Vettel pole in ‘tricky’ Canadian qualifying, Bottas surprise


F1 News
Date: 8/June/2013

Sebastian Vettel made the best of tricky damp conditions during qualifying for the Canadian F1 Grand Prix in Montreal.

Red Bull’s reigning triple World Champion and current title leader outpaced Mercedes star Lewis Hamilton by just 0.087s, with rookie Valtteri Bottas posting the surprise of the day with third for Williams.

Vettel, seeking to extend his 21-point lead with a third victory of the season on Sunday, said:

“It was very, very tricky, especially because you never knew what conditions were like the next time you were out.

“It was intermediate tyres throughout but extremely tricky to adapt, especially in the last part of qualifying. We decided to have two runs, we thought the second run will be quicker because we had a new set of tyres but it started to drizzle in the last sector.

“It was very tight with Lewis. I think at the end everybody was improving in the first two sectors but then the last two corners didn’t allow anyone to go quicker - which surely I didn’t mind, but I think it was showing how difficult the whole qualifying session was for everyone.”

Among those losing out in the conditions were Vettel’s two nearest title rivals. Kimi Raikkonen qualified just ninth for Lotus, with Fernando Alonso sixth fastest for Ferrari.

By contrast, it was a day to remember for Bottas and Williams.

Bottas said: “Of course it means a lot. It’s way more up the grid than we really could ever imagine. It’s been so difficult, the first six races for us and it will be a nice boost for the team. We really got everything quite right today.”

The Finn, 23, is yet to score a World Championship point but will start alongside Monaco winner Nico Rosberg (Mercedes).

His performance also drew praise from Vettel: “Congratulations to Valtteri, I think he did an extraordinary job putting the Williams on P3.”

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