Red Bull Racing veteran Sergio Pérez ended up in the hurdles during the final practice session at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, triggering a short forced break.
As expected, the GP stars had to deal with qualifying on the wet track and in the drizzle. The temperature outside was 12.2 °C, with the track only 17.8 °C when Q1 began. The old masters excelled in the third practice session, with both Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel being quick. The Spaniard was the fastest, with Vettel doing the third fastest lap.
On the other hand, World Cup leader Max Verstappen was in trouble and had to settle for ninth place. Charles Leclerc, who had to start from the end of the field anyway because of his engine penalty, was even slower. Monegasse brought in the back in the last free practice session.
The weather forecast did not predict any improvement in conditions for the whole of qualifying and race control warned shortly before the start of the final practice session that the wet track offered little hold. Alfa Romeo drivers Valtteri Bottas and Guanyue Zhou were not disappointed and stood at the end of the pit lane before the start of the session. The two went out on rain tires and were not alone for long, as the competition did so and appeared on the track in the first few minutes.
Leclerc was also part of the game, Monegasque had only one opponent: Yuki Tsunoda, who was also sent to the end of the starting lineup as a penalty. One of the two penalties that took the better time escaped the humiliation of last place on the grid. After all completed a timed lap, Carlos Sainz led the field ahead of Verstappen, while Lance Stroll, Sergio Pérez, Zhou, Kevin Magnussen and Nicolas Latifi all struggled to lead.
But everyone still had enough time to improvise and many took the chance, so there was quite a stir on the Time Monitor. Several pilots’ lap times were canceled as they left the track, and many spectators also witnessed several rides. In the end, Verstappen came out on top. Alonso, Sainz, Magnussen, Leclerc, Esteban Ocon, Jorge Russell, Daniel Ricciardo, Bottas and Zhou took the other top 10 spots.
Mick Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Pérez, Alex Albon and Lando Norris also made it to Q2, while finals for Pierre Gasly (16th), Vettel (P17), Stroll (P18), Latifi (P19) and Tsunoda (P20) The practice session) was already over after the first section. Radio messages after Q1 showed Gasly reported a problem with the left front tyre, while Vettel complained about a lack of grip.
In Q2, several drivers started at intermediate from the start, including Alonso, Sainz, Perez and Schumacher. After qualifying, Sainz had to appear before the race stewards as he suspected that he had returned to the track unsafely after a ride out.
The first to hit the odds was Albon 6, but he was lucky in misfortune and was able to continue without achieving anything. Soon after, Perez did the same in the third corner. The Mexican hit very hard and did not manage to get out of his position immediately, which is why the session was interrupted.
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