Good afternoon and welcome to live coverage of qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix. Another close practice session this morning leaves the battle for pole position wide open.

Lewis Hamilton was the favourite after FP2 having been quickest in both sessions on Friday, but Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso were quicker than him in FP3 and Hamilton himself has admitted he is wary of Ferrari's pace

Of course, that's all before mentioning Mercedes, which is expected to be really strong here and showed good race pace yesterday. Nico Rosberg would probably be someone we would be talking about after FP3 but he failed to set a time after stopping on his installation lap.

@MercedesAMGF1 on Twitter confirms: "An update on this morning... Nico's car had a fuel connector problem which is why he stopped out on track in P3"

Another team that could be strong in today's conditions is Lotus. The track temperature is up at 32C thanks to some warm sunshine and should rise during the qualifying session, and the E20 works better in the hotter conditions as evidenced in Bahrain

And I guess it would be remiss of me to not mention Pastor Maldonado. As a pole sitter and race winner this year he has previous form, and he was just 0.313s slower than the fastest time in final practice this morning as Williams continued to run its new rear wing

So, fancy predicting today's pole winner out of all of that? Feel free to let us know your guesses (or any other opinions) using the link above or via Twitter @ESPNF1

A bit of news that you may not have seen today; Red Bull has had to make more modifications to its car. The FIA were unhappy with some slots that were used for brake cooling as it believed they also had an aerodynamic effect. The team has filled the slots in as a result

And a bit more news since FP3 - Raikkonen was under investigation for a late pit entry during the session having bailed out of the chicane, and he has since been fined €2,500

I told you the track temperature would rise (in fact, I think I had an old readout) - it's now up to 42C

Some of the predictions on Twitter include Hamilton, Alonso, Vettel, Rosberg, Raikkonen and Schumacher

This image pretty much sums up conditions right now:

© Sutton Images

Q1 is underway, although nobody is in a rush to head out on track

Rosberg is the first man out on track, followed by di Resta and Raikkonen

The top 16 cars in FP3 were covered by just one second, so we could see a few big names at risk of missing out on Q3. But does that really surprise you?

Kobayashi runs wide at turn one and bounces over the grass

Di Resta fastest early on with a 1:16.999 - still comfortably off the pace

Hamilton now top on a 1:16.232

Zuba emails in to ask: "What is your read on the comments of Jacques Villeneuve during the week, about the nonchalance of many of the current crew of drivers? It is a pity that JV went to BAR and effectively lost his career. He had everything to make him a mult-yr world champion, and with the right car a very worthy competitor to Schumacher. Schumi would not have won nearly as many races had Villeneuve been in the right car."

I think Jenson Button answered it perfectly in the Thursday press conference when he said the comments were part of an overall interview on safety and that there were some valid points over complacency amongst drivers.

Perez pushing hard and very nearly hits the wall of champions

Alonso goes quickest on a 1:15.121

Vettel's fastest time from this morning, incidentally, was a 1:14.442

Vettel has yet to come out on track. Everyone else is out there right now

Half a second between Alonso in 1st and Perez in 9th

Hulkenberg goes quickest on a 1:15.106 after setting the fastest final sector. The Force India has looked closer to Sauber and Williams this weekend so far

Petrov, the two Marussias and the two HRTs have all been out on supersofts. With Vettel yet to set a time Petrov is just outside the drop zone at present - 0.6s slower than Ricciardo ahead of him though

Schumacher goes fastest with a 1:14.892. Webber only 11th with his latest effort - a 1m15.5s

Vettel winds it up to start a flying lap with a quieter track. De la Rosa is currrently a second quicker than both Marussia's having got a clear lap in

Vettel jumps up to fourth on a 1m15.1s

That means the drop zone is currently Petrov, Kovalainen, Vergne, de la Rosa, Glock, Pic and Karthikeyan

Vettel pushing on for another timed lap and he's improving. The gap between compounds is somewhere between 0.4 and 0.7s this weekend

Vettel goes fastest on a 1:14.743. Fastest final sector from the Red Bull, interestingly

