Lewis Hamilton equalled hero Ayrton Senna on the all-time list as he took his 65th pole position with a stunning qualifying performance at the Canadian Grand Prix. He beat the title leader Sebastian Vettel.
Hamilton posted the fastest ever lap around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, a time of 1:11.459, in the decisive Q3 phase, helping Mercedes to get the better of Ferrari.
Hamilton and Vettel were separated by just 0.004s after the first Q3 runs
But Hamilton found a further three-tenths on his second run.
After the session, Hamilton received a race-worn Senna helmet, as a gift from the late Brazilian’s family for moving joint second in the pole charts. Michael Schumacher still leads the all-time list with 68 poles.
Behind Vettel, who claimed the first non-Mercedes front row start at the venue since 2013. Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Räikkönen were significantly slower than their team-mates.
Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo finished as the best of the rest, around a second off the pace. With Felipe Massa a strong seventh for Williams.
Sergio Pérez and Esteban Ocon took eighth and ninth in their Force Indias. Renault’s Nico Hülkenberg rounded out the top 10 places.
Daniil Kvyat narrowly missed out on Q3. He clipped the wall at the exit of the second chicane at the end of Q2. This inflicted a puncture on his car.
Fernando Alonso led McLaren-Honda’s charge in 12th. He was followed by the other Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz Jr., who suffered an early spin.
In Q1, with around a minute left on the clock, Pascal Wehrlein suffered a crash at Turn 1 and brought out the yellow flags, effectively ending the first phase prematurely.
PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION: QUALIFYING
Previous record lap at Montreal = 1:12.275
HAM, VET, BOT and RAI all beat it today#CanadianGP ?? pic.twitter.com/cPOOwG0nXj
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 10, 2017
