Sebastian Vettel eased to his second pole position of the 2012 Formula 1 season with a lap three tenths faster than Lewis Hamilton in Canada.
The Red Bull driver completed two laps in the final shootout, both of which were good enough to secure him the top spot.
Hamilton starts ahead of Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg.
Q3 was closely fought behind Vettel with P2 to P10 covered by just over a second.
Felipe Massa starts sixth, his best qualifying position of the year, ahead of Romain Grosjean and Paul di Resta.
Pastor Maldonado was disappointed with 17th after setting the fastest first sector in Q2 to throw the lap away with a spin at the final corner.
2012 Canadian GP Qualifying Results:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Q1 Time | Q2 Time | Q3 Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:14.661 | 1:14.187 | 1:13.784 |
| 04. | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:14.956 | 1:14.479 | 1:14.346 |
| 02. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:14.891 | 1:14.371 | 1:14.087 |
| 10. | J. Button | McLaren | 1:14.799 | 1:14.680 | 1:15.182 |
| 16. | B. Senna | Williams | 1:14.995 | 1:15.710 | |
| 03. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:14.916 | 1:14.317 | 1:14.151 |
| 06. | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:15.194 | 1:14.641 | 1:14.465 |
| 13. | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:15.106 | 1:14.748 | |
| 17. | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:14.979 | 1:15.231 | |
| 11. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:15.101 | 1:14.688 | |
| 15. | S. Perez | Sauber | 1:15.326 | 1:15.156 | |
| 19. | V. Petrov | Caterham | 1:16.482 | ||
| 12. | K. Raikkonen | Lotus | 1:14.995 | 1:14.734 | |
| 09. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:14.892 | 1:14.480 | 1:14.812 |
| 05. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:15.098 | 1:14.568 | 1:14.448 |
| 07. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:15.163 | 1:14.627 | 1:14.645 |
| 20. | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:16.602 | ||
| 08. | P. di Resta | Force India | 1:15.019 | 1:14.639 | 1:14.705 |
| 21. | P. de la Rosa | HRT | 1:17.492 | ||
| 14. | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 1:15.552 | 1:15.078 | |
| 18. | H. Kovalainen | Caterham | 1:16.263 | ||
| 23. | C. Pic | Marussia | 1:18.255 | ||
| 22. | T. Glock | Marussia | 1:17.901 | ||
| 24. | N. Karthikeyan | HRT | 1:18.330 | ||
| Q1 107% Time: | 1:19.887 | ||||
