22:00
Alfa Romeo opens
The two drivers of the Italian stable lead the field at the beginning. Only Leclerc stays out at the beginning. It remains to be seen to what extent he will drive here given his secure 20th grid position.
1.
22:00
Start qualifying
The traffic lights are green, qualifying has started in Montréal, QC. All teams drive on the blue rain tires. These are expected to take about two to three laps before they really have grip. So time is short!
21:41
Just a few more seconds
Qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix is just around the corner. The conditions are adverse at best at 12 degrees Celsius. The first stint lasts 18 minutes before the first drivers retire.
21:37
Are they really intermediates?
Rain is still falling in and around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. In this respect, it remains to be seen whether the intermediates will really start. It would of course be annoying for the top teams, since they took it easy in view of the supposedly clearing weather in the 3rd training session and could now be faced with a big unknown.
21:30
Schumacher just sniffs
Mick Schumacher is far behind. The German once again fell short of teammate Magnussen but failed to set a serious time in the process. Overall, he was 3.5 seconds short of the fastest lap. He should really attack again on the intermediates.
21:17
Top 10 completed
Between the leading trio and the combination of Pérez, Verstappen and Sainz, Ocon, among others, was able to focus. In the second Alpine, he ultimately set the fourth-best time, putting himself in front of the two McLarens. In the traditional English team, Ricciardo narrowly overtook Norris this time. The next Briton follows behind, because once again it was George Russell who held the advantage over Lewis Hamilton in the Silver Arrow.
21:11
Favorites hold back
Neither Ferrari nor Red Bull got involved in any games. While it was raining, only Carlos Sainz did a few serious laps and it was only at the end that Pérez and world champion Verstappen got involved. As a result, however, they only jumped to P8 or P9. Sainz followed directly behind, while Charles Leclerc almost completely refused to take part. The Monegasque was penalized by the FIA for 20th place on the grid for tomorrow because it constantly had new parts installed. This makes both rain training and qualyfing pretty much unnecessary for Leclerc.
21:09
Are Alonso and Vettel holding up?
Already yesterday, Alonso and Vettel moved a little into the shop window. Alonso was in the top 5 each time, while Vettel was fourth fastest in the second practice session. They finally occupied positions one and three about an hour ago, leaving only Pierre Gasly to squeeze in between the two. The two former world champions impressed on both the rain tires and the intermediates. Now the question is to what extent they can preserve these performances and bring them into qualifying.
21:06
changing conditions
Today’s qualifying is all about the changeable conditions, which is why we’re addressing this issue early on. Only today’s Saturday is marked by rain and while in the 3rd practice session tires with a rain compound were used for a long time, the focus should now be on the intermediate. With Alonso and Vettel, two old stars left a good impression, but it wasn’t really representative yet.
Who gets the pole?
After not being able to drive in Canada since 2019 due to Corona, the racing series is now back at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. Who can grab the pole on the return will be decided from 10:00 p.m.