Nico Rosberg stunned Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton to snatch a stunning pole position for today’s Canadian Grand Prix (start: 20.00 Malta time).
Hamilton had appeared unstoppable in practice and again following the first two qualifying periods at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
But the Briton was denied a fourth pole in eight attempts at Montreal as championship rival Rosberg pulled a rabbit out of the hat in the top-10 shoot-out to edge Hamilton by 0.079secs.
Hamilton’s first flying lap in Q1 saw him make a mistake into turn one, but he soon made amends to finish the session a remarkable three quarters of a second quicker than Rosberg.
By the end of Q2 the deficit between the duo had been cut to four tenths of a second, yet come the final blast Rosberg countered to lead the way by just 0.068secs after the first run.
On the second and final hot lap Hamilton had the edge after the first sector, but a lock-up into turn eight in the second sector cost him dear, to leave Rosberg leading away the field for the second successive race.
Reigning four-times champion Sebastian Vettel was the best of the rest, albeit seven tenths of a second adrift of Rosberg such is the gap between Mercedes and Red Bull.
Williams pair Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa, who have looked strong this weekend, will start fourth and fifth ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in his Red Bull.
Ferrari pair Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, who had seemed set to challenge in Montreal, could only manage seventh and 10th.
Sandwiched in between the pair will be Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne and Jenson Button in his McLaren. The Force India duo of Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez start 11th and 13th either side of Kevin Magnussen in his McLaren.
Magnussen finished less than a tenth of a second slower than team-mate Button, yet was four places behind him as the 34-year-old was eighth quickest in Q2.
Lotus’s Romain Grosjean lines up 14th ahead of Daniil Kvyat in his Toro Rosso and Sauber’s Adrian Sutil.
Pastor Maldonado’s run of rotten luck shows no sign of ending as the Venezuelan pulled his Lotus off track towards the end of Q1 and will start 17th.
Grid at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
| 1. Nico Rosberg (Germany) | Mercedes | 1:14.874 |
| 2. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) | Mercedes | 1:14.953 |
| 3. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) | Red Bull | 1:15.548 |
| 4. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) | Williams | 1:15.550 |
| 5. Felipe Massa (Brazil) | Williams | 1:15.578 |
| 6. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) | Red Bull | 1:15.589 |
| 7. Fernando Alonso (Spain) | Ferrari | 1:15.814 |
| 8. Jean-Eric Vergne (France) | Toro Rosso | 1:16.162 |
| 9. Jenson Button (Britain) | McLaren | 1:16.182 |
| 10. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) | Ferrari | 1:16.214 |
| 11. Nico Hulkenberg (Germany) | Mercedes | 1:16.300 |
| 12. Kevin Magnussen (Denmark) | McLaren | 1:16.310 |
| 13. Sergio Perez (Mexico) | Mercedes | 1:16.472 |
| 14. Romain Grosjean (France) | Lotus | 1:16.687 |
| 15. Daniil Kvyat (Russia) | Toro Rosso | 1:16.713 |
| 16. Adrian Sutil (Germany) | Sauber | 1:17.314 |
| 17. Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) | Lotus | 1:18.328 |
| 18. Max Chilton (Britain) | Marussia | 1:18.348 |
| 19. Jules Bianchi (France) | Marussia | 1:18.359 |
| 20. Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) | Caterham | 1:19.278 |
| 21. Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) | Caterham | 1:19.820 |
| 22. Esteban Gutierrez (Mexico) | Sauber |
Drivers Championship
1. Rosberg 122; 2. Hamilton 118; 3. Alonso 61; 4. Ricciardo 54; 5. Hulkenberg 47; 6. Vettel 45; 7. Bottas 34; 8. Button 31; 9. Magnussen 21; 10. Perez 20; 11. Massa 18; 12. Raikkonen 17; 13. Grosjean 8; 14. Vergne 4; 15. Kvyat 4; 16. Bianchi 2.