Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel grabs dramatic pole in Canada GP qualifying ahead of rival Lewis Hamilton; says he's happy for team after last few tough weeks
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel (centre), Mercedes's Lewis Hamilton (left) and Ferrariu00c3u00a2u00c2u0080u00c2u0099s Charles Leclerc celebrate on the podium after the Canadian GP qualifying at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal on Saturday. Pic/AFP
Sebastian Vettel ended Mercedes' run of early-season qualifying supremacy on Saturday when he claimed a dramatic late pole position for Ferrari in a crash-hit showdown at the Canadian Grand Prix.
"I feel so very, very happy for the team," Vettel said. "I am full of adrenaline and the last few weeks have been tough for us. The car felt very good and now I hope we can carry that into the race."
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The four-time champion repeated his 2018 success, when he won from pole, by outpacing championship leader Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes by two-tenths of a second at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
It was Vettel's first pole position triumph of the season, his first pole in 17 races since last year's German Grand Prix and a signal that Ferrari's superior straight-line speed was well-suited to the track. "Seb did a stunning lap and he deserved to be on pole," said Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff.
"Lewis picked up a couple of mistakes in the hairpin." Defending five-time champion Hamilton of Mercedes had appeared to be on course for his record seventh Canadian pole until the final laps, when he was outpaced by Vettel in the dying seconds.
"We're certainly very happy and the entire weekend here we have been performing ok so this is a positive surprise for us," said Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto. "The track will improve. It will be a lot hotter on Sunday so it will be a tough race."
Vettel's Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc claimed third place on the grid. "I don't really know how I struggled with the car and the set-up," he said. "Congratulations to Seb.
He deserves it and hopefully I'll have a better race from my side. We are strong on the long run pace and hopefully it will be the same tomorrow and we can have a good run."
Meanwhile, Hamilton said he hopes Vettel's pole position performance in qualifying at the Canadian Grand Prix will mark a turning point in their season for rivals Ferrari.
The defending five-time champion, whose Mercedes team have swept to a record six successive season-opening wins this year, leads his teammate Valtteri Bottas by 17 points in the drivers' title race. "This is fantastic for the sport," said Hamilton. "I love to fight with another team and today was just so close. I had no idea where we were going to be. At some stages, they were ahead of us and we were swapping all the way.
"I hope this is a turning point for them and it's going to be very close from now on and we're going to have a serious battle throughout the season. That would be fantastic."
17
No. of races since Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel last finished on pole position
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