Qualifying Report - Punishing Mistakes

By Dan Knutson in Montreal

Lewis Hamilton won his fifth pole in Montreal, his fifth of the season, and the 53rd of his Formula 1 career as he edged out Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg in qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix. Rosberg had actually been on a quicker final lap but he made a couple of errors and pulled in the pits as the mistakes punished him any chance of taking pole position by a mere 0.062 of second.

The ambient temperature at the start of qualifying was 59 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Centigrade.)

The line-up for the weekend was: Mercedes - Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Ferrari - Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen. Williams Mercedes - Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas. Red Bull TAG Heuer - Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen . Force India Mercedes - Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez. Renault - Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer. Toro Rosso Ferrari - Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz. Sauber Ferrari - Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr. McLaren Honda - Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button. Manor Mercedes - Pascal Wehrlein and Rio Haryanto. Haas Ferrari - Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez.

QUALIFYING 1

It had rained during the break between FP3 and qualifying, but the track was dry as the 16-minute Q1 began.

Missing from the mix was Magnussen as the mechanics were repairing the car he had crashed in FP3.

Rosberg, Vettel, Hamilton and Ricciardo took the top four spots in the first six minutes. With nine minutes to go, the "bubble" area to make the cut to Q2 had Kvyat 15th, Ericsson 16th and Grosjean 17th.

Grosjean soon got pushed down to 19th, but then put in a lap that put him up to 15th. Now Kvyat was 17th and in danger of not making it into Q2, but he replied with a time that put him 12th.

Some light rain now started to fall, but everybody stayed on slicks.

With two minutes remaining, Grosjean was 16th and Palmer 17th. Then Haryanto slid into the wall at Turn 4. That ended the chances for any driver to improve his time.

The six drivers who were eliminated at the end of FP1 were: Palmer, Wehrlein, Ericsson, Nasr, Haryanto and Magnussen.

The fastest 16 drivers who moved on to Q2 were: Rosberg, Vettel, Ricciardo, Hamilton, Bottas, Raikkonen, Verstappen, Hulkenberg, Sainz, Button, Perez, Massa, Kvyat, Alonso, Gutierrez and Grosjean.

QUALIFYING 2

Q2 lasted 15 minutes. Hulkenberg was the first out on the track. Rosberg had posted the fastest time in Q1 - a 1:13.714.

Sainz soon brought out the red flags (just three minutes into the session) by hitting the Wall of Champions at Turn 14, and then scrapping the Toro Rosso all the way along the outside wall of the pit straight.

The session was restarted eight minutes later, and 12 minutes remained in Q2. Everybody was on Pirelli's ultra soft slicks.

Massa turned a 1:14.130 to get out in front early, but Hamilton eclipsed that with a 1:13.076. The Rosberg posted a 1:13.094. Ricciardo slotted into third with a 1:13.540.

Down at the bubble, Hulkenberg was ninth, Perez was 10th, and Button was 11th with four minutes to go. Then Kvyat moved into 10th and pushed Perez and Button down.

The top five didn't bother going out in the final minutes, leaving the rest to scramble for positions.

The fastest 10 drivers who moved on to Q3 were: Hamilton, Rosberg, Ricciardo, Bottas, Verstappen, Raikkonen, Vettel, Massa, Hulkenberg and Alonso

The six drivers who were eliminated at the end of FP2 were: Perez, Button, Kvyat, Gutierrez, Grosjean and Sainz.

QUALIFYING 3

Ricciardo headed the queue as the 12 minute Q3 got underway. And so he set the first lap time - a 1:22.859 - as he warmed up his ultra soft tires. His next lap was a 1:13.521. But Hamilton blasted by with a 1:12.812 and Rosberg clocked a 1:12.847.

Verstappen and Vettel pushed Ricciardo down to fifth. Bottas was sixth ahead of Hulkenberg and Alonso.

Raikkonen and Massa did not go out initially, but with five minutes to go they headed out on track out of sequence with the other eight drivers. But with three minutes remaining, all 10 drivers were in action.

Hamilton did not improve but kept the pole. Rosberg remained second while Vettel took third and Ricciardo fourth. Verstappen, Raikkonen, Bottas, Massa, Hulkenberg and Alonso rounded out the top 10.