The rain that was heavy before the start of Q3 and a Red Bull always attentive to what is happening and that placed max verstappen in the first position in the queue before the traffic light opened, heThey gave the Dutchman pole position again at the Canadian GP. Nico Hulkenberg start second and Alonso, who had pole options, start third. Oscar’s accident piastri, at the start of the final round, prevented the Spaniard from completing his second lap for 200 meters. It would have been first or second. The rain worsened from that moment and improving the times was impossible.
And while, at Ferrari they kept Carlos Sainz in the box, with the blankets on his intermediate tires. Those of the cavallino have the second box in the pit lane and could well have been in the fight, but in their team they do not know the most basic. It is impossible to fight with an ever attentive team like Red Bull, when your rival is competing in a different sport. No matter how repeated it ceases to be bloody, nor surprising, what happened to the Maranello squad.
Leclerc was eliminated in Q2 and Sainz was under investigation for stopping Gasly in the same round. The Madrid pilot is eighth for the moment, but everything indicates that must leave 11 when the usual sanction is applied in these cases. Sainz hasn’t just had a bit of luck at this start of the season.
“I was preparing the next lap when the red flag came,” said Carlos resigned. Had he been behind Verstappen in line at the traffic light, he would have been second, like Hulkenberg.
The race will be dry
The career on Sunday (8:00 p.m. in Spain) will be almost certainly in the dry and the chances of victory are the same as if it were in the wet. Alonso, through the clean zone, has the Hulk within range at the start and then he will be able to apply himself to pressuring Verstappen to look for the 33rd. The Dutchman has not made any mistakes, nor has he had any mechanical failures, but on any given Sunday any problem could happen to him. Fernando will go out to win, as he has done in the last 22 years in F1.
Provisional starting grid for the 2023 Canadian GP
1 M. Verstappen (L) Red Bull 1’25″858 26
2 N. Hulkenberg (L) Haas 1’27″102 +01″244 25
3 Fernando Alonso (L) Aston Martin 1’27″286 +01″428 24
4 L. Hamilton (L) Mercedes 1’27″627 +01″769 25
5 G. Russell (L) Mercedes 1’27″893 +02″035 24
6 E. Ocon (L) Alpine 1’27″945 +02″087 25
7 L. Norris (L) McLaren 1’28″046 +02″188 25
8 Carlos Sainz (L) Ferrari 1’29″294 +03″436 24
9 O. Piastri (L) McLaren 1’31″349 +05″491 25
10 A. Albon (L) Williams 55’55″555 +54’29″697 23
Piastri’s red flag with 7:11 remaining
The Australian of McLaren he was completing a good session when he lost his car at the start of Q3. This was the pilot who in no way could be left without a seat in 2023 and who has not shown anything at the moment. Verstappen was first at the time and Alonso third, but 1.4 behind Max, as the accident completely cut him off his second attempt, by just 200 meters. Hulkenberg was second.
Q2: Alonso passed fifth and Sainz sixth. Leclerc and Checo eliminated
It started in intermediates, they went to dry and went back to intermediates. The two Spaniards were able to nail a good time, but not so Leclerc and Checo, very erratic, who were eliminated without remission as 11 and 12, respectively.
Stroll also missed out on the top 10 round. For the Mexican, it is the third time in a row that he has not made it to Q3, despite having the best single-seater of all.
Q1: Alonso was second in a duel with Verstappen
The two alternated in the lead several times with intermissions, as the track dried up. The two best in changeable asphalt conditions, without a doubt.
Sainz happened like eleven; but with an incident to stop Gasly, because they did not warn him from the wall that he was coming thrown at the last chicane. The maneuver was noted by the commissioners and almost certainly it meant a penalty of 3 places on grill.
Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo), he caused a red flag on his first lap, because his car was accelerating. I cut the first attempt to many pilots, including Alonso.
