Although many are looking to McLaren as favourites for this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix victory, the Mercedes factory cars remain in a strong position. Tipped by many before travelling to North America, Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg are yet to show their full hand at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Mercedes’ core advantage is straight-line speed, which is available in abundance in Montreal thanks mostly to the long back straight which follows the Turn 10 hairpin.
“We concentrated more on the setup and balance,” explains Schumacher, who was close to sealing a podium finish last year. “I had a good feeling in the car but it's too early to make any predictions for the weekend, so we will have a good look at all the data this evening and go from there. I really enjoy this track so it's nice to drive here again.”
Nico Rosberg, who has scored more points in the last four races than any other driver in the field, is also in confident mood.
“We had a good day today, although the track temperatures were quite cold which should not be the same over the weekend,” the younger German says. “This made it a little more difficult to warm up the tyres, but we were able to collect some good data on our long runs and have a lot of information to look at. It's a great track here.”
Although it has been in a McLaren car, the Mercedes engine has won three of the last four Canadian events – staged between 2008 and 2011, as there was no race in 2009.
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| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  L. Hamilton | McLaren | 01:15.259 | 43 |
| 2. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 01:15.313 | 36 |
| 3. | F. Massa | Ferrari | 01:15.410 | 39 |
| 4. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 01:15.531 | 44 |
| 5. | P. di Resta | Force India | 01:15.544 | 32 |
| 6. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 01:15.651 | 37 |
| 7. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 01:15.697 | 32 |
| 8. | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 01:15.799 | 39 |
| 9. | J. Button | McLaren | 01:15.812 | 14 |
| 10. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 01:15.878 | 40 |
| Full results | ||||
| Michael Schumacher | |||
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| More Michael Schumacher photos | |||
| Nico Rosberg | |||
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| More Nico Rosberg photos | |||
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