The Canadian Grand Prix at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is Sunday, June 9, at 2 p.m. EDT. Be sure to catch all the action on NBC Sports. For race fans out there that will not have access to NBC Sports when the lights go out, be sure to catch the live stream online by signing up for NBC Sports LiveExtra here.
After a series of Mercedes-Benz poles, defending champion Sebastian Vettel answers with his 39th Grand Prix pole at the Canadian Grand Prix at .
A tricky qualifying session started with a light rain shower that washed away the rubber laid on the driving line. As the track was considered just mildly damp, teams gambled dries and intermediates for the quickest times possible.
Teams that tried an outlap on supersofts quick dove right back into the pit for a set of intermediates given the deteriorating track conditions. Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne set the first to complete a flying lap on the intermediates with a time of 1:28.204 before Mercedes-Benz driver Nico Rosberg promptly answered with 1:26.781. Times continued to drop throughout the qualifying session before a second round of precipation caused lap times to hold station.
Unfortunately for Paul di Resta of Force India, the constantly evolving track conditions caught the team with their pants down. What's more, a gearbox glitch left di Resta just a tenth behind Daniel Ricciardo. Beyond di Resta another Q1 surprise elimination was Lotus Renault's Romain Grosjean at 19th.
Conditions quickly changed entering Q2. Additional rain caused lap times to go back up to the 1:30.000's as Lewis Hamilton's first hot lap was a 1:29.259. In an effort to respond, F1 talents Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel overshot the final chicane as rain continued to fall.
Towards the tail end of Q2, rain finally started to wane as Red Bull's Mark Webber set a 1:28.825. However, damp spots still caught drivers off guard. Ferrari's Felipe Massa locked the rear into a right hander, lost control, and slammed into a barrier. The session ended with a red flag following. Unfortunately, neither of the two McLaren drivers made it on to Q3.
Drivers did not waste time as Vettel immediately set a pace of 1:25.425, a mere half a tenth ahead of Hamilton. While race fans are used to seeing the two champions sitting on the front row, it was the performance of Valtteri Bottas in the Williams that surprised people the most. Bottas is third on the grid, qualifying ahead of Rosberg and Webber.
Fernando Alonso sits in sixth as Jean-Eric Vergne, Adrian Sutil, Kimi Raikkonen and Daniel Ricciardo round out the top 10.
Williams has not managed to score a single constructors point for 2013. Will Bottas' stunning performance in wet quali change the team's record? Stay tuned for Sunday's race.
The Canadian Grand Prix at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is Sunday, June 9, at 2 p.m. EDT. Be sure to catch all the action on NBC Sports. For race fans out there that will not have access to NBC Sports when the lights go out, be sure to catch the live stream online by signing up for NBC Sports LiveExtra here.
