Lewis Hamilton was the fastest man in qualifying for the Canadian GP, his fifth pole in Canada. The session remained dry except for a few drops in Q1. Rosberg will start the main race on the first row in P2 after qualifying second while Vettel will lead the second row thanks to his last minute P3 finish. Red Bull star Max Verstappen finished fifth in a session where he held P3 till the last minute when Vettel and Ricciardo snatched it.

2016 Canadian Grand Prix Qualifying Results

1. Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes-AMG
2. Nico Rosberg – Mercedes-AMG
3. Sebastian Vettel – Ferrari
4. Daniel Ricciardo – Red Bull
5. Max Verstappen – Red Bull
6. Kimi Raikkonen – Ferrari
7. Valtteri Bottas – Williams
8. Felipe Massa – Williams
9. Nico Hulkenberg – Force India
10. Fernando Alonso – McLaren/Honda

As opposed to FP3 which had 70% chance of rain, qualifying had a lower 30% of rain. Mercedes, Ferrari and Manor were the first to head out into Q1. With the leaders in ultrasoft tires, Rosberg topped the timesheet ahead of Vettel, Hamilton and Raikkonen. Moments later Verstappen reported drizzling on the track just before the Red Bull driver suffered a huge lock up at the final chicane.

With three minutes left on the Q1 clock, top 10 comprised of Rosberg, Vettel, Ricciardo, Hamilton, Bottas, Raikkonen, Verstappen, Hulkenberg, Button and Massa. Haryanto brought out the yellow flags when he kissed the wall, damaging his right rear tire at turn 4 exit. After the chequered flag, drivers eliminated included Palmer, Wehrlein, Ericsson, Nasr, Haryanto and Magnussen.

Q1 top ten after the chequered flag comprised of Rosberg, Vettel, Ricciardo, Hamilton, Bottas, Raikkonen, Verstappen, Hulkenberg, Sainz and Button. Mercedes then reported that the rain had stopped as the drivers prepared for Q2.

Q2 got underway moments later, but Williams and McLaren chose to remain in their garages. Hulkenberg and Perez who used supersoft tires in Q1 decided to join the rest of the field which was on ultrasoft. Kvyat was the first man to post a time in this session but his motion was cut short by the red flags brought out when Sainz crashed at the final chicane. It’s called the wall of champions for a reason.

The session resumed soon after the debris was cleared, Williams’ Massa was the first to post a time and jumped right to the top but Hamilton beat him to it. Rosberg also scored his flier lap coming right behind Hamilton in second. Ricciardo managed to outpace the Williams and slotted behind the Mercedes cars in third.

With three minutes left on the Q2 clock, top ten comprised of Hamilton, Rosberg, Ricciardo, Bottas, Verstappen, Raikkonen, Vettel, Massa, Hulkenberg and Perez.

The chequered flag flew and Alonso managed to jump into Q3 contention pack. Those eliminated were Perez, Button, Kvyat, Gutierrez, Grosjean and Sainz.

The drivers did not waste time in Q3, all but Raikkonen and Massa jumped right into it after the green flags. Hamilton posted the fastest time in his flying lap on 1m12.812s. That lap remained unbeaten by the rest of the field in their flier laps. Rosberg came in second leading Verstappen, Vettel, Ricciardo, Bottas, Hulkenberg and Alonso.

The chequered flag flew but the order remained the same except for Vettel who jumped Verstappen to take P3. Rosberg abandoned his lap leaving a healthy pole to Hamilton.

“I tried guys, I tried,” says Vettel. “Lost a bit of traction out of the hairpin, but…****…not enough, not enough.” said Vettel as the session came to a close.

So, top ten in Q3 were Hamilton, Rosberg, Vettel, Ricciardo, Verstappen, Raikkonen, Bottas, Massa, Hulkenberg and Alonso.

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