 ©AMG Mercedes media George Russell beats Max Verstappen by 0.000s to put his Mercedes on pole in Canada and Lando Norris following only 0.02s behind. A promising weekend for Mclaren who aim to shake their Canadian curse with Kevin Magnussen being the last driver to get points for the papaya coloured team, in 2014. Qualifying drama occurred as Sergio Perez gets knocked out by Alex Albon in the last seconds on Q3 and Q2 concluded the Ferraris Saturday. Neither Ferrari reaching Q3 for the first time since Belgium 2021. Moments before the green flag was waved to start the qualifying session RB announces Yuki Tsunoda will be staying with them for 2025, with Tsunoda’s daying continuing smoothly with him making it into Q3.
The drivers got to really test out the track today as Saturday’s free practice session began in dry conditions after drivers experienced rainy Friday runs. Allowing teams to run softs and mediums for longer durations. FP3 concluded with 6 teams in the top 10 and a clearer picture of how qualifying could look later on, with Mercedes looking strong from early on. Max Verstappen although still had complaints was comfortably one of the fastest on track for the whole session unlike Zhou who’s weekend isn’t improving as he continues to struggle with his Kick Sauber, sending it back into the grass to bring out his second red flag of the weekend after bringing one out during FP1. Once the green flag is back out more drivers have concerns, with Alex Albon sending himself across the grass followed by questions about his breaks, with his run eventually ending early after he becomes the first victim of the weekend to the ‘Wall of Champions’, that sends him back into the garage to fix his steering before he goes back out for quali. Charles Leclerc who had, what seemed like, a comfortable Friday was also voicing issues with his breaks. Daniel Ricciardo was more concerned with natures obstacles as he becomes the second driver of the weekend to encounter a groundhog after Sainz’ near miss during FP2.  ©RedBull media pool Q1 OUT 16 PER 17 BOT 18 OCO 19 HUL 20 ZHO A dry Q1 and Mercedes looking strong on track with both their cars receiving their new front wings after Russell was given the upgrade in Monaco. Home driver Stroll saves his weekend and Aston Martin from disaster with a near miss with the Wall of Champions. Gasly leaving it to the last few minutes to escape elimination launching him self from p18 to 2nd, leaving himself in a comfortable position for the rest of Q1. While Mclaren also felt the pressure with Piastri complaining of being impeded but manages to put on fresh tyres for one final lap that pushes him into Q2 in the final seconds, and Alex Albon put on a show to go fourth knocking Perez into p16. Kick Sauber really struggling as a team with Zhou receiving very little positive moments this weekend out in 20th and Bottas close by in 17th. Ocon and Hulkenberg splitting the two, but Ocon is yet to receive his grid place penalty brought over from an incident in Monaco.
Double Ferrari elimination shocked the crowd after great success in Monaco but details have on why the pair were so slow have been kept with in their garages. After a dry Q3 the weather didn’t stay that way for long as the temperature drops and rain drops appear which teams predicted would only get heavier leading to heavy action on track. Mercedes still going strong with Russell on top after a near miss with turn 4, split from his teammate Hamilton in 3rd. After spending time in the elimination zone Verstappen goes into Q1 after a safe P5 run.  ©AMG Mercedes media Q3 STARTING TOP 10 1 RUS 1:12.000 2 VER +0.000 3 NOR +0.021 4 PIA +0.103 5 RIC +0.178 6 ALO +0.228 7 HAM +0.280 8 TSU +0.414 9 STR +0.701 10 ALB +0.796 In the final shoot out of the day Mercedes looked like they could get themselves a 1-2 but Hamilton who had looked competitive previously in the day couldn’t maintain the pace and slipped away from the top of the grid to 7th and Russell who received a handy tow from Albon. Mclaren also with healthy in house competition as Piastri’s 2nd doesn’t last long before Norris takes his teammates position, with the Mclarens sharing second row on the grid a strong strategy can be played by the Woking team. Verstappen was the only who manged a strong lap in tricky conditions, but with George being the first of the pair to input 1:12.000 the Brit will be starting out front. A statement by Daniel Ricciardo who starts 5th tomorrow ahead of teammate Tsunoda on his big day who starts 8th. Aston Martin finished up with Alonso in 6th and Stroll in 9th, and Alex Albon completes the top 10 in his Williams.  Bronwen Jones
writer @ F1 Journal
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