MONTREAL, Canada (Sporting Alert) — Nico Rosberg beat his Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton for pole position for Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.
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Hamilton looked very good in the previous rounds of practice sessions, but it was Rosberg who will start ahead on Sunday after his narrow 0.079 seconds advantage in Montreal on Saturday.
The two Mercedes drivers have been battling hard thus far this season and another intense race is expected on Sunday.
Rosberg may as in pole position, but the German driver is well aware of what Hamilton is capable of doing, seeing that he has a very good record on the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve.
“I know it’s a track where Lewis is really strong, so I’m very happy it has worked out,” Rosberg said.
“It has been a fantastic day, and through the weekend we have been progressing all the time and I’m in the best position for Sunday.”
He added: “I am very happy with starting from pole. That was very important as there aren’t many opportunities to overtake here, particularly if you are in the same car.
“I think it will be a battle between the two of us out there, as the gap to the other cars was quite big in qualifying today and also on our long runs on Friday were strong.
Hamilton stated: ““Nico did a fantastic lap but it wasn’t the greatest qualifying session for me because I went wide a couple of times on my lap, in turns six and eight.
“It was very close, with just eight-hundredths of a second in it, but Nico did the better job this afternoon. It’s great for the team that we have a one-two on the grid but I am expecting it to be a tough race.
“It’s not that easy to overtake here, especially in the same car and with Nico being so close on pace. I will do what I can tomorrow and we will be trying to score as many points as we can.”
Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel claimed third for Red Bull with Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa, and Daniel Ricciardo also up there.
