| 12:51:14
| Welcome to F1-Live.com and our live coverage of the Canadian Grand Prix qualifying session. As ever the session will be split into three 15 minute segments with the slowest six eliminated after session one and then session two to leave ten drivers to go for the Pole. |
| 12:52:17
| McLaren and Ferrari are the teams to beat as ever and this morning Lewis Hamilton led the way with a best lap of 1:16.071s. Kimi Raikkonen was second fastest ahead of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. |
| 12:54:18
| The battle for the Pole is bound to be between those leading four, but this morning’s times may not reflect the true speed as the session was somewhat disrupted by a long halt due to an engine failure on Heikki Kovalainen’s Renault. The result was that some did not complete the planned programme. |
| 12:56:16
| Behind the top four it really is anyone’s guess as to where they will all qualify. Nico Rosberg has been running well and was sixth fastest this morning while Mark Webber has show good pace in the Red Bull. We have yet to see a great deal of pace from the BMW Sauber duo, but they will certainly be a factor. |
| 12:58:05
| Over at Honda and Rubens Barrichello has been in the top ten for much of the weekend and could well make life difficult for some of the more fancied runners. It is warm and sunny as we get ready for the first 15 minute qualifying session. |
| 13:00:18
| The first 15 minute session is now underway. |
| 13:00:50
| There is no mad rush as the 22 drivers remain in the pits for now. |
| 13:02:28
| David Coulthard is the first man out in his Red Bull Renault. He has opted for the harder choice of tyre for his first run. |
| 13:03:30
| Others are now heading out. As was the case at Monaco, the super soft tyre and the soft tyre are the two optionas as Coulthard runs off track on his out lap. He continues. |
| 13:04:14
| Coulthard is on his first timed lap. Others are now heading out. Coulthard makes a mistake and backs off. |
| 13:05:15
| Coulthard in trouble from the outset. He has no turn in at all as he understeers off. Kovalainen also runs off track in the Renault as the Toyota duo set the first lap times. |
| 13:05:58
| Coulthard has pitted and seems to have a problem. Fisichella moves fastest. |
| 13:06:37
| Kovalainen has hit the wall and broken the rear wing clean off. Oh a disaster for the Finn as he has gone off at T5. Red Flag for debris as a result. |
| 13:07:18
| Kovalainen touring back to the pits minus the rear wing. He has also broken the right rear suspension in the process and that's the end of his day. |
| 13:08:14
| The red flags fly and and Kovalainen is now in the pits after losing the back end of the Renault and clobbering the wall. The Renault crew certainly are busy. |
| 13:09:23
| Nine minutes remain and they're all in the pits. Fisichella is fastest from Trulli, Speed, Schumacher, Albers, Sutil and Kovalainen. |
| 13:10:16
| Kovalainen remains in teh car but there is too much damage for the crew to fix. He also has the ten place engine penalty to take so he'll be starting very firmly last. |
| 13:10:59
| The session is back underway as the Honda duo head out followed by Alonso, Massa, Heidfeld and others. |
| 13:12:32
| Seven minutes remain and the pressure is now on to post a lap time. The fastest times do not matter, just the slowest six as that determines their grid position. |
| 13:12:45
| Alonso and Hamilton on track and pushing hard. |
| 13:13:23
| All change as Alonso moves fastest from Massa at the front of the field. |
| 13:13:50
| Heidfeld skips across the grass at turn one. |
| 13:14:10
| Hamilton slots into second with Raikkonen up to third. |
| 13:14:51
| Coulthard went out and is back in the pits. A disaster for the Red Bull team. |
| 13:15:27
| Alonso has pitted as has Hamilton. They have done enough to get into Q2. |
| 13:15:39
| Heidfeld moves up the order. |
| 13:16:12
| The Toyota duo need to improve or they will be eliminated. |
| 13:17:11
| Raikkonen moves fastest, Heidfeld now fifth ahead of Rosberg and Kubica. They are all on track now trying to get a time. |
| 13:17:32
| Kovalainen is amazingly back out. Stunning work from Renault. |
| 13:18:09
| The front runners have now pitted. Kovalainen is on the soft tyres. |
| 13:19:05
| Coulthard runs off at the final turn and is really struggling as Kovalainen moves 13th. |
| 13:19:18
| The chequered flag is out. |
| 13:20:27
| Others are improving now on the final laps so it is a scramble for position. |
| 13:21:38
| So the final positions on the grid have been set. Albers and Sutil will start 20th and 21st for Spyker. Kovalainen was 19th fastest but drops to 22nd due to his engine change penalty. |
| 13:22:13
| Alex Wurz starts a disappointing 19th behind Ralf Schumacher and Anthony Davidson. |
| 13:22:45
| There is now a short break before Q2. For the record, Kimi Raikkonen was fastest in Q1 on a 1:16.468. |
| 13:25:46
| The clocks have been reset and now we get ready for Q2. Again, all that matters for the front runners is being in the top ten. For the slower runners, this session will determine the grid order. |
