Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton claimed pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix, setting the fastest time ever seen around the Montreal circuit, using the P Zero Purple ultrasoft tyres. Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel and his team mate Kimi Raikkonen (who qualified second and fourth) were the only drivers to get through Q1 using the supersoft tyre only, which is reckoned to be just under a second slower than the ultrasoft.

Conditions remained warm and dry for qualifying, with the ultrasoft used by all drivers from Q2 onwards. A one-stop strategy is expected for the majority of competitors tomorrow: however, a two-stopper is also possible. Track evolution continued throughout the qualifying sessions.

MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF CAR RACING
“Today, we saw the fastest lap ever of Montreal that improved on the 2016 pole by more than 1.3 seconds: a remarkable difference given that this has been gained purely from traction, as there aren’t many big corners here. The times were extremely close in a thrilling session, just as we saw in FP3. The challenge in Montreal consisted of getting the front and rear tyres working in harmony: as the rears are normally working harder than the fronts. Hooking them up together was key to a fast time in qualifying. Montreal isn’t one of the races where pole position means everything, so the prospects for the grand prix remain wide open.”

HOW THE TYRES BEHAVED TODAY
SOFT - Not seen in qualifying but race performance quite close to supersoft.
SUPER SOFT - Only used by Ferrari in Q1: just under a second slower than ultrasoft.
ULTRA SOFT - The key choice for qualifying: all the top 10 will start on this tyre.