Lewis Hamilton matched Ayrton Senna's record for career pole positions in Montreal as the Brit set a lap time of 1:11.459 which will see him start from the optimum position in tomorrow's race.
Hamilton's main rival Sebastian Vettel will start alongside him, as the German couldn't come close to Hamilton's spectacular effort. The margin between the men was just over three-tenths of a second.
The two Finn's of Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen will start the race from the second row once again, as Bottas got the better of Kimi Raikkonen who couldn't repeat his pole position performance in Monaco two weeks ago. The Red Bull's ended in familiar territory, as the two men lock out the third row. This time, Max Verstappen got the better of Daniel Ricciardo, and they will line up fifth and sixth respectively.
Felipe Massa out-qualified local boy and teammate Lance Stroll to start the race from P7, sharing the fourth row with Sergio Perez, the man he had a huge collision with here in Montreal in 2014. Perez's teammate Esteban Ocon will start from ninth, while the effort of Nico Hulkenberg slots him into tenth.
Q1
The two Toro Rosso's were the first out on track before they were followed by a majority of the pack, as everyone jostled for an early lap. Carlos Sainz set the first time of day, but it was a rather uncompetitive one.
Sebastian Vettel was the first of the front runners to set a time, and the German crossed the line to lay down a 1:13.787. His teammate Kimi Raikkonen crossed the start/finish line right after Vettel and put in a time two-tenths faster than the four-time world champion.
Vettel came back at his teammate and set a time seven-tenths quicker than his previous best. He now sat in P1, with his time done on the super soft tyres. Lewis Hamilton could only manage P2 on his first run on the ultra softs, before the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas went quickest.
The Red Bull's were next, and Max Verstappen's time put him ahead of teammate Daniel Ricciardo. The two Force India's split them but they were all safely into the next stage of qualifying. Just then, the final laps of Q1 were ruined as Pascal Wehrlein spun and hit the barriers at turn 1, eliminating anyone else's chance to improve.
Drivers out in Q1: Vandoorne, Stroll, Magnussen, Ericsson & Wehrlein
BREAKING: ELIMINATED DRIVERS, Q1
— Formula 1 (@F1) ___Escaped_link_6623c5c57296c___
16 VAN
17 STR
18 MAG
19 ERI
20 WEH ?___Escaped_link_6623c5c572968___ ?? ___Escaped_link_6623c5c57296a___ pic.twitter.com/786rkdrRnA
Q2
The start of the session was hectic, as everyone bolted out onto the track. The first times once again came from the Toro Rosso's, this time Kvyat getting the better of his teammate with a 1:13.6. Esteban Ocon then jumped to the top of the timesheets, going three-tenths faster than Kvyat. His time was then beaten by teammate Perez, who went half a tenth quicker.
Massa then knocked Perez from the top spot, before the top runners brought the big guns out. Hamilton went fastest of all, with Raikkonen settling into second. Bottas was third, with less than one-tenth of a second covering the top 3. Vettel made a mistake on his lap and slotted into fourth.
The track then went quiet as most had set their initial runs. Fernando Alonso then emerged from the pits later than usual to avoid traffic and set his lap which failed to get him into the final stage of qualifying. The track then got busy as everyone went for one last go, even the Mercedes and Ferrari's who were already safely into the next session.
No one at the front improved, but at the back, Alonso jumped up to P12. Daniil Kvyat hit the wall on his fast lap, causing suspension damage and a painful limp back to the pitlane.
Drivers out in Q3: Kvyat, Alonso, Sainz, Grosjean & Sainz.
BREAKING: ELIMINATED DRIVERS, Q2
— Formula 1 (@F1) ___Escaped_link_6623c5c572970___
11 KVY ?
12 ALO
13 SAI
14 GRO
15 PAL#CanadianGP ?? #Quali pic.twitter.com/8387KUX1vW
Q3
The tension was mounting at the start of the session. Vettel was the first to set his lap time, followed by Hamilton, Raikkonen and then Bottas. On his fast lap, Vettel locked up at the hairpin and ran too deep, destroying his lap.
He went across the line nevertheless to set a 1:12.4, before his time was crushed by Lewis Hamilton who soared to the top of the timesheets with a 1:11.7. The time looked virtually unbeatable and couldn't be matched by the following Raikkonen or Bottas.
On the second runs, Vettel started to improve and it looked as though Hamilton had his challenge on his hands. Vettel crossed the line to go four thousands of a second behind his championship rival. However, he still had time to set one more lap.
Hamilton also went again and streaked across the line to set a sensational 1:11.459, the fastest lap that's ever been recorded around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Vettel made one more attempt but couldn't challenge Hamilton, who claims his 65th career pole position.
Lewis Hamilton is given one of Ayrton Senna's race-worn helmets
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 10, 2017
Gift from the Senna family after he equalled his mark of 65 poles #F1 pic.twitter.com/HuT43VGJ6R
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Replies (3)
Login to replycalle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Was pretty much expected.
f1fan0101
Posts: 1,804
What a lap from Hamilton! The race should be hot tomorrow
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
It looked very weird how Mercedes just went out again and blasted away. I suspect Mercedes switched on the quali mode on their PUs. But even then it was a perfect lap.