| 13:27:47
| The session is underway but they are all in the pits at the moment. |
| 13:28:34
| Coulthard is the first man out. |
| 13:29:11
| Trulli is on track in the sole surviving Toyota. Ralf Schumacher is out of things now and starts in 18th. |
| 13:29:51
| Others are now heading out. |
| 13:30:12
| Coulthard runs off track again. There must be a handling problem with that car. |
| 13:31:37
| Trulli sets the first timed lap and prestty good it is too. Sato moves second. |
| 13:32:12
| All but the Ferrari and McLaren drivers on track. |
| 13:32:54
| Mark Webber moves fastest. He is having a good weekend. He is P1 ahead of Fisichella and Trulli who has pitted. |
| 13:33:15
| Sato runs off track but continues. |
| 13:33:30
| Now all but Alonso on track. |
| 13:33:40
| Alonso now out too. |
| 13:34:43
| Raikkonen moves second but an awful lot of steering input going on in the Ferrari. |
| 13:35:00
| Hamilton moves fastest with the fastest time of the weekend. |
| 13:35:13
| Massa moves second fastest. |
| 13:35:44
| Kubica moves fourth as Alonso is on a hot lap. |
| 13:36:27
| Alonso moves second just a fraction behind Hamilton. |
| 13:37:06
| They are all pitting. One more run for all as Heidfeld skips the final chicane, so he'll lose his last lap time. |
| 13:37:53
| This is crunch time for Toro Rosso, Super Aguri, Honda, Toyota and Red Bull. |
| 13:38:29
| Coulthard is out for his final run and aiming to move up from 16th into the top ten. |
| 13:39:45
| Raikkonen is just seventh and unlike Massa, Alonso and Hamilton, will have to take another set of tyres and go again. |
| 13:40:39
| Amazingly Raikkonen is still in the pits. He is in real danger should his rivals improve. |
| 13:41:06
| Heidfeld has been dropped down the order for cutting the final chicane. |
| 13:41:18
| The chequered flag is out. |
| 13:41:47
| Trulli moves seventh. |
| 13:42:00
| Fisichella is up to fifth. |
| 13:42:22
| Heidfeld vaults up to third. |
| 13:42:55
| So Raikkonen gambled and it was okay for him as he is ninth and safe. |
| 13:43:56
| So Hamilton fastest on a 1:15.4 while Speed, Button, Coulthard, Barrichello, Liuzzi and Sato fail to make it into Q3. |
| 13:44:38
| Considering Toyotas problems a great job so far from Trulli who is into Q3 in P10. Webber and Rosberg continue their strong weekend. |
| 13:44:54
| A pause now before Q3 with the final ten runners. |
| 13:47:45
| Hamilton as ever is lined up at the end of the pit lane keen to be first to out. |
| 13:49:08
| The race fuel has been added and Q3 is underway. |
| 13:49:41
| Hamilton leads out of pit lane but Raikkonen moves ahead. Some race prep here. |
| 13:49:58
| All ten are out. |
| 13:50:57
| Hamilton backs off and gets a gap to Raikkonen. He'll start a clear lap now, as does Raikkonen. |
| 13:52:15
| They are all out on the hard tyres at the moment. The soft tyres are good for qualifying but not good for the race. So they'll all start on the hard and only take the soft for the final stint. |
| 13:52:32
| Hamilton is fastest but he cut the final chicane. |
| 13:53:19
| They are lapping around two second off the pace of Q2. Heavy fuel at the moment as they try to burn it off before taking the soft quali tyres. |
| 13:54:07
| Heidfeld moves fastest from Hamilton as Rosberg takes some grass and cotinues. |
| 13:55:49
| Hamilton runs wide at T5, where Kovalainen hit trouble, but takes some grass and no concrete! |
| 13:56:29
| Trulli is on the soft tyres but pits. A very agressive qualifying strategy from Touota but he heads back out on hards. |
| 13:56:45
| Webber pits and takes softs. |
| 13:57:21
| Hamilton is now fastest as he pits for softs. Heidfeld second ahead of Raikkonen, Massa and Fisichella. |
| 13:57:54
| Alonso, 8th, pits. Six minutes remain and they are all pitting for the first serious stab at pole. |
| 13:58:28
| As ever, it will come down to the final lap after the chequered flag. |
| 13:58:43
| Trulli aside, all on softs. |
| 14:00:25
| Hamilton is fastest from Raikkonen, Fisichella. |
| 14:00:39
| Alonso is on a hot lap. |
| 14:01:02
| Alonso moves P1 ahead of Hamilton, Raikkonen and Heideld. |
| 14:01:42
| Massa is fifth and they are all heading back to the pits, Rosberg cut the chicane and drops to P10. |
| 14:01:58
| They all pit for the final set of soft tyres. |
| 14:03:30
| Okay, here we go. The final laps now underway with a minute remaining. All they need to do is cross the line before the chequered. |
| 14:03:54
| Rosberg moves fifth in his Williams. |
| 14:04:30
| Hamilton brave trough the final turn and moves fastest. |
| 14:04:45
| Alonso is on a fast lap. |
| 14:05:04
| Heidfeld is third for BMW. |
| 14:05:35
| Alonso loses time in sector three and Hamilton has the Pole Position. |
| 14:06:43
| Hamilton has his first Formula One Pole ahead of Alonso, Heidfeld, Raikkonen, Massa, Webber, Rosberg, Kubica, Fisichella and Trulli. |
| 14:07:10
| A great effort from Hamilton, Heidfeld, Webber and Trulli. |
| 14:07:27
| They return to the pits and the grid is all set. |
