Good afternoon and welcome to Sports Mole's live text coverage of the qualifying for the seventh race of the 2012 championship in Montreal.
Lewis Hamilton dominated the opening two practice sessions yesterday while Sebastian Vettel edged Fernando Alonso in the final practice earlier today.
Last year's race was a real crowd pleaser as Jenson Button overtook Vettel in the final stages to grab victory.
19.06:That's it from me. We'll be bringing you the quickest live coverage of tomorrow's race, which gets underway at 7pm. See you then.
19.05:Vettel's performance in qualifying has, as so often, been impressive but the race is different. Hamilton and Alonso will be hoping to jump the German at the start, while Webber and Rosberg will look to come from further back. Button will struggle to make an impact from 10th, mind.
19.03:Here's the top 10 as it finished: 1. Vettel 2. Hamilton 3. Alonso 4. Webber 5. Rosberg 6. Massa 7. Grosjean 8. Di Resta 9. Schumacher 10. Button
19.02:Top stuff from the German, who finished three tenths of a second ahead of Hamilton - a mighty gulf in the sport.
19.01:SEBASTIAN VETTEL WILL START THE CANADIAN GRAND PRIX FROM POLE POSITION!
19.00:Vettel extends his time with a 1:13.7, Hamilton goes second.
18.59:Everyone bar Button, who won't set another time, is out on track. One minute remaining.
18.57:The drivers have returned to the pit after their first runs and will put on fresh rubber before heading back out to try and grab pole.
18.56:Looks like Di Resta won't set a time in Q3 to allow him the free choice of tyres in tomorrow's race.
18.55:Vettel and Alonso have continued their dominance, with Hamilton a massive half a second adrift of Vettel at the moment. That's mega in F1.
18.55:He does, setting a 1:13.905 and is followed by Alonso who is second.
18.54:Vettel is steaming and will surely set a good time when he crosses the line.
18.53:McLaren's Hamilton and Button are out on track and will be hoping to lock out the front row. Button again doesn't look comfortable though.
18.52:Q3 is underway. Vettel and Alonso look the best bets for pole after the first two sessions.
18.51:Here's how the top ten finished in Q2: 1 Vettel 2 Alonso 3 Hamilton 4 Webber 5 Schumacher 6 Rosberg 7 Grosjean 8 Di Resta 9 Massa 10 Button.
18.49:Here are the seven who have dropped out at Q2. The biggest casualty is Lotus's Raikkonen, who finished 12th-fastest there. 11 Kobayashi 12 Raikkonen 13 Hulkenberg 14 Ricciardo 15 Perez 16 Senna 17 Maldonado.
18.45:Vettel is fastest again in Q2. The German looks good for pole position. Button just gets in to the top ten by finishing tenth-fastest.
18.44:Maldonado fishtails left then right after clipping the 'wall of champions' approaching the finish line. He's not in the top ten.
18.43:Raikkonen and Massa just get into the top ten as time runs out. There's still a couple of men out on track. Button's in danger of dropping out here.
18.41:Massa squeezes into the top ten, I think he'll need a quicker lap the next time round to avoid elimination.
18.39:Raikkonen's down in 12th and needs to find something in the final moments of Q2.
18.38:Alonso gets it done with a 1:14.3 to go second-fastest, that should get the Spaniard into the top ten.
18.36:Alonso went off the track at turn one and is currently going out. He needs to set a decent time soon to save some embarrassment.
18.35:Massa's on the soft compound and can only go eighth-fastest. The Brazilian returns to the pits for a change to the super-softs.
18.33:Vettel looking ominous in Montreal. The reigning two-time world champion does a 1:14.187 to blitz the rest of the field.
18.32:So the fastest time of Q1 was 1:14.661 set by Vettel. Rosberg has just gone quicker with a 1:14.563. Hamilton ousts the German with a 1:14.510.
18.30:Vergne's Toro Rosso teammate Daniel Ricciardo is the first man out in the second outing.
18.29:The 15-minute session of Q2 is underway. We'll lose seven more drivers here ahead of the final top-ten shootout.
18.26:At the front Sebastian Vettel was the fastest man in the first session. The top five was 1 Vettel 2 Button 3 Hamilton 4 Schumacher 5 Alonso. Q2 begins in a few minutes.
18.24:So here are the seven men, in the order they'll start tomorrow, who have dropped out at the first hurdle: 18 Kovalainen 19 Petrov 20 Vergne 21 De La Rosa 22 Glock 23 Pic 24 Karthikeyan
18.20:Time's up in Q1 and at the moment it's Vergne who will be the man to join the backmarkers in losing out early on.
18.19:Many drivers, after starting on the soft tyre, have switched to the super-soft and times are tumbling.
18.19:Button and Hamilton are second and third behind Vettel, who has gone even quicker with a 1:14.661.
18.18:Force India's Di Resta and Hulkenburg are sitting pretty in fifth and sixth respectively.
18.17:As expected, the HRTs, Marussia and Caterham cars are six of the seven that look to be heading out at the first stage. The other car in the seven to be knocked out is Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne.
18.15:Vettel seems to be settling into his groove and goes fastest with a 1:14.743.
18.14:The Red Bulls of Webber and Vettel seem to be safe in fourth and seventh respectively. Six minutes of Q1 remaining at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
18.12:And now Schumacher takes the lead, crossing the line in 1:14.892.
18.12:Alonso responds straight away and is the first man into the one minute 14s.
18.11:Force India's Nico Hulkenburg is the new fastest man, pipping Alonso at the front with a 1:15.106.
18.09:The usual suspects are up at the front with Hamilton, Massa and Schumacher slotting in behind Alonso. Ferrari looking good.
18.07:Alonso sets the fastest time with a 1:15.121.
18.06:Montreal provides a stunning backdrop as the first drivers get used to the rubber. The weather's cracking and perhaps the skyline is distracting Kamui Kobayashi, who goes off at turn 2 but survives by bouncing across the grass to safety.
18.03:The tyres available to the drivers this weekend are the soft and super-soft compounds, which have yellow and red detailing respectively.
18.02:The first 20-minute session has begun, there's rarely surprises in the opening shootout but who knows what could happen. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg is the first man out on track.
18.01:The Canadian Grand Prix can often throw up an interesting session because of rain but there doesn't look to be any chance of a shower this afternoon.
17.58:A quick run-down of how things work in F1 qualifying if you're new to the sport or just need a quick refresher. All 24 drivers set a time in Q1 and the slowest seven cars retain their position in the race. The remaining 17 cars go out again for Q2 and seven more are knocked out, leaving ten cars to fight it out for pole position in the final ten-minute shootout in Q3.
17.50:Ten minutes until we get underway at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Here's a little nudge to our live commentary of the Euro 2012 game between Netherlands and Denmark in Kharkiv. It's half-time and the Danes have a surprise one-goal lead. Open up this in a new tab by clicking here and follow the game with my colleague Liam Apicella. Easy.
17.41:Speaking of Alonso, he has said that the Ferraris won't be quick in Montreal. The Prancing Horse have often been linked with a dip in performance but as mentioned below, Alonso leads the world championship.
17.39:Another man who'll be hoping to impress is Jenson Button. The McLaren man has had a bit of a torrid season so far and is 31 points adrift of leader Fernando Alonso in the Drivers' Championship. Button's come out this week and said he is desperate to resurrect his title ambitions.
17.37:Red Bull will be hoping to perform despite a hole in their floor being ruled illegal by the FIA.
17.33:Hello there. We've already had a topsy-turvy season with six different winners in the opening six races. Will we have another different driver on top in Montreal? First things first, we need to sort out the grid. Qualifying begins shortly.
Written by
Pascal Lemesre
Pascal Lemesre
