Formula One championship leader Nico Rosberg took pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix on Saturday, with Mercedes team-mate and closest rival Lewis Hamilton beaten into second place at a favourite circuit.

The pole was the seventh in seven races for the sport's dominant team, who have won every grand prix so far this season and finished one-two in the last five.

After controversy surrounded his pole in Monaco two weeks ago, Rosberg left no room for argument on a sunny afternoon at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

The German, who is four points clear of Hamilton but has never finished higher than fifth in Canada, pulled out a stunning lap of one minute 14.874 seconds to beat the Briton by 0.079.

Red Bull's quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel, last year's race winner, will line up third on the starting grid.

Mercedes-powered Willia­ms enjoyed a strong qualifying session, with Finland's Valtteri Bottas qualifying fourth ahead of team mate Felipe Massa in fifth.

Australian Daniel Ricciardo will start on the third row in the other Red Bull while Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, the winner in Canada in 2006 and runner-up last year, will line up seventh.