Everyone now heading out on supersofts. Grosjean the only man not to so far. Webber hasn't either and he's going quicker

Raikkonen is on supersofts and a few tenths down. Webber didn't improve

Less than five minutes to go and time to turn our attentions to who could be in trouble. Vergne currently in the drop zone amid the usual suspects

Both McLarens out on supersofts

Maldonado runs wide at turn one but continues

Vettel is going quicker again, and he's still on softs

Vettel improves to a 1:14.661

Button with the fastest first sector

Vergne's first sector is much better than previously but those ahead of him could improve too

Vergne gets a tow from Vettel down the long straight and improves but is still well off. He doesn't get above Petrov

The Toro Rosso's definitely look the most in danger. Petrov improves but stays 18th and is still a second slower than Maldonado ahead of him

Maldonado gets his lap in to climb to 13th. Ricciardo now in 17th place and Vergne still in 19th

Vergne on his final flying lap but he's 0.3s down on his team-mate

Kovalainen goes 18th, 0.7s off Ricciardo

Vergne has a poor lap and he can't improve. He's been outqualified by both Caterhams

It's a good scalp for Caterham. They may be 0.7s slower than Ricciardo in 17th but Kovalainen is just 1.6s off the fastest time of Q1

The fastest time was set by Vettel, and it was on softs. Impressive pace.

Replays show Kovalainen clouting the kerbs in the final chicane and just clipping the 'Wall of Champions' with his right rear tyre. May have lost a little bit of time as you suspect he'd have to lift there

De la Rosa in 21st place outqualified both Marussias comfortable - by half a second to Glock - and was within 0.8s of Vergne

How tight is it? Well, just half a second separated Vettel in 1st and Massa in 15th

It's tough to pick a standout performer in that session other than Vettel, who looked very composed getting through to Q2 with the fewest laps and on soft tyres. He just picked his time and went out for one long run when the track was clear

The second session has started and Ricciardo is first out on track on supersoft tyres

Vettel's best in Q1 was slower than his best lap in FP3. So clearly more time to come when he puts on the supersoft tyre

Ricciardo opens up with a 1:15.995. 0.4s slower than his best from Q1

Kobayashi now top on a 1:15.454

Rosberg on a quick lap

Rosberg goes fastest on a 1:14.568. Half a second quicker than he managed in Q1 and faster than Vettel went then too

Everyone on supersoft tyres

Excuse me, Massa and Alonso are actually on the soft tyre

Hamilton goes quickest with a 1:14.510

Then Vettel comfortably beats it with a 1:14.187. That Red Bull is looking mightily strong now

Button flat spots his front right tyre in to the hairpin with a big lockup. He radios in to ask if there's anything the team can do to stop it happening - it was a problem he had in FP3 as well

Hamilton on a quick lap, but he's 0.2s slower than Vettel in sector one

Hamilton goes second, 0.184s slower than Vettel

The current drop zone is di Resta, Maldonado, Senna, Kobayashi, Perez, Ricciardo and Alonso. Alonso in the pits for some supersofts now

Hulkenberg comfortably in the top ten at present in seventh place

You'd expect Alonso to get in to the top ten, so it looks like one of the Lotuses could be in trouble in this session

Perez and Kobayashi just a couple of tenths shy of the battle for tenth place at the moment

Alonso matches Vettel in sector one and is just 0.1s off in sector two

Alonso goes second, 0.127s slower than Vettel

Ricciardo going for another run on supersoft tyres and he improves to 11th - 0.2s outside the top ten

Vettel is in the pits, and you'd expect all of the top six to be safe now

Alonso is going for another lap, and everyone from seventh downwards is staying in the pits

Di Resta improves to seventh place on a 1:14.639, Massa now outside the top ten

Massa's improving though

Button in eight place is far from comfortable too

Massa only goes tenth and is just 0.035s inside the top ten. He'll need to continue to push on this lap

Grosjean rounds the hairpin - he's not improving on his previous best

Hulkenberg improves to tenth place and knocks Massa down. Grosjean only 11th

Raikkonen goes tenth, 0.014s inside. Here comes Massa...

