Pole spot for Vettel in Canada
June 8, 2013
Red Bull driver Vettel earned his third pole position of the season in a wet qualifying session on Saturday at Montreal's Circuit Giles Villeneuve, where he has so far only managed second place in the race itself.
The German, who clocked 1 minute 25.425 seconds in the final spree, goes into the race at the top of the drivers' rankings.
The result, 0.087 seconds ahead of Mercedes rival Hamilton, gave Vettel the 39th pole of his career.
His time put an end to Mercedes' run of four straight poles, while the day also saw Finnish rookie driver Valtteri Bottas bag third place for Williams. German Nico Rosberg, winner of the Monaco Grand Prix, starts from fourth place in the second Mercedes.
All drivers were limited in the wet, having to use intermediate tyres instead of faster super-softs.
"It was very, very tricky because you never knew what the conditions would be like," Vettel said. "We're extremely happy with the result and looking forward to the race tomorrow. No matter what the conditions, I think we're in good shape."
Vettel's Australian teammate Mark Webber begins the race in fifth place, with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso alongside him on the third row in sixth.
McLaren were unable to make the final phase of qualifying with either of their cars, and Ferrari's Felipe Massa skidded into the tyre wall to be placed 16th for the race. German driver Adrian Sutil will start eighth for Force India while countryman Nico Hülkenberg lines up in 11th in his Sauber.
rc/jlw (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)