Hamilton's Canadian advantage over Rosberg is surprisingly slender, Vettel and Ferrari fight back, McLaren step forward, and...
Monday 13 June 2016 12:09, UK
A lead for Lewis, but the battle is on...
It's not often that pole position is met with such dismay by a driver 24 points behind in the championship, but that just sums up the confidence Lewis Hamilton has around this track.
"Honestly, it wasn't a great lap, but I'm not sure l should admit that!" Hamilton told Sky F1.
The Brit now has five Canadian GP poles and will hope to reach that number of victories there on race day, but after looking incredibly quick in his Mercedes all weekend, he had more in his sights.
Ralf Schumacher's lap record around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, a 1:12.275, may even have been a possibility.
Hamilton not happy with his Montreal pole lap
"I didn't have the same pace that l had yesterday," Hamilton added. "I'm not sure if it was a set-up change. It was enough, but not as much as l would have liked."
The championship battle may just be decided at these kind of grands prix. This is Lewis's banker - the happiest of hunting grounds - while Nico Rosberg has yet to win here.
Which made the qualifying timesheet so very interesting - and perhaps explains Hamilton's post-session unhappiness.
Hamilton's half-second advantage over Rosberg in Friday's practice sessions compared to just the six hundredths of a second splitting the Mercedes duo in Q3. A cause for frustration, and even worry, for Hamilton?
Claw back his team-mate and take maximum points in Montreal, and Rosberg would be looking like a champion.
Vettel & Ferrari: On the charge
"A great car." It's not often you've heard Sebastian Vettel say that about his Ferrari this season.
But the German has genuine reason for optimism after trailing the Silver Arrows by so little in qualifying - less than two tenths separated him from pole - and it's clear Ferrari's turbo upgrades have had their desired effect.
Hamilton edges out Rosberg for pole position
Such was his form on Saturday, Vettel was even apologising to his team after failing to get closer to Mercedes on his final lap.
Both Hamilton and Rosberg had left the door open with sloppy final fliers. The four-time world champion did all he could, but wasn't quite able to walk through it.
After the baffling recent qualifying performances, a return to form here was absolutely crucial, and the Scuderia's race pace is clearly a cause for concern for their competitors.
"Ferrari have obviously picked up their pace with their upgrades," Hamilton said. "This is a good track for them. Their long runs look strong."
Vettel behind Hamilton and Rosberg - we've been here before. A flash of red passing the Silver Arrows after a better getaway? We've been there before, too.
"Clearly, getting off the line could be key," Sky F1 pundit Paul Di Resta noted. "The Ferraris could be close by."
A small step for McLaren, but not Button...
Though McLaren have ended the most embarrassing of Honda streaks by getting a car into Q3 - in the last three grands prix, in fact - Jenson Button hasn't been so lucky.
For every time we have seen an MP4-31 in the final shootout, Fernando Alonso has been the pilot. On this occasion, Button was ruing giving his team-mate a tow in Q2. His team probably weren't.
"I took a good tow in the last run and that was enough to go into Q3," Alonso told Sky F1. "So thanks to him!"
Button may not be happy with 12th, but it seems that the penny has dropped at McLaren. We've said it before, but slow, steady progress is being made.
Rewind 12 months and Alonso said the team were looking like "amateurs" in Montreal thanks to their woeful straightline speed.
Can we call them professionals yet?
Canadian GP - a season highlight
The drivers love Montreal and so do the packed grandstands of fans. It's a demanding track that rewards bravery and punishes mistakes. Saturday's bumps and bruises were evidence of just that.
First we saw Kevin Magnussen rule himself out of qualifying with a mystifying shunt at Turn Seven, then Rio Haryanto was spinning in the rain. We even got to witness the Wall of Champions take its first victim in Carlos Sainz.
The narrow run-offs and uncompromising concrete walls make it a relatively unique beast in the world of F1 and the bumps and kerbs will be putting off many a driver in Sunday's race, too. Overrunning a chicane after those long straights is an easy thing to do.
Though Sainz was made to pay for the smallest of errors in Q2, which ended his afternoon, Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo can bless their lucky stars that the famous wall didn't eat them up. In the Australian's case, he set his fastest lap after brushing that barrier. Sometimes, even a beast can be tamed.
