The ninth race of the year, the Canadian GP, is just hours away. The qualifying rounds, which were more chaotic and competitive than they have been for a long time, were completed with interesting results and revealed an unusual grid layout. The top three drivers were separated by just 0.021 of a second. The lap times of the top two drivers were identical.
Sergio Perez, who was eliminated in the first session of qualifying, was eliminated in the first session of qualifying for the second consecutive year. There was another surprise in the second session of qualifying and Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were eliminated in this session. The Italian team had problems with tyre warm-up and opted to run laps on used tyres in this session.
Mercedes driver George Russell qualified to start the race from the first row with a time of 1 minute and 12 seconds in the last session of qualifying laps. Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, the defending champion, achieved the same time, but took second place as Russell completed his lap first. McLaren driver Lando Norris, who had an almost flawless lap, took third place by 0.021 of a second.
After the qualifying laps, the drivers' line-up on the grid was as follows:
1. George Russell
2. Max Verstappen
3. Lando Norris
Oscar Piastri
Daniel Ricciardo
Fernando Alonso
Lewis Hamilton
Yuki Tsunoda
Lance Stroll
Alexander Albon
Charles Leclerc
Carlos Sainz
Logan Sargeant
Kevin Magnussen
Pierre Gasly
Sergio Perez
Valtteri Bottas
Esteban Ocon
Nico Hulkenberg
Zhou Guanyu
