World championship leader Lewis Hamilton [Images] took pole position for Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix [Images] after pipping BMW-Sauber's Robert Kubica with the last lap of qualifying on Saturday.

Polish driver Kubica, who suffered a horrific crash on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve last year, looked to have grabbed pole with a late lap of one minute 18.498 only for Briton Hamilton to produce a blistering one minute 17.886 with his final effort.

Ferrari's [Images] Kimi Raikkonen [Images], the world champion, will start third on the grid with Renault's Spaniard Fernando Alonso [Images] alongside.

Germany's [Images] Nico Rosberg qualified fifth for Williams and Brazilian Felipe Massa [Images] sixth in his Ferrari.