Rosberg on pole in Canada

Nico Rosberg’s winning ways of Monaco have followed him to Canada as the German beat teammate Lewis Hamilton to pole position.

Having dominating practice yesterday and this morning, Lewis Hamilton lost time in the second sector of his final flying lap in Q3, which ultimately meant he lost out on pole position and would have to settle for second place. In doing so, the one-two pairing of the Mercedes duo secured Mercedes AMG F1 their fourth front row lockout of the 2014 season.

Sebastian Vettel was able to jump from sixth place to third on his final flying lap, making him ‘best of the rest’ this afternoon and demonstrating Red Bull’s slow but steady progress as the season moves forward.

Williams’ Racing, looking strong throughout practice, will be pleased that Bottas and Massa line up fourth and fifth on the grid, but at the same time there will be disappointed that neither driver could break into the top three.

Vettel’s teammate Daniel Ricciardo placed sixth whilst Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso could only manage seventh. Early pace in practice from the Ferrari driver seemed to fade over qualifying, with Alonso never really threatening the top 6 drivers.

Vergne, Button and Raikkonen completed the top ten fastest drivers in Montreal.
The new rules for qualifying in 2014 also mean that all top ten drivers will be able to start tomorrows’ Grand Prix on the super soft tyre; the faster of the two compounds here in Montreal which will fare well in what promises to be an exciting race.

The Caterham of Marcus Ericcson and Williams’ Valtteri Bottas got things start in Q1, quickly followed by a string of other drivers as the focus was set on setting a fast lap early in the session. The majority of drivers came out to set their first laps on the harder of the two available compounds, before returning to the pit lane to set a lap on the super soft tyre. With grip still lacking on track and teams struggling with down force, the super soft allowed for a safer chance of reaching Q2.

Sergio Perez was the first victim of a spin, losing the car at Turn 8 as he did in practice. Without damage to the car, he was able to continue, though sacrificed that lap.

Ultimately, the luck with the walls would eventually run out, and qualifying claimed its’ first victim – Marcus Ericsson crashed on the exit of Turn 9 with just 16 seconds remaining in the session which brought out the red flags and a premature end to Q1. It is the second race weekend in a row where Ericsson has crashed during qualifying.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen got the crowd excited in Q2 when he put his Ferrari about as close to the wall as he would want, skimming it just slightly whilst setting a fast lap. As Q2 whittled though, there was little of note as the focus remained on sorting out the order of the mid-field. The Mercedes dup of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton continued to lead the pack, assuring their qualification for Q3, whilst at one point, fifth to eleventh position were being fought for by only several tenths of a second.

Hulkenberg would prove himself fastest of the midfield, qualifying in eleventh place ahead of McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen. Perez, Grosjean, Kvyat and Sutil make up place 13 through 16.

Lotus qualifying struggles continue in Canada as Pastor Maldonado once again failed to reach Q2 and will start from 17th on the grid for tomorrow’s race, just ahead of the Marussia duo of Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi. Lotus informed the media that Maldonado was instructed to stop as a precautionary measure. Caterham’s Kamui Kobayashi and Marcus Ericsson line up behind the Marussia pair and take positions 20 and 21.

Esteban Gutierrez, who crashed his Sauber during free practice three earlier this afternoon, did not take part in Qualifying after the team confirmed his car needed a new chassis. Gutierrez will start tomorrows’ race at the back of the grid.

The Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada 2014 starts tomorrow, Sunday June 8th, at 14:00 local time.