It was a fantastic showing in qualifying by Bottas

The qualifying session for The Canadian Grand Prix became somewhat chaotic as the difficult weather conditions proved something of a subtle indicator of driver talent and overall car performance with specific regard to tyre performance. Two drivers in particular were unpredictably effective in the face of such poor conditions. Valtteri Bottas, a driver in his rookie season at Williams, after a year as test driver, displayed his aptitude for wet weather driving by maintaining consistent pace across all three sessions and cementing a magnificent third on the grid. Interestingly, the true talent of young drivers only catches the attention in wet weather conditions and even then they require a car that can perform to at least a respectable level. For example, drivers such as Max Chilton and Giedo Van Der Garde driving for Marussia and Caterham respectively will struggle to captivate the attention of fans as well as higher ranked teams simply because their cars are inestimably slower than the rest of the field. The other driver to impress was Nico Hülkenberg. The German, who secured pole position in similar conditions at Interlagos last season when driving for Force India showed why he revels in such driving difficulties, outperforming his lackluster Sauber and eventually starting ninth on the grid after two-place penalties for both Raikkonen and Ricciardo regarding improper queuing at the end of the pit lane.

This brings me to two teams whose fortunes drastically changed at the weekend Toro Rosso and Lotus. It’s no secret that Romain Grosjean is struggling at Lotus. After being at the centre of numerous accidents last season, his reckless start at Spa sticks in the mind; he is in dire need of proving himself to team principal Éric Boullier. However, this was not the weekend to change Grosjean’s fortunes. Already in the knowledge that he would suffer a ten-place grid penalty as a result of his staggeringly poor driving at Monaco ending in a collision with a Toro Rosso, he could manage no higher than nineteenth on the grid and subsequently started at the back of the grid. However, can the blame be placed solely on Grosjean’s shoulders? The Lotus, although notoriously easy on its tyres in dry conditions, leading to enviable consistency in the case of Kimi Raikkonen, seems to have problems when attempting to bring the tyres into the optimum performance zone in the wet. Raikkonen who sat second in the World Championship prior to the race confirmed this worrying trait in the car as he could only manage thirteenth in Q1. Although, with penalties applied he eventually started tenth on the grid, one must feel all his experience was required in placing the struggling Lotus so high up the grid. Conversely, Toro Rosso had a fantastic qualifying session. Daniel Ricciardo and Jean Eric Vergne are both quietly getting on with their work at Red Bull’s sister team, undoubtedly hoping for a call up if Webber were to leave. Vergne managed to qualify seventh and Ricciardo eleventh after his penalty was applied. Perhaps, Toro Rosso aren’t quite where they want to be in terms of car performance but they can certainly rest assured that they have two bright, talented young drivers that are undoubtedly furthering the development of the car in every session.

Further up the grid there have been uncharacteristic errors from Felipe Massa. In Monaco, Massa managed to deposit the car in the wall at Saint Devote twice across the race weekend, driver error being to blame on both occasions according to Ferrari. This complacency didn’t show any signs of fading in the qualifying session in Canada as he carelessly drifted the front left tyre onto the notoriously slippery white lines of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve into the first chicane, leaving him furious with himself as footage showed him hitting his steering wheel and lamenting his actions. Even so, the qualifying performance of the Ferrari in comparison to its blistering race pace is not good enough. Fernando Alonso could only manage sixth on the grid and for a man who wishes to challenge for the title that is simply not good enough. Ferrari may well be happy with their car setup all the same. The Ferrari looks majestic in race conditions and Stefano Domenicali will not want to sacrifice the overall pace of his car for more pace across a single lap. Essentially, this is the reverse of the situation at Mercedes. I’m sure Ross Brawn would happily sacrifice some qualifying speed for a more consistent race performance but it is something that hasn’t happened despite constant work from the team. Rosberg was always going to win the Monaco Grand Prix after qualifying at the front of the grid but his qualifying in Canada was underwhelming. Red Bull looked mighty for the entirety of the qualifying session, so it is of no surprise that Rosberg could not out qualify Vettel or Webber. Bottas ahead of him will certainly have been a surprise and ending up fifth on the grid after such a great performance last time out will have aggravated him. His teammate, Lewis Hamilton, loves Canada. It was the first win of Lewis’s career and is certainly a favourite of his on the calendar. Arguably, Lewis pulled more pace out of the Mercedes than was necessarily present and bar a lock up at the final chicane could have easily taken pole from Vettel. Hamilton’s talent is certainly not deserting him and alongside Rosberg the fortunes of Mercedes are changing rapidly.

The day belonged to Sebastian Vettel. His consistency in all three sessions was something to behold. In the final session his original effort proved to be the one that clinched him pole to add to the thirty eighty others already under his belt. This qualifying performance from Red Bull broke Mercedes’s four consecutive poles and must suggest that Horner and Newey have perhaps worked their magic once again and are leading the team back to the front of the grid in qualifying trim.