Verstappen on pole after wild Canadian GP qualifying

MONTREAL :Formula One championship leader Max Verstappen put his Red Bull on pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix after heavy rain shook up qualifying on Saturday.

It was an unpredictable and wild afternoon of racing at a rain-swept Circuit Gilles Villeneuve as teams rolled the dice switching from rain tyres to slicks as track conditions changed.

The gamble, and a bit of luck, paid off for Germany's Nico Hulkenberg who placed his Haas alongside the Dutchman on the front row with Fernando Alonso third fastest for Aston Martin.

Lewis Hamilton, a seven-times winner in Canada, will line up fourth with his Mercedes team mate George Russell fifth.

The pole, in a time of one minute and 25.858 seconds, was the 25th of Verstappen's career.

"It was super slippery out there in some places, but we just made all the right calls, the right time on the track to do the lap times, and I'm very happy to be on pole here," Verstappen said. "I like driving in the wet.

"I come from Holland, so we are used to driving in the wet.

"Let's see, maybe it's dry tomorrow and then it can be a bit different, but normally we have a good race car."

Verstappen started from pole last year and held off Ferrari's hard-charging Carlos Sainz for his 26th career win.

Fast forward one year and Verstappen with another victory on Sunday can bring his career total to 41, matching Brazilian Ayrton Senna's haul.

Red Bull have dominated this season winning all seven races, Verstappen taking five to open up a 53 point gap at the top of the driver standings ahead of team mate Sergio Perez, who has won the other two.

NOT PERFECT

But it was far from a perfect day for Red Bull as Perez's problems continued to mount, failing for the third consecutive race to make it out of Q2 and