Rosberg keeps Monaco momentum with Canada pole

Pastor Maldonado crashes into Adrian Sutil

Nico Rosberg has carried on his Monaco momentum by beating teammate Lewis Hamilton to pole position in Montreal.

The German had said in Monaco, where tension with Hamilton boiled over following a qualifying controversy, that winning was crucial to break the sister Mercedes' run of top form.

On Saturday in Canada, Rosberg - who had reclaimed the championship lead in Monaco - scored another victory over Hamilton, beating him to pole by a mere 7 hundredths of a second.

Asked about his new run of momentum, the 28-year-old said: "Well, it's just that little bit extra when you come here knowing you have the result behind your back.

"It just helps a bit," said Rosberg. "Lewis obviously had that winning streak and to bring that to an end was important."

For his part, Hamilton was ropable in Monaco, refusing even making eye-contact with Rosberg and earning a rebuke from Niki Lauda for failing to be gracious in defeat.

So after qualifying on Saturday, he made sure to pat Rosberg on the back.

"Nico did a fantastic job today," Hamilton told reporters, "so congratulations to him.

"It just wasn't the greatest qualifying session for me -- sometimes you have good ones, sometimes you have bad ones.

"Nico just did a better job," he added.

However, Rosberg may have moved to step up the off-track 'mind games' with Hamilton.

The major German daily Bild on Saturday quoted Rosberg as suggesting Hamilton sometimes copies his car setup.

"It's often the case that you have a great creative idea, but your teammate immediately has access to it. Quite clearly that's annoying," he reportedly said.

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