2018 Canadian F1 Grand Prix: Vettel secures Ferrari's first pole since 2001 in Montreal

Since 2004, when Michael Schumacher did it, Ferrari has not known what it is to win at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. In 2018, a long time after it for such a great brand as the Italian one, at least they now know what it is to secure, at the very least, pole position at the Canadian GP, thanks to Sebastian Vettel, something that had not happened since 2001.

It is the fourth pole of this 2018 season for the German driver, who on Friday was not exactly happy with the performance of his single-seater. However, things on Saturday were completely different, and Vettel was not only the fastest on track among all the drivers, but also the fastest in history on the Canadian track, breaking the circuit record and setting it at 1:10.764.

Behind Vettel finished the Finn Valtteri Bottas and the Dutchman Max Verstappen. Those two, especially the Red Bull driver who dominated and set the best times in the free practice sessions, will be the main rivals of Sebastian Vettel on a circuit like Canada’s, where there is room to overtake and where it is not easy at all to defend a position.

Of course, we cannot forget Lewis Hamilton, the great dominator of the Canadian GP in recent years and the driver who has won this race the most, surpassed only by Schumacher. If the Briton wants to match the German’s number of victories at this grand prix, he will have to be much better than he was this Saturday, avoiding the mistakes that have dropped him down to fourth place.

As for the Spanish drivers, only Carlos Sainz managed to reach Q3, finally securing ninth position on the starting grid. Fernando Alonso, for his part, will start from fourteenth position with his McLaren and will have to improve on today’s performance if he wants to be in contention for points again.

The complete starting grid for the Canadian GP is as follows: