Canadian Grand Prix 2011 – Qualifying Report

Sebastian Vettel took yet another pole position after one more of his trademark scintillating laps during the qualifying session for the Canadian Grand Prix. The championship leader was able to do enough to repel an impressive assault by Ferrari, with both Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa setting times within just a few tenths of a second behind to line up in second and third positions on the grid.

Q1

As per with Monaco, Pirelli opted to bring their soft and super-soft compounds to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, with the lack of high-speed corners at the Canadian track having led to relatively low tyre degradation during the free practice sessions. None of the front-runners felt the need to use the super-softs in the first session of the afternoon as Mark Webber became the first championship contender to post a time with a 1'15.7 set on soft rubber. Fernando Alonso confirmed the pace showed by Ferrari in practice however by setting a first time seven tenths quicker, but Red Bull hit back as Vettel set a time three tenths than the Spaniard. Massa surprisingly was able to match his teammate's time with his first run, but perhaps even more so beat two-time Canadian GP winner Lewis Hamilton by a tenth. Vettel took another four tenths out of his previous best to secure his position at the top of the timesheets with a 1'14.3, which he then improved by a further three tenths after Alonso briefly deprived him of the top spot with a 1'14.2. The double champion however had the last laugh as he set a 1'13.8, which would remain the fastest time for the remainder of the session. At the other end of the field, Jaime Alguersauri did himself no favours as he battles for his future at the Toro Rosso team by failing to progress beyond Q1, joining the established 'rear six'. Only 23 cars will take to the grid tomorrow though after Virgin's Jerome D'Ambrosio was unable to set a time within 107% of the fastest in the session, the team looking to have effectively written off their 2011 season after parting with technical partners Wirth Research.

Eliminated – Jaime Alguersauri (Toro Rosso), Jarno Trulli (Lotus), Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus), Vitantonio Liuzzi (Hispania), Timo Glock (Virgin), Narain Karthikeyan (Hispania)

Did Not Qualify – Jerome D'Ambrosio (Virgin)

Q2

Once more, Webber set the ball rolling among the 'big boys' for Q2, along with just about everyone else equipping his Red Bull car with super-soft tyres from the off. His first effort was a 1'14.3, putting the Australian two tenths ahead of Hamilton but a tenth behind the other McLaren of Jenson Button. Vettel took a worryingly hefty half a second out of the Englishman in setting a 1'13.7, but both Alonso and Webber were able to match the German's time. That was, before he took a further two tenths out of it late in the session, but it wouldn't be Vettel who sat atop the standings come the end of the session. That honour befell a seemingly rejuvenated Massa who just pipped the reigning champion by a tenth with a superb 1'13.4. With the top ten slots occupied by the drivers of the current top five teams in the constructors' championship, there would be no room in Q3 for anybody else. Both Paul Di Resta and Pastor Maldonado were able to outqualify their more experienced teammates however, and Pedro De La Rosa did a solid enough job deputising for Sergio Perez at Sauber, who on his comeback from that horrific shunt at Monaco two weeks ago unfortunately had to withdraw from the event due to illness.

Eliminated – Paul Di Resta (Force India), Pastor Maldonado (Williams), Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber), Adrian Sutil (Force India), Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso), Rubens Barrichello (Williams), Pedro De La Rosa (Sauber)

Q3

With tyre preservation unnecessary thanks to the reasonable durability of the tyres, qualifying was set to be an accurate reflection of who had the pace. The answer to that question was, in spite of the circuit supposedly being ill-suited to the strengths of the Red Bull, one Mr. Vettel. His best time was a 1'13.0, which at the time it was set was a sobering eight tenths quicker than the nearest challengers of Massa and Hamilton. Webber could only get within six tenths of the blistering pace of his teammate, but Alonso was somewhat closer with a 1'13.4. Massa briefly stole the other front row grid slot away from his Ferrari stablemate, but with a final effort just a tenth faster than the Brazilian, Alonso was just about able to wrest the position back. Webber was forced to settle for fourth ahead of Hamilton, Nico Rosberg who put in a solid performance for Mercedes, Button, the second Brackley-built car of Michael Schumacher, and the Renaults of Nick Heidfeld and Vitaly Petrov.

Top Ten – Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), Felipe Massa (Ferrari), Mark Webber (Red Bull), Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), Jenson Button (McLaren), Michael Schumacher (Mercedes), Nick Heidfeld (Renault), Vitaly Petrov (Renault)

My Prediction

A chance of rain for tomorrow's race is worth bearing in mind, but my prediction of a maiden win for Alonso and Ferrari will probably have to rely on that not being the case:

1. Alonso, 2. Webber, 3. Massa, 4. Hamilton, 5. Button, 6. Rosberg, 7. Schumacher, 8. Heidfeld, 9. Kobayashi, 10. Maldonado

If Alonso can pull off a third consecutive good start, there's no reason why it couldn't be he who leads the pack into the first corners of the race. With the pace of the Ferrari appearing strong, Massa is in with his best chance yet of his first podium of the season, but may fall short of besting Webber. Hamilton will put the disaster of Monaco behind him to register a sensible fourth place ahead of Button, the two Mercedes not quite having the pace to achieve anything higher than sixth and seventh. Kobayashi will continue his unbroken points finish run thanks to a two-stop strategy, whilst Maldonado will round out the top ten, just edging out his fellow rookie Di Resta. Vettel meanwhile will become the only high-profile retirement of the race after adding his name to the list of drivers to have clattered into the infamous 'wall of champions', keeping the championship race alive.

Perhaps my prediction is rooted more in optimism than in genuine expectancy, but nonetheless the Canadian Grand Prix is often one of the toughest to predict on the calendar. Hopefully the race will demonstrate exactly why that is and provide us with another of the venue's normally thrilling races. Don't forget to find out exactly what happens right here.