Canadian Grand Prix: Saturday Qualifying Recap

Rain was persistent throughout Saturday at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and Q1 commenced with all cars running the Pirelli Cinturato Blue extreme weather tires. Magnussen and Schumacher utilized one set each and comfortably advanced their VF-22s into Q2 taking P4 and P11 at the checkered. Q2 continued to see lap times tumble as the rain eased and then finally stopped, allowing drivers the opportunity to bolt on the Cinturato Green intermediate rubber. With a drying line around the circuit it was Schumacher who led Magnussen – the Haas duo graduating into Q3 in P6 and P9.

Both Haas drivers ran two new sets of inters in Q3 for the top 10 shootout. Schumacher was fastest on his first set with a lap of 1:23.488 ahead of Magnussen on a 1:24.440. After a quick pit-stop for their final set each driver raced to the checkered. Magnussen’s fastest lap produced a 1:22.960 for P5 while Schumacher’s 1:23.356 claimed P6 directly behind his teammate and his strongest showing of the season in qualifying.

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen swept all three qualifying segments to claim pole position ahead of a resurgent Fernando Alonso for Alpine F1 Team.
 

Kevin Magnussen, Driver No. 20, Haas F1 Team

“It’s what we had hoped for. We’ve seen before in Imola that we like these conditions and we got the job done today. It was all about continuously putting in a better lap as the track was getting better and better, so you have to push all the time and it’s very enjoyable in these conditions. Mick did a great job as well to put it in P6, so we’re P5 and P6 tomorrow, that’s a great effort from the team and I’m very happy for them.”

 

Mick Schumacher, Driver No. 47, Haas F1 Team

“It was pretty good although we still didn’t maximize everything as that last set of tires turned out to be a bit more difficult in terms of positioning – we had to abort one lap due to traffic and everything got a bit cold, which I didn’t want. I’m still very happy with P6 and it’s a good position to start tomorrow’s race. I don’t envisage us going further forward, only because of the pace the other cars have around us, but we’ll try our best and see where we end up. It’s our best qualifying up to now and I’m very happy for the team.”


Guenther Steiner, Team Principal, Haas F1 Team

“A very good day for the team today. As a team I think it’s our best combined qualifying position – both drivers did a good job – as did the whole team in very challenging and changeable conditions. Everyone kept calm and we got the best out if it, everything worked smoothly. A big thank you to the crew who worked during the night also, we broke curfew last night because we had to fix an issue on Kevin’s car – but that all worked out well. Now we really look forward to tomorrow and hopefully we can bring some points home.”

Today's Data

Event: Qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix – Saturday June 18
Location: Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal  
Layout: 4.361-kilometer (2.710-mile), 14-turn track
Weather: Rain / Cloud
Air Temps: 12.3 degrees Celsius (54.14 degrees Fahrenheit)
Track Temps: 17 degrees Celsius (62.6 degrees Fahrenheit)
Team Result: Kevin Magnussen qualified 5^th, Mick Schumacher qualified 6^th

Free Practice 3 Rundown:

Magnussen: 14^th overall (1:35.643), 17 laps completed
Schumacher: 18^th overall (1:37.388), 18 laps completed
Fastest: Fernando Alonso of Alpine (1:33.836)

Q1 Qualifying: 18-mins with all 20 drivers – Top 15 advance to Q2

Magnussen: 4^th overall (1:32.957) – Advanced to Q2
Schumacher: 11^th overall (1:33.707) – Advanced to Q2
Fastest: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:32.219)

Q2 Qualifying: 15-mins – Top 10 advance to Q3

Schumacher: 6^th overall (1:25.684) – Advanced to Q3
Magnussen: 9^th overall (1:26.254) – Advanced to Q3
Fastest: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:23.746)

Q3 Qualifying: 12-mins featuring the Top 10

Magnussen: 5^th overall (1:22.960)
Schumacher: 6^th overall (1:23.356)
Pole Winner: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:21.299)