As qualifying got underway in a drizzly Montreal, it was anyone’s guess as to who would be the fastest at the end of Q3.
With limited running in the three practice sessions – due to rain on Friday morning, and a delayed session on Saturday because a broken barrier needed to be fixed – there’d been no clear front runners emerging over the early part of the weekend.
Di Resta and Button had shown promise in the wet on Friday, while Alonso and the Mercedes were thereabouts on the pace as well. But as Q3 came to an end on Saturday morning, Webber was last over the line and topped the timesheets – albeit a whole four seconds off last year’s dry running pace.
One thing we did know going into Q1 was that Grosjean would receive a 10 place grid penalty as a result of his coming together with Ricciardo in Monaco. And as the stopwatch started ticking on the first qualifying session, the clouds rolled in and the rain began to fall…
Most cars hurried out onto the track on the medium tyres, eager to set some times before the heavens opened. Within a lap they were all back in to change onto the intermediate tyres though, making way for what would be a very interesting qualifying session indeed.
The Mercedes and Red Bulls set the early pace, with cars slip-sliding all over the track in the rain. Even World Champions Alonso and Raikkonen were struggling for grip on the changeable track. With two minutes to go, the top cars were trading times, and Vettel finished the session fastest – but as the flag dropped, Di Resta, Pic, Grosjean, Bianchi, Chilton and Van Der Garde found themselves eliminated, with Grosjean’s penalty meaning he’ll be starting from the back of the grid tomorrow.
With the rain now coming down steadily, the cars went straight out onto the track on the inters for the second session, lapping a full seven seconds slower than they were in Q1. While most cars struggled for pace, with many falling off the track in the wet conditions, Vettel seemed to find a speed that nobody else could muster, and quickly went fastest.
Then, with two minutes to go, Massa put his car in the wall and the session was red flagged – leaving those in the drop zone in serious trouble.
The restart was announced, and the cars queued at the end of the pitlane, eager to get out and set one final flying lap – with the Saubers of Gutierrez and Hulkenberg at the front end. But as the lights went green and the cars jostled for position on track, Button backed off to give himself some space – and in the process didn’t make the chequered flag in time to do a flying lap.
The session finished with Hamilton sneaking in a fastest lap – but Hulkenberg, Perez, Maldonado, Button, Gutierrez and Massa failed to make the grade.
While McLaren commiserated, however, Williams celebrated getting into Q3 for the first time this season with Bottas, who’d been running surprisingly well in the first two sessions.
With more rain on the way, Vettel, Raikkonen and Webber were first out of the starting block for the final qualifying session, hoping to set some flying laps before the track became undriveable again. Vettel set the early pace – and with no chance of the track drying out, it seemed nobody could beat him.
Three minutes to go, and it started raining heavily again – but despite a good challenge from his teammate and both the Mercedes, nobody could beat Vettel’s pace. The session finished with Vettel on pole, ahead of Hamilton in second, and a delighted Bottas in third for Williams. By Sarah Ellis
Provisional grid:
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S Vettel Red Bull |
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