Charles Leclerc (FRA), Scuderia
Charles Leclerc (FRA), Scuderia

How qualifying for the F1 Canadian Grand Prix unfolded

17 Jun 2023
21:32
Stewards

The stewards will investigate the incident involving Sainz and Gasly in the final sector after the session.

21:28
Gasly not happy with the traffic

"Should be banned! I'm coming at 300, like what the hell do they think!!"

21:26
Out in Q1

Tsunoda, Gasly, de Vries, Sargeant and Zhou.

21:25
Ocon

Into fifth now for Alpine - the times will continue to tumble. 

21:25
Chequered flag out

Magnussen goes eighth; Bottas into seventh. 

21:24
In the drop-zone

Bottas, Tsunoda, de Vries, Sargeant and Zhou.

21:23
One minute to go

Verstappen, Norris, Alonso, Leclerc and Albon is the current top five.

21:23
Norris into second

Strong lap from the McLaren driver to go second.

21:20
In the drop-zone currently

De Vries, Piastri, Tsunoda, Sargeant and Zhou.

21:18
Current top 10

Verstappen, Alonso, Leclerc, Sainz, Ocon, Norris, Hamilton, Albon, Hulkenberg and Magnussen.

21:18
Verstappen back to the top

0.6s is his advantage over Alonso.

Hamilton moves up to fourth ahead of Albon.

21:17
We can't keep up

Alonso is back on top with a 1m22.655, a tenth ahead of Verstappen.

Norris into third ahead of Leclerc, Hulkenberg, Magnussen and Hamilton.

21:16
Current order

Alonso, Verstappen, Leclerc, Hamilton, Ocon, Sainz, Stroll, Perez, Albon and Magnussen.

21:14
Track continues to improve

Verstappen back on top - 0.7s clear.

21:14
The times are coming in quickly

Alonso is on top now with a 1m23.591s. 0.6s ahead of Verstappen.

21:13
Verstapen storms to the top

He goes 3.1s clear of Sargeant at the top of the timesheets. 

21:12
Sargeant radio

"It's raining at Turn 2!"

This could be juicy. 

21:11
Zhou asks

"Are you sure the problem is fixed?"

Let's wait and see...

21:10
Q1 back underway

Crucial minutes for all of the drivers with more rain on the way. 

21:07
Qualifying will resume in four minutes

Track is clear.

21:05
Zhou

He's managed to get his car to run again. He's driving slow back to the pit lane.

21:03
Red flag

Zhou is out of the session. 

21:03
Zhou

The Alfa Romeo driver has stopped out on track. Will there have to be a red flag? 

21:01
A problem for Zhou

No power he says over team radio. He's driving very slowly. 

21:00
Q1 is go!

Here we go then - inters are likely going to be the choice of tyre to begin with.