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MONTREAL, Canada - Lewis Hamilton bounced back to claim pole position ahead of Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg for the 2015 Canadian GP (June 7).
The double F1 champion recovered from two days of erratic form in practice to produce a smooth and fast demonstration of single lap speed and a best lap in 1min 393 sec.
Hamilton's qualifying lap lifted him 0.309sec ahead of Rosberg with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonenthird. Williams' Valtteri Bottas and Lotus' Romain Grosjean grabbed third and fourth respectively.
'WENT IN BLIND'
Hamilton said: "It wasn't the easiest of days, I went into qualifying blind as to where the set-up was. It's definitely a positive to come back into this weekend on the right foot, to come back with the good pace I had from the last race after a difficult time."
On a day of surprises, two world champions failed to progress from Q1 - McLaren's Jenson Button, who suffered engine failure, and Raikkonen's team mate Sebastian Vettel, who suffered electronic problems and wound up in 16th place.
#StatOfTheDay - 44th career #F1 pole for #LH44 at the venue where he took his very first P1 slot in 2007! What a story for @LewisHamilton!
— MERCEDES AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) June 6, 2015Read: Hamilton beats Rosberg to Montreal pole
And it's a 4th #CanadianGP pole for #LH44 too - if ever stars were to be aligned, it's right here! #F1 @LewisHamilton
— MERCEDES AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) June 6, 2015Hamilton's pole success was his sixth in seven races in 2015, the 44th of his career and his fourth in Canada where he won his maiden F1 race in 2007.
Mercedes team mate Rosberg said: "What a rubbish end to qualifying, But here it's possible to overtake so it's not all over yet."
CLOSING IN ON VETTEL'S RECORD
Hamilton needs only one more pole to level with four-time champion Vettel in the record books.
Lotus pair Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado filled the third row with Force India's Nico Hulkenberg in seventh.
Red Bull's Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo were eighth and ninth respectively and Force India's Sergio Perez 10th.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel suffered power unit problems and failed to progress beyond the first session, qualifying 16th, while Felipe Massa lines up a place behind the German.
Max Verstappen will slip from 12th, however, due to a 15-place grid drop for two penalties, one for causing a crash in Monaco, the other for an unscheduled gearbox change.
The 17-year-old will not be last though, with Jenson Button set to start from the pits lane after sitting out qualifying while McLaren worked on the Honda power unit.
Team mate Fernando Alonso, yet to score this season, qualified 14th and moves up to 13th.
2015 Canadian Grand Prix qualifying
1 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 1min14.393
2 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 1min14.702
3 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 1min15.014
4 Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams 1min15.102
5 Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus 1min15.194
6 Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Lotus 1min15.329
7 Nico Hulkenberg (Germany) Force India 1min15.614
8 Daniil Kvyat (Russia) Red Bull 1min16.079
9 Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull 1min16.114
10 Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India 1min16.338
11 Carlos Sainz Jr (Spain) Toro Rosso 1min16.042
12 Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Toro Rosso 1min16.245
13 Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) Sauber 1min16.262
14 Fernando Alonso (Spain) McLaren 1min16.276
15 Felipe Nasr (Brazil) Sauber 1min16.620
16 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Ferrari 1min17.344
17 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Williams 1min17.886
18 Roberto Merhi (Spain) Marussia 1min19.133
19 Will Stevens (Britain) Marussia 1min19.157
Non-start - Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren
Stay with Wheels24 for the 2015 F1 season – fresh reports every day.