Posted on 11th June 2016
In qualifying for the Canadian GP at Montreal this afternoon (evening in the UK), Lewis Hamilton claimed Pole Position, his fifth at the event and his 53rd Pole Position in his career ahead of his team mate Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel in a session which many fans, teams and drivers couldn't predict what would happen in the hour.
It was announced before Qualifying that Kevin Magnussen will not be participating in Qualifying as a result of an incident heading out of Turn 7 in FP3 later this morning. The Renault team have no choice but to replace a new chassis as a result of this and it is a great shame for the team.
Also, it is worthy to mention that Toro Rosso driver Daniil Kvyat takes a three place grid penalty into the Canadian GP after he was responsible for the accident at Rascasse with Kevin Magnussen. Let us not forget that Marcus Ericsson also takes a three place grid penalty due to the accident with his team mate Felipe Nasr in the Monaco GP as well.
During Q1, we saw Rio Haryanto sustaining a right rear puncture after hitting the wall at Turn 4 and did very well not to have a big accident either. In the final minute of Q1, the rain hit the Gilles Villeneuve circuit and put an premature end to the session which looked to very exciting
During Q2, Carlos Sainz Jr found himself out of qualifying after hitting the Wall of Champions (last corner of the circuit) after taking too much kerbs which broke the turk rod and continuing down the home straight to hit the barriers. This then brought out the Red Flag in order to ensure that Sainz Jr was okay and that the Toro Rosso could be removed safely from the track.
We also saw during Q2 a battle between the Force India drivers and also the McLaren-Honda drivers. With both sets of drivers battling each other throughout the session, the battle was on to see which driver would beat their team mate. With regards to Force India,
Nico Hulkenberg pulled out a stunning lap to beat Sergio Perez and with McLaren-Honda, Jenson Button locked up at the hairpin on his final attempt and lose time that allowed Fernando Alonso to gain the team's first Q3 appearance this season.
But it was Lewis Hamilton who claimed Pole Position for the Canadian GP with a lap time of 1.12.812 ahead of his team mate Nico Rosberg in second place who was 0.062 seconds behind him and ahead of Sebastian Vettel in third place who was 0.178 seconds behind Vettel.
Daniel Ricciardo finished the session in fourth place ahead of Max Verstappen in fifth place, Kimi Raikkonen in sixth place, Valtteri Bottas in seventh place, Felipe Massa in eighth place, Nico Hulkenberg in ninth place and Fernando Alonso who rounded off the top ten finishers.
Sergio Perez ended the session in eleventh place ahead of Jenson Button in twelfth place who could have been into the top ten but locked up at the hairpin on his last flying lap. But Button was ahead of Daniil Kvyat in thirteenth place (who has to take a three place grid drop, Esteban Gutierrez in fourteenth place and Romain Grosjean in fifteenth place.
As we head into the latter stages of the grid, Carlos Sainz Jr ended the session in sixteenth place ahead of Jolyon Palmer in seventeenth place, Pascal Wehrlein in eighteenth place, Marcus Ericsson in nineteenth place (who has to take a three place grid drop), Felipe Nasr in twentieth place and Rio Haryanto in twenty-first place. Kevin Magnussen did not take part in the session.
The classification of Qualifying for the Canadian GP is as follows:-
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1.12.812
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 0.062s
3. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 0.178s
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull-TAG Heuer, 0.354s
5. Max Verstappen, Red-Bull-TAG Heuer, 0.602
6. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 0.767s
7. Valtteri Bottas, Williams-Mercedes, 0.858s
8. Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes, 0.957s
9. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India-Mercedes, 1.140s
10. Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Honda, 1.526s
11. Sergio Perez, Force India-Mercedes, 1.14.317
12. Jenson Button, McLaren-Honda, 1.14.437
13. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1.14.457*
14. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 0.736s
15. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas Ferrari, 1.14.571
16. Romain Grosjean, Haas Ferrari, 1.21.956
17. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1.15.459
18. Pascal Wehrlein, MRT Racing, 1.15.599
19. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber-Ferrari, 1.15.635**
20. Felipe Nasr, Sauber-Ferrari, 1.16.663
21. Rio Haryanto, MRT Racing, 1.17.052
[Kevin Magnussen did not take part in Qualifying]
[*-Daniil Kyvat takes a three place grid penalty, **-Marcus Ericsson also takes a three place grid penalty]
Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa
