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2012 Canadian Grand Prix qualifying

Sebastian Vettel will start from pole for the Canadian Grand Prix, ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso

Sebastian Vettel will start the Canadian Grand Prix from pole position. The reigning world champion's final lap was three-tenths of a second quicker than Lewis Hamilton, who starts second.

 

The FIA had forced Red Bull to remove holes from the floor of the car last week, but this didn't stop Vettel from dominating the session. His first lap of Q3 was fast enough for pole position and he was the only driver to score a time under 1 minute 14 seconds.

 

Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber share the second row of the grid. Nico Rosberg will start fifth - a strong result considering he had very little running in final practice due to a fuel connector problem.

 

He starts ahead of Felipe Massa and Romain Grosjean for Lotus. Paul di Resta's one and only lap of Q3 was good enough for eighth. Michael Schumacher and Jenson Button complete the top 10.

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Pastor Maldonado clipped the Wall of Champions on the final flying lap of Q2. He spun, damaging the suspension at the back of his Williams, which then had to be pushed back to the garage. A five-place grid penalty for a subsequent gearbox change means he starts 22nd on the grid.

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Maldonado's mistake means that Jenson Button made it into the final 10. The McLaren driver's weekend has been filled with problems so far, including a gearbox change on Friday.

The other casualty of the day was Jean-Eric Vergne, who had very little running in the final practice session following a minor accident. He made a mistake on the final lap of Q1 and was out-qualified by both Caterhams.

All drivers qualified within the 107 per cent time, which means that all 24 cars will start tomorrow's race.

2012 Canadian Grand Prix grid

PositionDriverTeamTime
1Sebastian VettelRed Bull Racing-Renault1'13.784
2Lewis HamiltonMcLaren-Mercedes1'14.087
3Fernando AlonsoFerrari1'14.151
4Mark WebberRed Bull Racing-Renault1'14.346
5Nico RosbergMercedes1'14.411
6Felipe MassaFerrari1'14.465
7Romain GrosjeanLotus-Renault1'14.645
8Paul di RestaForce India-Mercedes1'14.705
9Michael SchumacherMercedes1'14.812
10Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes1'15.182
11Kamui KobayashiSauber-Ferrari1'14.688
12Kimi RaikkonenLotus-Renault1'14.734
13Nico HulkenbergForce India-Mercedes1'14.748
14Daniel RicciardoSTR-Ferrari1'15.078
15Sergio PerezSauber-Ferrari1'15.156
16Bruno SennaWilliams-Renault1'15.170
17Heikki KovalainenCaterham-Renault1'16.263
18Vitaly PetrovCaterham-Renault1'16.482
19Jean-Eric VergneSTR-Ferrari1'16.602
20Pedro de la RosaHRT-Cosworth1'17.492
21Timo GlockMarussia-Cosworth1'17.901
22Pastor Maldonado*Williams-Renault1'15.231
23Charles PicMarussia-Cosworth1'18.255
24Narain KarthikeyanHRT-Cosworth1'18.330

107 per cent time: 1'19.887

* Five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change

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