Verstappen beats Alonso to thrilling Montreal pole after Perez crashes out

Max Verstappen took pole for the Canadian GP after his Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez crashed out of a thrilling wet qualifying session in Montreal.

Fernando Alonso produced a stunning performance to snatch second for Alpine, while Carlos Sainz was third, with his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc starting the race from the back row of the grid after taking a penalty for a new engine.

Lewis Hamilton secured his best qualifying performance of the season as he finished fourth, while his Mercedes team-mate George Russell was eighth after a gamble to try slick tyres on a drying track at the end of Q3 failed.

Haas excelled in the wet conditions as Kevin Magnussen came fifth, a place ahead of team-mate Mick Schumacher, who will hope to back up the best qualifying performance of his career with his first points in F1 on Sunday.

Daniel Ricciardo was ninth as his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris was knocked out in Q2 after being hampered by a technical issue, while Alfa Romeo's Zhou Guanyu came 10th after making it through to Q3 for the first time in his debut F1 campaign.

It's just a second pole this season for Verstappen, who will be confident of extending his 21-point world championship lead in the dry conditions that are forecast for Sunday's race.

The Dutchman has won four of the last five races, and his two nearest challengers, team-mate Perez and Ferrari's Leclerc, will start 13th and 19th, respectively.

For 2005 and 2006 world champion Alonso, it will be the first time he's started a race on the front row since the 2012 German Grand Prix. The 40-year-old also becomes the oldest driver to start on the front row since Michael Schumacher did aged 43 at the 2012 Chinese GP.

The Spaniard has excelled all weekend, finishing in