Pole position was only ever going to go to Mercedes at Montreal, and it was Lewis Hamilton’s to take after Nico Rosberg couldn’t make his tyres work on the final run to the flag. Kimi Räikkönen crossed the line for the third fastest time, but Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel fell at the first hurdle. The German suffered an energy recovery issue that dropped him out in Q1, although Felipe Massa was also out in the first session after a similar lack of engine power.

Both Lotus and Force India drivers scraped into the top ten, leaving Fernando Alonso to qualify 13th. Jenson Button was unable to take part in qualifying after undergoing an engine change, leaving Alonso to get through to Q2 and end up sandwiched between the Sauber drivers.