• Canadian GP - Qualifying

Early banker lap key to pole - Rosberg

ESPN Staff
June 7, 2014 « Hamilton made two mistakes on qualifying lap | Vettel braced for difficult race »
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Nico Rosberg says the early lap in Q3 which put him top of the timesheets before his final run gave him the confidence he needed to edge out Lewis Hamilton by 0.79s and claim pole.

Much was made ahead of qualifying that it was Hamilton's turn to "choose" whether he attempted his final lap before or after Nico Rosberg, a privilege alternated in the Mercedes garage. Hamilton chose the latter but when he started his flying lap he was already several tenths behind Rosberg, whose first lap had set the benchmark, something Rosberg used in great effect last time out in Monaco.

When asked about the benefit of the early lap, Rosberg said: "Of course, that helps a lot because I have a banker in and that's a big advantage to have, definitely. That's definitely a benefit."

Rosberg insists he was not daunted by Hamilton's impressive history in Montreal, instead focusing on his own progression every time he returned to the garage.

"I'm not really aware of Lewis' record or something but I know it's a track he's very strong around here so all the more so I'm very, very happy happy it worked out. It's been a fantastic day and also just through the weekend, progressing all the time and getting stronger and stronger. It's really cool and best position for tomorrow of course.

"It's just working at it all the time; working with data, working with my engineers, trying to just improve the set-up and trying understand the areas I can still do better. It's an onward process and I'm glad it worked out."

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