Alisha Palmowski is one step closer to redemption as she secures pole position at the Canadian Grand Prix. The British driver will start in P1 in the opening race on Friday and in Sunday’s feature race with her fastest lap of 1:38.466. Read on for all the F1 qualifying results.
Delayed Start as Drivers Feel Out the Circuit
With a slight delay due to the red-flag incident in the F1 Sprint Qualifying, the session finally got underway.
After setting the fastest time in the earlier Practice session, Palmowski was the first to set the pace. Natalia Granada appeared to have stopped and started again in the final section just before Palmowski completed her lap. But Ella Lloyd was just that little faster.
There was plenty of chattering and squealing of tyres around the dusty track surface. Alba Larsen went wide and straight through the chicane before rejoining. Mathilda Paatz chose to stop early to change tyres, leaving her 18 minutes to set two flying laps. Rachel Robertson made heavy contact with the wall, bouncing back onto the track before pitting with suspected suspension issues.
Final Runs and Lots of Oversteering
Palmowski fought to keep the Red Bull Racing car controlled coming into Turn 1 on her next lap. Megan Bruce was quick to follow up with a blistering lap to come up to second on the board. But Palmowski wasn’t done yet, setting purple sector after purple sector to improve on her fastest time by half a second.
With ten minutes to go, all drivers had now made their scheduled stops and were making their final runs of the session. The times came flying in as Rafaela Ferreira and Payton Westcott moved into the top three. There was very little separating the top drivers, finding an extra tenth of a second wherever they could be found.
Lloyd almost lost control, spectacularly keeping it out of the wall. This was not an isolated incident, however, as the McLaren proved difficult to handle throughout the circuit with suspension damage. Jade Jacquet went a little wide but reset to return to the circuit. Esmee Kosterman had a huge spin coming into Turn 6, which brought out the yellow flags briefly.
Last minutes, and it was the last chance for flying laps to get in. Westcott looked like she was going to improve on her time, but had a snap of oversteer and lost the opportunity. Emma Felbermayr also lost it in the last section, but had enough to give it one more chance. While improving on her personal best time, she remained in P4.
More F1 Academy to Come
With three races to look forward to in the F1 Academy at Circuit Giles Villeneuve, there are plenty of opportunities to gain crucial points so early on in this championship. As a reminder, the opening race grid has been set based on the drivers’ second fastest time. The second will see the usual reverse-grid format for the top eight, and the final race grid has been locked in based on the drivers’ fastest qualifying laps.
Keep in mind also, there are penalties to serve as a knock-on effect from the opening round in China. Robertson and Jacquet will have a five-place grid drop in the first race for their collision with Shi Wei at the Shanghai International Circuit. Whatever the weekend brings, we’ll be here bringing you the latest F1 Academy coverage