Hamilton pips Rosberg to Canadian pole

At a circuit where he has claimed pole position four times previously, Lewis Hamilton made it five around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, taking his 53rd Formula One career pole by just 0.062 from Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg.

The Briton managed to lap the Ile Notre-Dame in 1:12.812, to complete his excellent form all weekend, including being fastest in both of Friday's practice sessions. Sebastian Vettel did his best to catch the Mercedes, and was just 0,178 down on Hamilton's time. Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen's lack of engine power, despite a Renault upgrade was evident as they could only manage fourth and fifth.

Fustration for Palmer

There were just 21 drivers taking part in the qualifying session, as Kevin Magnussen's Renault was damaged beyonf repair after a crash at T7 in the morning practice session. Rain was a looming threat throughout the session, but the bulk of it stay away with only a few drops at the end of the session. The Sauber's struggled again for pace, and were both kncoked out, as were the two Manor drivers, although Pascal Wehrlein was close to making it through and Rio Haryanto hit the barrier and brought an early end to the session.

Jolyon Palmer missed the cut by 0.015 and was disappointed, comparing the gap to a "sneeze in the car".

The top three talk after finding out their grid positions. | Image source: Sky Sports

Inter-team battles hot up in Q2

The start of Q2 was halted by Carlos Sainz hitting the Wall of Champions and grinding to a halt just past the start/finish line. Unlike many others Sainz was unlucky, when his Toro Rosso's rear right tyre clipped the wall and spun the front round to make terminal contact with the unforgiving concrete. It soon became clear that two of the four McLaren and Force India drivers would miss out on a place in the shootout, with the fall guys being Jenson Button and Sergio Perez, denied in a last gasp lap by Nico Hulkenberg.

The two Haas drivers struggled for heat in their tyres and thus pace, and Esteban Gutierrez, in a standout performance out-qualified Romain Grosjean. After a close Q1, Mercedes showed what their true pace was, around half a second clear of P3 - Ricciardo.

Hamilton's charge

It all came down to the first runs for the Mercedes in Q3. Hamilton was first to complete his time, the 1:12.812, whereas Rosberg could only lap in 1:12.874. On the second runs, Hamilton couldn't improve, and Rosberg aborted after a mistake into T1.

Max Verstappen was in third after the first runs, but he fell down the order, when Vettel went to the max - lapping in 1:12.990. Ricciardo was just over a tenth behind the Ferrari and the Williams's only managing a dissapointing fourth row lock out. Fernando Alonso will start tenth for McLaren.

It is lights out at 19:00pm UK time on Sunday evening: