Montreal ? Jenson Button watched and waited, certain he would be bumped off the pole for the Canadian Grand Prix. When the final car failed to knock him out of the top position, he celebrated as if he had just won the race.

“This is only qualifying, and I know that,” Button said. “But we’ve had a tough few months, a tough year, and this means a lot to be closer to the front again.”

Button, in a BAR-Honda, had a time of 1 minute, 15.217 seconds Saturday around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to earn his first pole of the season.

This was the strongest showing yet for Button, who was part of a two-race BAR-Honda suspension after it was determined that Button’s car ran underweight in the San Marino Grand Prix. Button finished third in that race, but was stripped of his position afterward.