Massa goes eighth, 0.093s inside. Button down to to ninth and Kobayashi is tenth but in the pits

Fastest first sector from Maldonado

Grosjean just up through sector two

Button pits

Grosjean goes seventh, Button down to 10th

Maldonado was flying through the final chicane and hit the wall of champions with his right rear. That broke the right rear suspension and has stopped anyone else improving

Ironically, Maldonado's accident prevented his team-mate from improving too. That's saved Button in 10th place, but out go Kobayashi, Raikkonen, Hulkenberg, Ricciardo, Perez, Senna and Maldonado himself

It appears Senna wasn't on a lap judging by his team radio. Maldonado looked like he'd get in to the top ten before that mistake though

We haven't seen anyone take too much kerb and hit that wall yet. Maldonado was a bit similar to Senna's accident yesterday in that he lost the rear on exit and was trying to catch the car as the rear hit the wall

While we were focusing on who dropped out, it was Vettel who was quickest again with a 1:14.187. Hamilton and Alonso were within 0.2s, and Webber and Schumacher another 0.1s further back

The top ten shootout is underway.

Quickly out on track is Hamilton on supersofts and Button on softs. A mention for di Resta too who made the top ten and is out on track now

I'd be surprised if anyone stayed in the pits for this session. It's close enough that the car in tenth could be looking as high as sixth or seventh

Of course, as soon as I say that di Resta returns to the pits. Nagendra emails in to praise his Q2 lap though

Hamilton first on a flying lap but he's backed off

Everyone bar di Resta on track

Rosberg on a good lap, but Grosjean with the fastest first sector

Rosberg with a 1:14.664. Needs more than that

Massa goes quickest on a 1:14.465

Grosjean second on a 1:14.645

Alonso with the fastest first sector, Vettel fastest middle sector

Hamilton goes quickest on a 1:14.439

Vettel then beats is by half a second. Some lap that is.

Alonso goes second, he's 0.246s off Vettel's time

Webber only goes fifth

Schumacher is 0.9s slower than Vettel, Button is 1.2s off the pace in ninth and di Resta doesn't appear to be running

Vettel the only man in the 1m13s. I said the Red Bull was looking mightily impressive and I'd be surprised to see him beaten on the final runs

Button returns to the pits as di Resta and Vettel head out

Supersoft tyres for di Resta, maybe he fancies a quick lap here

So Button's work is done and he'll start no higher than ninth place

Everybody else now on track

And everyone is on the supersoft tyre

Vettel will be first across the line, Hamilton is following him

Vettel with the fastest first sector

Hamilton is a tenth off

Rosberg also a tenth off, Grosjean two tenths down

Di Resta goes up to eighth place with a 1:14.705

Vettel improves to a 1:13.784

Hamilton now second

Alonso is quick, very quick

Alonso could challenge...

Poor final sector for Alonso who stays third

Schumacher is 0.3s down in the first sector and backs off

So nobody will beat it, Vettel takes pole position

Hamilton's middle sector was very quick but he was still 0.3s slower than Vettel. Alonso, however, seemed to be quicker through the first two sectors but couldn't close out the lap

So the grid order will be Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso, Webber, Rosberg, Massa, Grosjean, di Resta, Schumacher and Button. Who said it's unpredictable?

Hamilton shakes Vettel's hand as they get weighed and smiles. A shake of the head betrays the feeling that he couldn't match the Red Bull today, but he knows he's still in a good position

We'd seen it being so close throughout qualifying and then Vettel takes pole by 0.303s. In 2012 terms, that's a huge margin. We all know that counts for nothing tomorrow though, and having heard Hamilton hit the limiter during his qualifying lap you'd have to think his car is geared towards the race

Hamilton will be the one flying the flag if we want a seventh different winner from seven races this season, with the rest of the top five all having won previously. Vettel's the man who's in the best place though, and with Alonso just behind this could be an epic three-way battle for the victory. Perhaps even four, five or six-way like Monaco! Who will come out on top? Join us tomorrow to find out. Bye for now.