Lewis Hamilton looked like he had pole in the bag, but near the end of Q3 Raikkonen went one better, nudging the Briton off the top spot. Soon afterwards Kubica did exactly the same to the Finn and Hamilton dropped to third.

Having been called in and given some fresh rubber, Hamilton embarked on what can only be described as a quite phenomenal lap. He took so much of the last chicane that all four wheels were off the ground. This was a man determined to show that he can dominate the streets of Montreal two years in a row.

Eventually after a nail biting locking up and the chicane take-off, he went over 0.6 seconds quicker than Kubica – a truly amazing effort. Of course he may be running light but he can’t be running over half a second a lap light, or his strategy would change quite considerably.

Other news is that Raikkonen out-qualified his team-mate Massa for a change (the Brazilian ended up well down in 6th position). Kubica did very well considering his shunt here last year, and the track is yet to come to Kovalainen, as he finished a second and a half behind Hamilton.

Can the Brit really be this much quicker than everyone else? Well, we’ll find out tomorrow at 3pm Canadian time.

Qualifying