Sebastian Vettel put himself in pole position to claim his 50th career victory in Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix – with Lewis Hamilton back down in fourth after locking up on his final lap.Ferrari favourite Vettel came out on top in an unpredictable qualifying session at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to huge cheers from the stands.Hamilton struggled slightly all afternoon and perhaps overstretched in a desperate attempt to find extra speed, only to make his small mistake. He will struggle to maintain his 14-point lead over Vettel, who has not won for four races. Valtteri Bottas was second quickest and Max Verstappen third. Kimi Raikkonen was fifth fastest.Vettel, who damaged his car at the Wall of Champions on Friday, said: ‘The car just got better and better in qualifying.’Verstappen at last found some form after an error-strewn start to the season. His performance was in contrast to the scene at Monaco a fortnight ago when he missed qualifying after crashing in the final practice session.He had walked forlornly out of the garage and was strongly rebuked by his team principal Christian Horner for the error that cost them a probable one-two.Horner said over the radio: ‘Well done, Max.’ To which Verstappen replied: ‘I suppose it shows I still know how to drive.’ McLaren had a disappointing day, with Fernando Alonso qualifying 15th in the 300th race of his career. Stoffel Vandoorne is a further place back.Alonso has not been so far down the grid at Montreal since his debut season with minnows Minardi in 2001.Williams had a miserable weekend with Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin 17th and 18th, only saved from the bottom rungs by Marcus Ericsson hitting his Sauber into the Wall of Champions and Romain Grosjean’s Haas suffering an engine problem that covered the pit lane in a pall of grey smoke.

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