Verstappen records his 25th pole position, Hulkenberg records his third front row qualification and Williams are fastest in a qualifying session for the first time in seven years. Here are the facts and statistics from qualifying at the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix!
VERSTAPPEN ON POLE FOR THE 2023 CANADIAN GRAND PRIX
Max Verstappen secured the 25th pole position of his Formula 1 career at the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix. He became the 11th driver to record 25 pole positions in Formula 1, overtaking the career tallies of Niki Lauda and Nelson Piquet.
Verstappen became the seventh driver to record multiple pole positions at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and the sixth to take poles at the track in successive seasons. This is Red Bull’s fourth pole position at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Verstappen secured three consecutive pole positions for the second time in his career. His longest streak of poles is four in a row at the 2021 French, Styrian, Austrian and British Grands Prix.
Max Verstappen took pole position by 1.244 seconds. It’s the largest pole margin since Nico Rosberg took pole for the 2014 British Grand Prix by 1.620 seconds.
IN THE TOP TEN
Nico Hulkenberg qualified in second place for the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix, which would have been the Haas team’s first front row start for a Grand Prix had Hulkenberg not received a three-place grid penalty for a red flag infringement.
This was only the second time in his career, after taking pole at the 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix, that Hulkenberg set one of the two fastest lap times in qualifying.
This was Hulkenberg’s sixth consecutive visit to the Canadian Grand Prix on which he has reached Q3.
Fernando Alonso qualified in third place for the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix and kept up his record of out-qualifying his team-mate on every appearance at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve since 2008.
Alonso recorded the Silverstone-based team’s best-ever qualifying result at the Canadian Grand Prix. The team’s previous best qualifying result here was fourth place, recorded by Jarno Trulli when the team was under its Jordan guise in 2001.
Qualifying in fourth place, Lewis Hamilton maintained his record of qualifying in the top five on every Canadian Grand Prix appearance to date.
Lewis Hamilton and Esteban Ocon maintained their 100% Q3 appearance records at the Canadian Grand Prix. Oscar Piastri joined them in that club. Juan Pablo Montoya, Mick Schumacher and Nico Rosberg are the only other drivers who’ve reached Q3 on every appearance at the Canadian Grand Prix.
With fifth place, George Russell recorded his best Canadian Grand Prix qualifying result to date.
For the first time since 2018, both Mercedes drivers qualified in the top five at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Esteban Ocon’s qualifying position at the Canadian Grand Prix has improved by one position on each of his four visits to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Sixth is his best Saturday result at the track to date.
Lando Norris recorded his best qualifying result to date at the Canadian Grand Prix with seventh place. His previous best result was eighth, in 2019.
Qualifying eighth, the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix is the first race of the year at which Carlos Sainz qualified outside of the top five. He remains the only driver to qualify in the top eight at every race in 2023, though he drops to 11th on the grid following a 3-place grid penalty for impeding. Fernando Alonso is the only other driver to reach Q3 at all eight races in the 2023 season.
The 2023 Canadian Grand Prix is the first race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in which neither Ferrari driver has qualified in the top seven since 1992.
Though he crashed out in Q3, Oscar Piastri equalled his best qualifying result to date with ninth place. He also qualified ninth at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. This is the first time that Piastri has reached Q3 at consecutive races.
With both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the top ten, this is only the second time since 2013 that both McLaren drivers have reached Q3 at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Alex Albon set the fastest lap time in Q2 at the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix. This was the first time Williams have been fastest in a qualifying session since Felipe Massa set the fastest time in Q1 at the 2016 Austrian Grand Prix.
This was Albon’s first Q3 appearance in Canada. He became the first Williams driver to reach Q3 in Canada since Felipe Massa in 2017.
OUT IN Q2
Charles Leclerc’s third place in qualifying for the 2019 Canadian Grand Prix remains the only time he has reached Q3 in Montreal. This was his third Q2 exit from his four appearances at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
For the first time since the end of the 2019 season, Sergio Perez failed to qualify in the top ten for a third successive race.
The 2023 Canadian Grand Prix marked the first time since the 2018 Russian, Japanese and United States Grands Prix that Red Bull have seen at least one of their cars fail to reach Q3 at three consecutive races.
2018 remains the last time that both Red Bull drivers reached Q3 at the Canadian Grand Prix.
From ten appearances at the Canadian Grand Prix, Perez has reached Q3 only three times: in 2015, 2017 and 2018. With his Q2 elimination, Perez extends the record for most Q2 exits in Canada to six.
For the first time in his Formula 1 career, Lance Stroll made it out of Q1 at his home race. The Canadian qualified in 13th place – the best qualifying result for a Canadian at home since Jacques Villeneuve qualified 11th in 2006.
Stroll received a three-place grid penalty for impeding, dropping him to 16th on the grid. That equals his best starting position at the Canadian Grand Prix. He also started 16th in 2018.
With both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll making it through to Q2, the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix is the first time since 2018 that both of the Silverstone-based team’s cars have made it out of Q1 in Montreal.
Valtteri Bottas failed to reach Q3 at the Canadian Grand Prix for only the second time in his career. He qualified 15th, four positions down on where he qualified last year.
OUT IN Q1
For the second consecutive season, both AlphaTauri drivers were eliminated in Q1 at the Canadian Grand Prix. This was the team’s second double Q1 exit of the 2023 season. Both cars were also out in Q1 at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
After encountering traffic at the end of Q1 – on a lap which Alpine estimated would have put him sixth – Pierre Gasly was out in the first stage of qualifying. From his four visits to the Canadian Grand Prix, this was the third time that Gasly was eliminated in Q1. 17th is Gasly’s worst qualifying attempt at the venue to date.
Gasly’s Q1 exit was the first for the Enstone-based team at the Canadian Grand Prix since both drivers were eliminated in Q1, when the team was under its Renault guise, at the 2016 Canadian Grand Prix.
Zhou Guanyu qualified last for the third time in his career, having previously done so at the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix.
Zhou became the first driver for the former Sauber team to qualify in last place at the Canadian Grand Prix since Pascal Wehrlein did so in 2017.
