Starting grid for the 2015 Canadian Grand Prix - MotorSportsTalk

Lewis Hamilton’s bid to bounce back from his disappointing defeat in Monaco continued in style on Saturday as he secured pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve has been a happy hunting ground for Hamilton throughout his F1 career, being the site of his first ever pole and win back in 2007 when he was a rookie.

However, this pole meant just as much to him, given that it was the 44th of his F1 career – 44 being the number he races with – at the place where it all began.

Merceds teammate Nico Rosberg was unable to put up much of a fight for pole position thanks to a lack of grip in his final qualifying runs on Saturday, leaving him second on the grid. However, he could complete a hat-trick of wins in the race if he can get the better of Hamilton in Montreal.

Ferrari’s hopes of a challenge to Mercedes’ dominance faded quickly in qualifying as an engine failure left Vettel 16th in the final standings. Kimi Raikkonen spared the Italian marque’s blushes by finishing third, but with Vettel also receiving a grid penalty, the German has a big task ahead in the race.

To read our complete report from qualifying, click here.

FROM THE STEWARDS’ OFFICE

As mentioned, Vettel was handed a five place grid drop after passing Roberto Merhi under a red flag during FP3 on Saturday morning. The German also received three penalty points on his FIA super license.
Max Verstappen entered the weekend with a five place grid penalty in the bag for crashing into Romain Grosjean in Monaco, but received another ten place drop after Toro Rosso changed his engine. Given that he cannot serve all of his sanction, the Dutchman will also have to complete a stop/go penalty in the race.
Jenson Button failed to get out in qualifying thanks to an engine problem. Although McLaren have fixed it for race day, doing so has incurred a 15-place grid penalty. Again, as he cannot serve all (or any) of it, he will have to serve a drive-through penalty in the race.

STARTING GRID FOR THE 2015 CANADIAN GRAND PRIX

1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
2. Nico Rosberg Mercedes
3. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari
4. Valtteri Bottas Williams
5. Romain Grosjean Lotus
6. Pastor Maldonado Lotus
7. Nico Hulkenberg Force India
8. Daniil Kvyat Red Bull
9. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull
10. Sergio Perez Force India
11. Carlos Sainz Jr Toro Rosso
12. Marcus Ericsson Sauber
13. Fernando Alonso McLaren
14. Felipe Nasr Sauber
15. Felipe Massa Williams
16. Roberto Merhi Manor
17. Will Stevens Manor
18. Sebastian Vettel Ferrari
19. Max Verstappen Toro Rosso
20. Jenson Button McLaren

The Canadian Grand Prix is live on NBC from 2pm on Sunday, with F1 Countdown kicking off at 1:30pm ET on NBCSN.

Follow @LukeSmithF1

Media and fan attention focused on a controversial run-in between Haiden Deegan and his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammate Jordon Smith during Round 10 of the Monster Energy Supercross race at Detroit, after which the 250 East points’ Hunter Lawrence defends the young rider in the postrace news conference.

Deegan took the early lead in Heat 1 of the round, but the mood swiftly changed when he became embroiled in a spirited battle with teammate Smith.

On Lap 3, Smith caught Deegan with a fast pass through the whoops. Smith briefly held the lead heading into a bowl turn but Deegan had the inside line and threw a block pass. In the next few turns, the action heated up until Smith eventually ran into the back of Deegan’s Yamaha and crashed.

One of the highlights of the battle seemed to include a moment when Deegan waited on Smith in order to throw a second block pass, adding fuel to the controversy.

After his initial crash, Smith fell to seventh on the next lap. He would crash twice more during the event, ultimately finishing four laps off the pace in 20th.

The topic was inevitably part of the postrace news conference.

“It was good racing; it was fun,” Deegan said at about the 27-minute mark in the video above. “I just had some fun doing it.”

Smith had more trouble in the Last Chance Qualifier. He stalled his bike in heavy traffic, worked his way into a battle for fourth with the checkers in sight, but crashed a few yards shy of the finish line and was credited with seventh. Smith earned zero points and fell to sixth in the standings.

Lawrence defends Deegan — *Jordon Smith failed to make the Detroit Supercross Main and fell to sixth in the points. – Feld Motor Sports*

“I think he’s like fifth in points,” Deegan said. “He’s a little out of it. Beside that it was good, I don’t know. I wasn’t really paying attention.”

Deegan jokingly deflected an earlier question with the response that he wasn’t paying attention during the incident.

“He’s my teammate, but he’s a veteran, he’s been in this sport for a while,” Deegan said. “I was up there just battling. I want to win as much as everybody else. It doesn’t matter if it’s a heat race or a main; I just want to win. I was just trying to push that.”

As Deegan and Smith battled, Jeremy Martin took the lead. Deegan finished second in the heat and backed up his performance with a solid third-place showing in the main, which was his second podium finish in a short six-race career. Deegan’s first podium was earned at Daytona, just two rounds ago.

But as Deegan struggled to find something meaningful to say, unsurprisingly for a 17-year-old rider who was not scheduled to run the full 250 schedule this year, it was the championship leader Lawrence who came to his defense.

“I just want to point something out, which kind of amazes me,” Lawrence said during the conference. “So many of the people on social media, where everyone puts their expertise in, are saying the racing back in the ’80s, the early 90s, when me were men. They’re always talking about how gnarly it was and then anytime a block pass or something happens now, everyone cries about it.

“That’s just a little bit interesting. Pick one. You want the gnarly block passes from 10 years ago and then you get it, everyone makes a big song and dance about it.”

Pressed further, Lawrence defended not only the pass but the decision-making process that gets employed lap after lap in a Supercross race.

“It’s easy to point the finger,” Lawrence said. “We’re out there making decisions in a split millisecond. People have all month to pay their phone bill and they still can’t do that on time.

“We’re making decisions at such a fast reaction [time with] adrenaline. … I’m not just saying it for me or Haiden. I speak for all the guys. No one is perfect and we’re under a microscope out there. The media is really quick to point a finger when someone makes a mistake.”

The media is required to hold athletes accountable for their actions. They are also required to tell the complete story.

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