Canadian GP: Rain Man Max Verstappen Takes Pole Position Ahead Of Fernando Alonso

World champion and series leader Max Verstappen drove expertly in difficult wet conditions in his Red Bull on Saturday to secure pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix. In an intriguing and entertaining qualifying session, the 24-year-old Dutchman clocked a best lap in one minute and 21.299 seconds, beating nearest rival two-time world champion Fernando Alonso of Alpine by seven-tenths of a second. Verstappen will start his 150th race from the prime start place after claiming his 15th pole in pursuit of a 26th career victory.

His pole ends a run of four in a row by title rival Charles Leclerc who starts Sunday's race from the back of the grid after taking a new power unit on his Ferrari.

"We stayed calm, we made no mistakes, so of course super happy with that, with pole position here - and also to be back here in Montreal," said Verstappen.

The 40-year-old Alonso put in a dazzling late lap to delight the crowd and outpace fellow-Spaniard Carlos Sainz of Ferrari who qualified third ahead of a reinvigorated Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes.

"It feels great. It was an unbelievable weekend so far for us, thanks to the wet conditions. The car was mega," said Alonso.

Kevin Magnussen wound up fifth ahead of his Haas team-mate Mick Schumacher, Esteban Ocon in the second Alpine and George Russell in the second Mercedes.

Firsts for Schumacher, Zhou

It was Schumacher's best qualifying performance since arriving in Formula One last year.

Daniel Ricciardo was ninth for McLaren ahead of Zhou Guanyu of Alfa Romeo, the Chinese driver reaching the top ten for the first time on a day of the unexpected.

After heavy rain overnight and through the morning, the temperature was only 11 degrees when Race Control declared the Circuit Gilles