Qualifying Report - Not Needed

When Nico Rosberg won the pole in Monaco, some people believed he needed his off track excursion and the subsequent yellow flags to make sure he kept it. Such things were not needed in Canada as Rosberg beat Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton to win the pole.

The ambient temperature at the start of the session was 75 degrees Fahrenheit (24 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 109 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Centigrade.)

Qualifying 1

Marcus Ericsson got things going in his Caterham. Esteban Gutierrez meanwhile would not be going at all because his chassis had been damaged in his crash during FP3.

The Williams teammates had been quick in FP3, and Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa set the pace early on in Q1. But Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) soon set the benchmark of 1:16.690.

7 minutes into the session, Lewis Hamilton beat that time with a 1:16.438 in his Mercedes.

9 minutes into the session, everybody was on the track except Sergio Perez and his Sauber. The top four were: Hamilton, Rosberg, Massa and Bottas.

With 7 minutes left in the session, Hamilton improved to a 1:15.750. The top drivers were all using Pirelli's soft tires and saving their super softs for later.

With 4 minutes left in the session, Max Chilton (Marussia) was 16th and on the bubble with a time of 1:18.348. Sergio Perez, in 15th place, spun his Force India at Turn 8.

With 2 minutes left in the session, Daniil Kvyat jumped to sixth in his Toro Rosso. Pastor Maldonado took the escape road in his Lotus.

With 16 seconds to go the red flags came out to stop the session after Ericsson spun and tagged the wall as Turn 8.

The top 10 at the end of Q1 were: Hamilton, Kevin Magnussen (McLaren), Rosberg, Jenson Button (McLaren), Massa, Bottas, Nico Hulkenberg (Force India), Kvyat and Ferrari teammates Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen.

The six drivers eliminated at the end of Q1 were: Maldonado, Chilton, Jules Bianchi (Marussia), Kamui Kobayashi (Caterham), Ericsson and Gutierrez.

Qualifying 2

First out for the 15-minute Q2: Adrian Sutil in his Sauber. He and the rest of the drivers were on Pirelli's super soft tires.

Bottas set the mark at 1:15.924, and then Massa beat that with a 1:15.773.

With 10 minutes remaining in the session, Alonso and Raikkonen moved into third and fourth.

With 8 minutes remaining in the session, Daniel Ricciardo slotted his Red Bull into fourth place, but that became fifth as Rosberg set a 1:15.832 for second place. Then Hamilton took third with a 1:15.882.

With 6 minutes remaining in the session, Sebastian Vettel was in 11th place in his Red Bull and thus, at that time, out of the cut to make it to Q1. He then got pushed down to 12th.

With 4 minutes remaining in the session, Raikkonen was in 10th place and on the bubble.

With 2 minutes remaining in the session, Raikkonen was on track, as were Jean-Vergne, Perez, Vettel, Romain Grosjean, Kvyat and Sutil, who were 11th through 16th respectively.

Massa and Bottas were first and second, but Rosberg took first with a 1:15.289 and then Hamilton beat that with a 1:15.054.

The top 10 at the end of Q2 were: Hamilton, Rosberg, Massa, Bottas, Ricciardo, Vettel, Alonso, Button, Raikkonen and Vergne.

The six drivers eliminated at the end of Q2 were: Hulkenberg, Magnussen, Perez, Grosjean, Kvyat and Sutil.

Qualifying 3

Nobody was keen to the first out in the top-10 Q3 shootout as the session began.

With 10 minutes remaining in the 12 minute session, it was Bottas who took up the challenge of the empty track. A couple of minutes later several drivers joined him.

With 7 minutes remaining in the session, everybody but Raikkonen was on track. Bottas set the first time: 1:15.550. Rosberg beat that with a 1:14.946 and Hamilton went second with a 1:15.014. Massa took fourth with a 1:15.621. Ricciardo and Vettel were fifth and sixth.

With just under 4 minutes remaining in the session, everybody was in the pits preparing for their final runs. And then Raikkonen headed out for his first and had the track to himself.

With just under 3 minutes remaining in the session, the others started to filter onto the track. The order was Rosberg, Hamilton, Bottas, Massa, Ricciardo, Vettel, Alonso, Vergne, Button and Raikkonen.

With less than a minute to go, Rosberg set a 1:14.874. Hamilton's lap of 1:14.953 was only good enough for second. Vettel jumped up to third.

The top 10 qualifiers were: Rosberg, Hamilton, Vettel, Bottas, Massa, Ricciardo, Alonso, Vergne Button and Raikkonen.