Before the qualifying session to decide the grid for tomorrow's Canadian Grand Prix got underway, everyone was expecting a very closely fought contest and so it turned out to be. Unfortunately, the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro duo were not really able to fight for the front row positions.

This had nothing to do with the performance potential of the F2008, which has been ultra competitive all weekend, but was all down to unusual circumstances which saw the track surface begin to break up in the hot weather, especially at Turn 10, the hairpin, which leads onto the final straight before the pits. Although often fastest through the first two sectors of the lap, the degrading surface seemed to penalise the Prancing Horse more than the other front runners. The result of this unusual handicap is that reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen will start from third spot - at least he has the advantage of being on the clean side of the track - and Felipe Massa is on the outside of row 3, in sixth place.

For the second year in succession, pole position went to current series leader, Lewis Hamilton and his McLaren Mercedes and the Englishman shares the front row with BMW-Sauber's Robert Kubica. Row 2 is an all-world champion affair, as Kimi has the Fernando Alonso on his outside. Alongside Felipe, and securing his best qualifying of the year, is Nico Rosberg in the Williams. Track officials had tried to repair bits of the track that were crumbling prior to the morning session, but almost as soon as qualifying began, "marbles" of tarmac were already been thrown up as the cars scrabbled for grip on this always slippery track.

The problem might be down to poor resurfacing or it might be just a fact of life in a part of Canada that has very cold winters followed by some hot summer weather. FIA officials are currently assessing the situation to see what can be done prior to the start of tomorrow afternoon's 70 lap race, which gets underway earlier than usual at one o'clock in the afternoon local time. The track breaking up is not a completely new phenomenon, as back in the early Eighties, the Belgian Grand Prix experienced unusually hot weather, the track deteriorated and the race had to be cancelled. There is no talk of this happening in Canada on Sunday. Only 19 cars took part in qualifying today, as Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari-powered Toro Rosso damaged its monocoque in the morning session. The German will therefore start from pit lane tomorrow.

On Wednesday in Montreal, Kimi and Felipe met up with another Ferrari race driver called Patrice Brisebois. His name is famous in Canada, but not for his race driving. Brisebois is a top ice hockey player, a "defence man" for the Montreal Canadiens team. He organized a private game at the Canadiens ice rink for some of the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro team, including the two drivers and maybe he was hoping for some driving tips in return as he is also competing in the North American Ferrari Challenge, the one-make series that will be a support race to the F1 Grand Prix tomorrow. Last year, Brisebois nearly made it to the Montreal podium, but in the end had to settle for fourth place.

A third and a sixth place for Kimi and Felipe respectively was the story of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro's qualifying session for the Canadian Grand Prix. Two key problems were encountered this afternoon: a slight difficulty in getting the tyres up to temperature, which necessitated running a different program to usual and the deterioration of the track surface at Turn 10 which caused our drivers to constantly lose a lot of time. "We definitely can't claim to be happy with the result of qualifying, especially as it is not a true reflection of the potential we had," commented the Team Principal of the Gestione Sportiva, Stefano Domenicali. "However, there is no point in making a meal of it as the race is tomorrow and that's when the points are assigned. We are well aware that, especially at this circuit, seventy laps can be very long and anything can happen. We have a car we believe is at least at the same level as our main competitors and if we do everything perfectly, then we can show what we can do."

Kimi Raikkonen: "It's unbelievable how much time I lost at turn 10, lap after lap. The track was already beginning to break up in Q1 and I had no drive: it was like driving on ice and I never managed to find the right line at this point. It's a real shame because the car was going very well and I could have fought for pole position. I can't understand how things like this can happen: maybe it's down to the higher temperatures, or a repair job at this point not done properly but one thing's certain, in the race tomorrow, it will be very difficult to get through here. But the situation is not that bad. We are quick, as could be seen all weekend long up to qualifying and starting on the clean side of the track is definitely a good thing. Let's wait and see what happens tomorrow."

Felipe Massa: "This is definitely not the result we were expecting and it's a real shame, as we had everything in place to do well. The car was very quick, both yesterday and this morning and, but for the problem which occurred at turn 10, I could definitely have fought for a place at the front. As for the rest, you just have to look at the times: the first and second sectors were very good, while I was losing all the time in the final one. Clearly, if these track conditions at that corner continue in the race, there will be a further element of uncertainty in a race which already traditionally, can be influenced by chance events. While in normal circumstances I'd have said that starting from sixth meant I had abandoned any chance of fighting for a top place finish, today, I don't think I can say that, especially as we have been so strong all weekend."

Luca Baldisserri: "We had to tackle the three parts of qualifying differently to usual, because we realized right from yesterday that it would be very difficult for us to get the tyres up to the right temperature for the first timed lap. Then we had the problem at turn 10, where the asphalt began to degrade in Q1. Neither of our drivers ever managed to get through this point cleanly, losing precious tenths on the final lap times: both Kimi and Felipe were on a par with the best up to the end of the second sector and then found themselves left behind at the finish line. We are very unhappy as we thought that we had a package that could deal with the situation. Now we have to concentrate on the race which will be very tough. In Montreal, chance, in the shape of the safety car, often puts in an appearance, which makes the outcome of the seventy laps even more unpredictable."

Qualifying session

K.Raikkonen: 3rd 1.18.735 8 laps chassis 270
F.Massa: 6th 1.19.048 7 laps chassis 267
Weather: air temperature 29/31 °C, track temperature 42/41 °C, sunny then covered skies.