Verstappen secures pole position in rain-drenched Canadian Grand Prix qualifying

Verstappen beats Hulkenberg and Alonso in rain-soaked qualifying

Red Bull's Max Verstappen in action during qualifying. Reuters

Red Bull's Formula One championship leader, Max Verstappen, bagged pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix amid challenging, rain-soaked conditions on Saturday.

The adverse weather did little to slow down the Dutch racer, who has already won five of this season's opening seven rounds.

The qualifying session saw Nico Hulkenberg of Germany clinch the second spot on the front row for Haas, 1.2 seconds adrift of Verstappen.

Behind Hulkenberg, Fernando Alonso emerged as the third fastest for Aston Martin.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen poses after qualifying in pole position alongside second positioned Haas' Nico Hulkenberg and third positioned Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso. Reuters

Lewis Hamilton, seven-time world champion, qualified in fourth place for Mercedes, with George Russell not far behind, taking the fifth spot.

Lando Norris of McLaren concluded the top seven.

The qualifying event was anything but predictable, with oscillating weather conditions and several delays.

The Q3 session was temporarily red-flagged following Oscar Piastri's crash on the exit of the second corner, causing an eight-minute suspension of the session.

The unpredictable conditions seemed to play to Verstappen's advantage.

After setting the pace in Q3, his pole position remained unchallenged as the intensity of the rain increased.

Hamilton, who briefly held third spot, was outpaced by Hulkenberg right before the session was paused due to Piastri's collision.

Not all racers fared as well in the challenging conditions.

Sergio Perez’s unfortunate string of races persisted, with him being eliminated in Q2.

The Red Bull racer, who trails teammate Verstappen by 53 points in the championship, will start Sunday's race from 12th place.

Perez’s performance has been underwhelming this season, with a previous crash in Monaco and an 11th grid position in the last race in Spain.

Another shock came when Charles Leclerc was also eliminated in Q2.

His poor performance in Barcelona, where he qualified 19th and finished 11th, seemed to have followed him to Montreal.

Leclerc was denied an early switch to dry rubber by Ferrari, and his frustration was evident over the radio.

Qualifying also saw a temporary red-flag when Zhou Guanyu's Alfa Romeo broke down in Q1, resulting in a seven-minute suspension.

Although he was able to continue, Zhou finished 20th and last.

As the Canadian Grand Prix inches closer, all eyes are on Max Verstappen, who leads the pack and is all set to add to his impressive tally of victories this