LEWIS Hamilton snatched the eighth pole position of his career with a last-ditch lap in qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix.
McLaren driver Hamilton, the current world championship leader, grabbed pole with a time of 1 minute 17.886 seconds to deny Robert Kubica of BMW Sauber. The Polish driver had taken top spot in the shoot-out for today's starting grid positions moments
before with a lap of 1:18.498.
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, three points behind Hamilton in this year's title race, took third place in the grid with 1:18.735 while Fernando Alonso of Renault will start the race alongside the Finn in fourth after a lap of 1:18.746.
Williams' Nico Rosberg claimed fifth spot in 1:18.844 with Ferrari's Felipe Massa sixth, the other McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen seventh and BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld eighth. Hamilton had posted the quickest times in all three sections but his Q1 time of 1:16.909 proved to be the fastest of all as the track deteriorated over the course of the session at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel did not make it to the qualifying session, the German driver having hit the wall coming out of turn nine during the morning's final free practice session.
Between Q1 and Q2, marshals were out at L'Epingle sweeping debris from a track that looked to be breaking up as temperatures rose in Montreal to 43 centigrade at circuit level.
Drivers reported problems at a variety of turns with Scot David Coulthard describing conditions as "incredibly difficult...like driving on a train track".
The full article contains 281 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
