Red Bull driver Max Verstappen took pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix as wet weather conditions dominated Saturday’s qualifying session in Montreal, with Nico Hulkenberg a surprise second for Haas due to a well-timed effort, only to lose the position later in the evening for a red flag breach.

Verstappen got down to a 1m 25.858s in the early stages of Q3 to put one hand on pole position in the tricky conditions, just before McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri brought out the red flags by rear-ending the wall at Turn 7.

Seconds from the session being halted, Hulkenberg delivered a lap good enough for a spot on the front row, with another deluge of rain during the break ensuring that no improvements could be made when the action resumed.

Fernando Alonso rounded out the top three positions for Aston Martin, with Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and George Russell taking fourth and fifth as they look to continue the team’s upward trajectory – all three benefitting from Hulkenberg’s sanction.

Esteban Ocon was sixth for Alpine and Lando Norris seventh for McLaren, while Carlos Sainz was the fastest of the Ferraris after team mate Charles Leclerc – along with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll – dropped out in a dry/wet Q2 phase.

Sainz and Stroll also received penalties after the session, though, with the Spaniard found guilty of impeding Pierre Gasly at the end of Q1 and Stroll deemed to have held up Ocon in the following Q2 phase.

Alex Albon used the changeable conditions in Q2 to his advantage, being the first to bolt on softs and rising to P1 before more rainfall arrived, and then completing the top 10 behind Piastri in the pole shootout.

Leclerc and Perez had to settle for P11 and P12 on the grid respectively, having missed the cut when conditions were at their most precarious in Q2, leading to an angry radio message from the Monegasque when his fate was sealed.

Stroll was another big name to miss out on Q3 after a scruffy session that included a wild spin, the home favourite ending up 13th from the other Haas machine of Kevin Magnussen and the lead Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas.

AlphaTauri lost both drivers in the opening Q1 phase, with Yuki Tsunoda in 16th and Nyck de Vries in 18th, as Gasly suffered a painful elimination in 17th after his moment with Sainz. Tsunoda was the third and final driver to be docked three places for impeding Hulkenberg.

Logan Sargeant could not emulate Albon’s heroics as he piloted his upgrade-free Williams to 19th position, while Zhou Guanyu brought up the rear in the other Alfa Romeo after technical gremlins hindered his efforts.