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Nico Rosberg still leads the driver's championship, but heading into Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, he's fending off a teammate who is hot on his heels. Rosberg leads Lewis Hamilton by 24 points, but after a seventh place finish in the Monaco Grand Prix while Hamilton went on to win that race, his first of the season, the lead is stretching thin.
And now Rosberg will enter Sunday's race starting from second, behind his teammate, and with two Ferrari drivers and two Red Bull drivers who think they have the pace to do some overtaking right behind him.
"For tomorrow, everything is still possible," Rosberg said. "The weather forecast is all over the place and from second it is all doable."
Rain played a part in practice and threatened in qualifying, but whether it will show up on race day is up in the air. Some have suggested that it could be a bad weather race, which would take what is already a tricky track and make it that much more difficult. This track is home to the "Wall of Champions," a chicane that claimed Carlos Sainz as a victim in the second qualifying session, preventing him from advancing to Q3.
Hamilton claimed his fourth pole of the season and, notably, has taken pole every time he hasn't been plagued with mechanical problems. His qualifying time of 1:12.812 was just six hundredths of a second faster than Rosberg's. Not far behind him was Sebastian Vettel and his Ferrari, with the only other time under 1:13.
The next three spots are occupied by the only teams pushing Mercedes at this point, with Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen of Red Bull just ahead of Kimi Räikkönen's Ferrari. Ricciardo had the win in Monaco before a pit stop error born of miscommunication lost him precious time and first position to Hamilton. Ricciardo kept pace with Hamilton for the rest of the race, but overtaking was impossible, especially in Monaco.
Now he'll be hoping he can win from fourth place, and if the weather does end up being a factor, then anything can happen. Sergio Perez of Force India managed third place in Monaco, though he was eliminated in the second qualifying session this time around, and will start from 11th on the grid.
Sunday's race will be broadcast by NBC and is set for 1 p.m. ET. A live stream will also be available on NBC Sports Live Extra. For Hamilton to come out of this race with the championship lead, he would need a win and for Rosberg to finish outside of the points, but stranger things have happened.
Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix coverage
Location: Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montréal, Québec, Canada
Time: 1 p.m. ET
TV: NBC
Streaming: NBC Sports