The 24-year-old Verstappen, the leader of the series and the reigning world champion, overcame the rainy conditions to win his second pole of the season. Alonso secured his first start in the front row in a decade with a quick final lap. “I used to look at F1 as a kid and see Fernando up there winning his races and championships and putting it on the poles. So sharing the front row is a nice thing,” Verstappen said. . “Of course, Fernando is getting a little older, but he is still very fast,” he added with a laugh. “I know it starts very well, so I have to be ready.” Verstappen, who won last weekend in Baku, Azerbaijan, clocked a time of 1 minute and 21,299 seconds in the battle against the data. “It was very difficult out there,” Verstappen said after securing his second pole of the season and 15th of his career. “Especially (in the first session), the visibility … and you were really on the edge with the grip. But then it started to get more and more enjoyable when the piece started to dry. And you started to have a little more grip on the wet.” Alonso, 40, who won the 2006 Canadian Grand Prix, clocked a time of 1: 21.944 in his final lap. “It’s been an incredible weekend so far for us,” said the two-time world champion. “The car was big. I was so comfortable driving this car and the fans pushed me to give it an extra boost.” Alonso, who was faster in a wet morning workout, last lined up in the front row in Germany in 2012. His last win was in 2013 in his home game in Spain. “I think we will attack Max in the first corner,” Alonso said with a laugh. “(Red Bull) is definitely in a different league. And it was not in our wildest dreams to be in pole position, so we get the first row for sure, and that is probably better than all expectations.” Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was third (1: 22.096). The Canadian Grand Prix has not won outside the front row for almost a decade. “The positions do not matter much today. It all has to do with the race (on Sunday),” Sainz said. “I believe that if we start well and put pressure on the children up front, then anything can happen.” Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton climbed to the top four of a season with his final lap. He shared “the biggest hug” with his physiotherapist Angela Cullen, as he said, in the back of the garage after the race. “Because we both worked so hard and obviously this week was a real challenge and I am so grateful to have her with me every day to heal the pain and heal my body,” said Hamilton, who suffered severe pain. in the back last weekend. “Being in the top 5 in the standings under these conditions is awesome.” Mercedes teammate George Russell paid the price for switching to soft tires as he slipped off the track and into the grass at turn 2, which was one of the busiest areas on the track. Russell finished eighth. “High risk, high reward,” Russell said. “It did not bear fruit today.” Verstappen said he never thought of turning to slick tires. “It was very wet in some places … you can not stand this bet in the qualifiers,” he said. Wet conditions also proved costly for Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who finished the day locked up and sailed straight into the wall between turns 2 and 3. Perez, who starts 13th on Sunday, had to climb through some background as he returned to the pits outside the track walls. Williams’s Alex Albon slipped against the wall at turn 6, but still made the cut in the second session. Conditions were miserable, with heavy rain, strong winds and cold 12 C at the start. High-injection tires made visibility difficult. It was difficult even to distinguish one driver from another as they passed the finish line. “I can not see much in front of me,” Hamilton said early in the qualifiers. The rain subsided and conditions improved considerably slowly in the second of three qualifying sessions. A dry section of the track appeared for the drivers to follow. Sunday’s race will see Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, who won his fourth consecutive pole last week in Baku, starting at the back of the grid despite finishing 15th overall. He is serving a sentence after a change of engine, as is Yuki Tsunoda. Sunshine and 20 points is provided for Sunday’s match. Montreal Lance Stroll, who is known to perform well in bad weather, was 18th in his Aston Martin, a place better than last week. Nicholas Latifi (Williams) of Toronto was 19th. “We were quite competitive in (training) this morning, so it was frustrating not to continue that in the qualifiers,” Stroll said. “It will be difficult to start at the back of the grid, but the free practice showed that our car has a good pace and we will do our best to get points (on Sunday). The Canadian Grand Prix makes its triumphant return to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve after the cancellation of COVID-19 in both 2020 and 2021. Unfortunately for the sea of fans wearing slickers and crammed under umbrellas on Saturday, the weather was not so festive this week. A storm broke out moments after Friday’s training session, forcing fans to seek cover.
