Max Verstappen has claimed pole position in a very wet qualifying session in Montreal. The Red Bull driver finished ahead of Fernando Alonso in second place and Carlos Sainz in third. Sergio Perez's crash in Q2 was the highlight of the session, as it ended his run of top-five finishes in qualifying and means that the Mexican will start in 13th tomorrow. 

Lewis Hamilton joined Sainz on the second row, with Haas claiming fifth and sixth, as Mick Schumacher headed Kevin Magnussen. Esteban Ocon claimed seventh place ahead of George Russell, with Daniel Ricciardo and Guanyu Zhou rounding off the top 10.

Alpine highlight unexpected Q1

A soaked Circuit Gilles Villeneuve was the first task for the drivers, with some leaving the pits on intermediates and others on full wets, as puddles riddled the Canadian concrete. This soon changed as the conditions worsened, resulting in all 20 drivers switching to full wet tyres. A significant puddle appeared at turn one and caused some issues throughout the first 18 minutes, with many drivers ending up skipping straight to turn two.

Russell was the driver that stormed ahead of the rest, reaching the 1:34's first and holding the lead for a long time, with a lot of drivers vying for the spots following the young Brit. However, he was finally wiped off the top of the timings charts first by Magnussen, with the Haas driver moving 0.096 seconds ahead, then by the driver he replaced at Mercedes, Valtteri Bottas.

As the session went on the pace of the track grew significantly and drivers found the times they needed to edge towards the provisional pole position. The Alpine duo of Alonso and Ocon was near the top, as expected, alongside the championship competitors. Sainz entered the run-off zone at turn 14, which hindered some of the drivers on their final laps'.

OUT IN Q1 - Gasly, Vettel, Stroll, Latifi, Tsunoda

Perez crashes out at turn three

As the track started to dry, teams noted that the crossover to intermediates was potentially near and some teams decided to switch, while others like Hamilton and Mercedes, didn't. The Brit found himself down in sixth place after the drivers' first runs, compared to Russell who crossed the line in fifth. Alex Albon locked his front tyres entering turn six and hit the wall head-on, but no damage occurred and he was able to reverse and return to track.

Just seconds later, Perez went off at turn three and hit the tech-pro barrier, ending his qualifying session and causing a red flag. As the session returned, it was an ever-changing top five for the final nine minutes, with every driver finding more grip and pace, causing continuous improvements across the grid. However, not every driver managed to improve straight away, as Lando Norris left the pits late and struggled to gain confidence on the wet track and quickly returned to the pit lane, ending his Q2 early after reporting PU issues. Charles Leclerc didn't enter the track in Q2, due to already knowing that he will be starting from the back of the grid tomorrow.

Alonso thought he'd claimed the fastest time of the 15 minutes but a final push from Verstappen put him on top heading into Q3.

OUT IN Q2 - Bottas, Albon, Perez, Norris, Leclerc

Dry line shows in final session

A mixed group of drivers entered the final qualifying session, fighting to compete for the top spot but it was Verstappen who took an early and expected lead. Halfway through the 12 minutes, teams started to pit and Russell switched to slicks, being the only driver to do so, with all nine others on intermediates. Many were questioning the decision and it soon proved to be the wrong one, as he spun off the track at turn one and the gamble from Mercedes didn't pay off.