Lewis Hamilton upstages Ferrari to take Canadian Grand Prix pole
Lewis Hamilton convincingly beat Formula 1 title rival Sebastian Vettel to pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix, as Mercedes finally came to life in qualifying at the Montreal circuit

Ferrari had set the pace in Friday practice and was well ahead in Saturday morning's final session too, but Hamilton lapped below 1m12.9s for the first time this weekend in Q1 and never looked back.
He was fastest of all in Q2 on a 1m12.496s before smashing through the 1m12s barrier to claim pole in Q3 - matching his hero Ayrton Senna's tally of 65 career pole positions.
Hamilton took provisional pole with a 1m11.791s lap on his first run, before Vettel attempted to respond, falling short by just 0.004 seconds thanks to a wild moment coming out of the Turn 6/7 chicane.
Hamilton then lowered his own benchmark to 1m11.459s on his second run to seal pole, before Vettel shaved 0.006s off his own best time.
This allowed the Ferrari driver to beat Hamilton's earlier Q3 best, but still left Vettel 0.336s short of taking the top spot.
Valtteri Bottas was third fastest in the second Mercedes. He was fractionally quicker than Hamilton in Q1 and not far behind in Q2, but was well beaten in Q3, finishing over seven tenths of a second down on his team-mate.
Friday pacesetter Kimi Raikkonen brushed the wall in Q1 and ended up fourth fastest overall in the second Ferrari, complaining of a "really shit" first corner on his quickest lap.
The Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo annexed row three of the grid, separated by 0.154s, with Verstappen lapping within two tenths of the second Ferrari.
Felipe Massa was seventh fastest for Williams and the only other driver to lap below 1m13s, ahead of Force India pairing Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon, and impressive Renault driver Nico Hulkenberg, who rounded out the top 10.
Neither Toro Rosso driver made it through to Q3, after a messy session that featured a spin for Carlos Sainz Jr at Turn 1 and Daniil Kvyat glancing the wall at Turn 9 and picking up a puncture.
Kvyat wound up 11th quickest, 0.284s shy of the cut, while Sainz was 13th.
Fernando Alonso split the Toro Rossos by lapping his McLaren-Honda 12th fastest, only 0.003s shy of beating Kvyat and despite initially complaining of having less power available from the engine than he'd enjoyed in Q1.
Romain Grosjean struggled with a lack of grip from his final set of ultra-soft Pirelli tyres, saying they gave him "absolutely nothing" as he wound up 14th.
Jolyon Palmer was 15th in the second of the two works Renaults, also complaining of "no grip". He was within two tenths of team-mate Hulkenberg in Q1, but struggled badly in Q2, including suffering a brief off at Turn 1.

A crash for Pascal Wehrlein's Sauber at the same corner curtailed the climax to Q1, as it forced several drivers to abandon late efforts to improve.
Having complained about being used by his team-mate 'unfairly' for a tow in the second half of the session, Sainz managed to squeak into Q2.
Sainz lapped 0.131s clear of Stoffel Vandoorne's McLaren-Honda, which was eliminated in Q1 for the sixth time in seven attempts this season.
Lance Stroll also failed to escape the bottom five in qualifying for his home race, the Williams rookie finishing the session 0.027s behind Vandoorne in 17th.
Kevin Magnussen complained of encountering traffic "every single lap" as he wound up only 18th quickest, less than two tenths clear of Marcus Ericsson's Sauber.
Wehrlein lapped slowest of all, 0.315s down on Ericsson, and ended up with his Sauber missing its rear wing after he approached Turn 1 on too wide a line and lost the rear of the car under braking.
PROVISIONAL STARTING GRID:
Pos | Driver | Car | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1m11.459s | - |
2 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1m11.789s | 0.330s |
3 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1m12.177s | 0.718s |
4 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1m12.252s | 0.793s |
5 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull/Renault | 1m12.403s | 0.944s |
6 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull/Renault | 1m12.557s | 1.098s |
7 | Felipe Massa | Williams/Mercedes | 1m12.858s | 1.399s |
8 | Sergio Perez | Force India/Mercedes | 1m13.018s | 1.559s |
9 | Esteban Ocon | Force India/Mercedes | 1m13.135s | 1.676s |
10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1m13.271s | 1.812s |
11 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso/Renault | 1m13.690s | - |
12 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren/Honda | 1m13.693s | - |
13 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Toro Rosso/Renault | 1m13.756s | - |
14 | Romain Grosjean | Haas/Ferrari | 1m13.839s | - |
15 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1m14.293s | - |
16 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren/Honda | 1m14.182s | - |
17 | Lance Stroll | Williams/Mercedes | 1m14.209s | - |
18 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas/Ferrari | 1m14.318s | - |
19 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber/Ferrari | 1m14.495s | - |
20 | Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber/Ferrari | 1m14.810s | - |

