Formula 1
ANOTHER POLE FOR MAX THIS TIME IN THE RAIN! HULKENBERG GOES P2 AND FERNANDO CONTINUES TO GIVE US HOPE FOR THE WIN OF THE DECADE!
Max Verstappen claimed his third straight pole position after excelling during a rain-affected qualifying session at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal and will look now look to win his sixth race of the season at Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix.
The two-time world champion, who has won from pole four times already this season, came out on top in qualifying 12 months ago in Canada during rainy conditions and once again proved that he is a master in the wet as he produced a time more than a second quicker than the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg in second.
MONTREAL, QUEBEC – JUNE 17: Pole position qualifier Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing celebrates with his team in the garage during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Canada at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on June 17, 2023 in Montreal, Quebec. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
“In the wet you just have to stay on top of the conditions. It was super slippery out there in some places, but we just made all the right calls, the right time on the track to do the lap times, and I’m very happy to be on pole here,” said Verstappen.
“I like driving in the wet. I come from Holland, so we are used to driving in the wet.
Let’s see, maybe it’s dry tomorrow and then it can be a bit different, but normally we have a good race car.”
It was another frustrating day for Sergio Pérez in the second Oracle Red Bull Racing as the Mexican driver failed to make it out of Q2 for the second straight race. He will once again start on the sixth row, having qualified in 11th at the Spanish GP, but this time from 12th on the grid.
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Fernando Alonso
“We will take third place on the grid after a very complex Qualifying session. We were a little bit unlucky with the red flags during Q1 and Q3 just before we could complete a faster lap that might have put us on the front row. There is an opportunity tomorrow and hopefully we can recover second place early in the race and put pressure on Max [Verstappen] in front.
It’s always a challenging circuit with very low grip in the dry and wet conditions and the weather is always unpredictable. The new AMR23 upgrades seem to be working well and delivering what we were expecting, but we will keep evaluating them and try to optimise our setup around this new package.”
CIRCUIT GILLES-VILLENEUVE, CANADA – JUNE 17: Nico Hulkenberg, Haas F1 Team, waves to fans after Qualifying during the Canadian GP at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve on Saturday June 17, 2023 in Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Andy Hone / LAT Images)
Nico Hulkenberg:
“Obviously the ending of the day is not quite as good as it was earlier, that’s obviously a pity and it’s a shame not to be
staring on the front row. We have to face the consequences with that. I think in terms of our race tomorrow it doesn’t really change anything – the approach is the same and it won’t impact or harm the outcome. We’ll prepare as usual and race hard tomorrow.”
Guenther Steiner, Team Principal:
“The penalty tonight shouldn’t take anything away from the team and what we did – we’re second in our minds. Yes, there was a mistake, there was too much speed, but we’ve also to consider there was never, ever, anybody put in any danger because Nico was always on his own. Obviously it’s against the rules, but it was a mistake, it didn’t create any danger, we got the penalty – we have to take it. We’ll go back and try to do the best we can tomorrow.
One day maybe lady luck will come to us. Elsewhere, Kevin got a little bit unlucky not to get out of Q2, he had traffic on his fast laps. Nico, prior to receiving the penalty, he had been in the right place at the right time in Q3 and brought home second on the screens. We obviously need to see what our race pace looks like tomorrow but hopefully we can bring some points home.”