Qualifying at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix is now complete, and with it comes the expectation of another Mercedes win, continuing the trend that began the season almost three months ago. Nico Rosberg captured pole ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton by eight-hundredths of a second, and put to rest any doubt of his speed following the debated qualifying crash last round in Monaco.

Saturday was busy both on and off track, with an exciting announcement regarding the future of the race and some interesting news out of Mercedes. Here’s what you need to know…

Mercedes duo reign supreme

Williams Felipe Massa sniffed pole position, finishing the first two qualifying sessions just shy of the top pace set by Hamilton, but in the end, it was the formidable one-two punch of Rosberg and Hamilton who will start at the front of the grid again tomorrow. Massa’s teammate Valterri Bottas was equally impressive in the Williams, and will start one spot ahead in fourth. The team has been looking for results, and it seems Montreal might just be the place to find them.

Sebastian Vettel’s fortunes seem to be turning in the right direction. The four-time defending champ has been battling issues with the new turbo units and the brake-by-wire system as evidence by an overshoot in corner one early in qualifying. He was able to remedy the issue to start behind the two Mercs, although a victory looks like a tall order after qualifying nearly eight-tenths off.

Going into this weekend, Ferrari touted a new package that would give the pairing of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen new life and hopefully bring the pair closer to the top of the timesheets. Friday’s practice session appeared promising for Alonso, but soon into qualifying it was clear the pace was missing. Alonso starts seventh behind Daniel Ricciardo, while Raikkonen, who appeared to have issues in the corners throughout the day, closes out the top 10. A Ferrari podium tomorrow is a long stretch, but if any driver can do it, it’s these two.

Montreal gets new deal

We forecasted a new deal for F1 in Montreal in yesterday’s Canadian Grand Prix news, and those rumours can now be confirmed as the promoters and F1 management have agreed to a new 10-year, $32 million contract that will see F1 in the principality until 2024.

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre was on hand for the announcement at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, which includes an estimated $32 million facelift to the front straight, including a new paddock, race control tower and grandstands. Exact locations of the facilities were not confirmed, although yesterday there was talk of moving them to the track’s infield where the current grandstands sit.

Mercedes F1 is closer to its OEM than you think

Win on Sunday, sell on Monday. It’s a term we’ve heard in sportscar circles since the beginning of manufacturer involvement in motorsport, but say that at an F1 party and it falls on deaf ears. Perhaps the times are changing.

During a roundtable discussion with Mercedes Team Principal and Head of Motorsport Toto Wolff, he was asked about the involvement of AMG and technology sharing, and spoke surprisingly candidly.

“In terms of the technical regulations, the [1.6L] format with the hybrid engine – a highly efficient but highly powerful engine – is what we’re doing in our road cars,” Wolff said. “This is why all our marketing campaigns, communication campaigns – refer to hybrid technologies winning in the pinnacle of motorsport.

“It would be the obvious way of marketing it, but the truth is, [technology sharing] really happens,” he said. “We had an example a couple of months ago where we were running into a problem on the cooling side. We didn’t understand the problem, and we got Stuttgart involved and they had an instant solution, because they new the problem from the road car side. And the exchange was interesting, because they solved the problem, but they found our cooling technology so interesting that they want to implement it in the next generation S-Class.”

What else could be coming down the pipeline? We’ll have to wait and see, but it’s clear the partnership has been fruitful to both sides in the infancy of the F1 program.

Stay tuned for more news, rumours and developments from the Canadian Grand Prix weekend.