Hamilton sets pace in Canada qualifying

Briton Lewis Hamilton set the pace in Friday practice at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

After lapping the Gilles Villeneuve circuit in one minute 15.564 seconds in the morning to beat Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, Hamiton went even quicker in the afternoon to edge out Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.

Brazilian Felipe Massa, who finished sixth at the Monaco Grand Prix after a sluggish start to the season, continued to show signs of improvement after setting the third fastest time, with Vettel in fourth and Force India’s Paul di Resta in fifth, just ahead of Mercedes’ Michael Schumacher.

Hamilton’s McLaren teammate Jenson Button, ended the day in the ninth after both his practice sessions were disrupted by oil leaks.

“I’m very happy with my start to the weekend,” Hamilton told the Formula One website. “I’m happy that the rain held off for both sessions and happy that we got through a lot of good set-up changes.

“This is a great track to drive - it’s a place that requires 100% commitment and where the driver can really make a difference. It magnifies the differences between drivers.”

Button added: “I’m not too worried - the car has been working well and Lewis has been quick all day, so there’s a lot of good information for us to look at.

“I enjoy driving around this place, so we’ll be hoping for a bit more luck.”

Vettel concurred with both Hamilton and Button on how enjoyable it was to race at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit.

“There are a lot of stop and starts, braking, chicanes and quick changes in direction but it’s good fun - it’s part of this track, there are bumps, so it’s wild and rough, but it’s fun.”

Alonso added: “It becomes very important to find the right reference points, especially in terms of braking points and how far one is from the walls, in order to put together both a quick lap and to drive smoothly over a long distance.”