Nico Rosberg describes finish to qualy as "rubbish"; Sebastian Vettel eliminated in Q1 after engine problem and also handed five-place penalty; Jenson Button also to start race from the back
Sunday 7 June 2015 09:20, UK
Lewis Hamilton claimed pole position for the Canadian GP on Saturday ahead of Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.
The world champion overcame an accident-prone Friday practice and a troublesome final session on Saturday morning to take his fourth pole at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The driver of the No 44 Mercedes also secured the 44th pole of his career.
"It really is [special]. I feel amazing today," Hamilton said afterwards. "It wasn't actually the easiest of days - P3 was quite tough and I didn't really complete any laps. Mostly my fault, so I was going into qualifying a little bit blind really where the set-up would be.
"I won my first grand prix here in 2007 and that was incredibly special. So to be back here and to finally get another pole here and be the 44th, that's very special, special for me."
Hamilton and Rosberg traded times throughout the hour, with the latter 0.006s quicker in the first session and Hamilton shading it by 0.012s in Q2.
It was nip-and-tuck stuff in Q3 as well but Hamilton upped his pace in the final session with a lap of 1:14.393 around the 4.361km track. None of the frontrunners could improve their times on their final 'flying laps', meaning that Rosberg stayed 0.309s adrift.
Speaking on the radio as he returned to the pits, Rosberg said it was a "rubbish end to qualifying".
"That was the best way to describe it," he added a short time later. "I was really on a roll, but at the end it didn't come together at all. I was just struggling with grip and this and that and it didn't work out."
Kimi Raikkonen will line up third on the grid but Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel will be down in 18th place after an early exit. The four-time champion suffered engine problems in Q1 and although he made it out on track in the closing minutes, his car remained down on power.
Vettel was also handed a five-place grid penalty later on, after stewards penalised him for passing the Manor Marussia car of Roberto Merhi when Saturday's final practice session was red-flagged.
Raikkonen will start alongside countryman Valtteri Bottas, who helped Williams forget their disappointing performance in Monaco with the fourth fastest time.
Much like Vettel, however, team-mate Felipe Massa was a Q1 casualty, with the Brazilian also suffering engine problems and lining up 16th.
Next up were the Lotuses of Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado in what was by far and away the team’s best qualifying performance of the season so far.
Grosjean was fastest of all in Q1 after – unlike the Mercedes cars – he switched to the option supersoft tyre and the Frenchman regularly ran in the top three during the session.
And confirmation on a power hungry-track that Mercedes still lead their rivals in that regard came with Nico Hulkenberg’s seventh place in his Force India.
Team-mate Sergio Perez starts 10th, with the pair sandwiching the Red Bulls of Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo – last year’s winner outqualified by his team-mate.
The Toro Rossos of Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen were 11th and 12th fastest, although the penalties the 17-year-old Dutch driver has picked up means that he must start at the back of the grid.
Verstappen will therefore be alongside Jenson Button, who did not take part in qualifying after an engine failure in final practice left McLaren-Honda with too little time to change the power unit.
Team-mate Fernando Alonso will be 13th on the grid, between Sauber drivers Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr, with Merhi again faster than team-mate Will Stevens.
Qualifying results:
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:14.393
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:14.702
3. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:15.014
4. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:15.102
5. Romain Grosjean, Lotus, 1:15.194
6. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus, 1:15.329
7. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:15.614
8. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull, 1:16.079
9. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:16.114
10. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:16.338
Out in Q2:
11. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:16.042
12. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1:16.245
13. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:16.262
14. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:16.276
15. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:16.620
Out in Q1:
16. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:17.344
17. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:17.886
18. Roberto Merhi, Manor, 1:19.133
19. Will Stevens, Manor, 1:19.157
20. Jenson Button, McLaren, No time