Kimi Raikkonen pushes for F1 to change its blue flag rules
Lewis Hamilton given Ayrton Senna helmet for matching F1 pole tally

Latest news
Haas: No plans to change F1 team model despite nearing budget cap
Gunther Steiner says there is no plan for Haas to change the model of its Formula 1 team despite nearing the budget cap with a new title sponsor.
Supercars team reveals coin toss chassis allocation
Supercars squad Team 18 used a combination of a coin toss and a ping pong ball lottery to allocate its new chassis to drivers Scott Pye and Mark Winterbottom.
HPD boss "amazed" by GTP reliability on debut at Daytona 24 Hours
The boss of Honda Performance Developments has expressed his amazement at the high levels of reliability demonstrated by the all-new GTP prototypes in last weekend's Daytona 24 Hours.
Is AI ready to take over Formula 1 strategy?
The viral success of ChatGPT since its launch has lifted interest surrounding Artificial Intelligence to new heights.
Who were the fastest drivers in F1 2022?
Who was the fastest driver in 2022? Everyone has an opinion, but what does the stopwatch say? Obviously, differing car performance has an effect on ultimate laptime – but it’s the relative speed of each car/driver package that’s fascinating and enlightening says ALEX KALINAUCKAS
Why F1's nearly man is refreshed and ready for his return
He has more starts without a podium than anyone else in Formula 1 world championship history, but Nico Hulkenberg is back for one more shot with Haas. After spending three years on the sidelines, the revitalised German is aiming to prove to his new team what the F1 grid has been missing
The potential-laden F1 car that Ferrari neglected
The late Mauro Forghieri played a key role in Ferrari’s mid-1960s turnaround, says STUART CODLING, and his pretty, intricate 1512 was among the most evocative cars of the 1.5-litre era. But a victim of priorities as Formula 1 was deemed less lucrative than success in sportscars, its true potential was never seen in period
Why Vasseur relishes 'feeling the pressure' as Ferrari's F1 boss
OPINION: Fred Vasseur has spent only a few weeks as team principal for the Ferrari Formula 1 team, but is already intent on taking the Scuderia back to the very top. And despite it being arguably the most demanding job in motorsport, the Frenchman is relishing the challenge
The crucial tech changes F1 teams must adapt to in 2023
Changes to the regulations for season two of Formula 1's ground-effects era aim to smooth out last year’s troubles and shut down loopholes. But what areas have been targeted, and what impact will this have?
Are these the 50 quickest drivers in F1 history?
Who are the quickest drivers in Formula 1 history? LUKE SMITH asked a jury of experienced and international panel of experts and F1 insiders. Some of them have worked closely with F1’s fastest-ever drivers – so who better to vote on our all-time top 50? We’re talking all-out speed here rather than size of trophy cabinet, so the results may surprise you…
One easy way the FIA could instantly improve F1
OPINION: During what is traditionally a very quiet time of year in the Formula 1 news cycle, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has been generating headlines. He’s been commenting on massive topics in a championship that loves them, but also addressing necessary smaller changes too. Here we suggest a further refinement that would be a big boon to fans
How can McLaren keep hold of Norris?
Lando Norris is no longer the young cheeky-chappy at McLaren; he’s now the established ace. And F1's big guns will come calling if the team can’t give him a competitive car. Here's what the team needs to do to retain its prize asset
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.