Hamilton seals record-setting pole in Canada

Lewis Hamilton sealed a record-equalling pole position in Montreal ahead of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver became the first man to lap the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve circuit under 1-minute 12-seconds, stopping the clock at 1:11.791 on his first attempt in Qualifying 3.

It rocketed the three-time world champion to the top of the timing sheets by more than three-tenths of a second over Valtteri Bottas in the sister car and the two Ferraris.

Sebastian Vettel responded, improving to second best but falling just 0.004s short of the marker laid out by Hamilton.

Hamilton though wasn’t done, improving on his final run to record a 1:11.459, and while Vettel also improved on his final attempt he ultimately had no answer.

The result means Hamilton has now drawn level with Ayrton Senna’s tally of 65 career pole positions, and match Michael Schumacher’s record of six pole positions in Montreal.

To commemorate the achievement, Hamilton was presented with one of Ayrton Senna’s race-worn helmets as he performed the post-session interviews in front of the crowd at the Turn 2 complex, leaving him visibly touched by the gesture.

Valtteri Bottas recorded the third best time, while in fourth was Kimi Raikkonen, the Finn having set the pace on Friday some half a second off the pace of his Ferrari team-mate.

Daniel Ricciardo found himself out-qualified by Max Verstappen, though there was little between the Red Bull duo who locked out the third row of the grid.

Felipe Massa was the sole Williams representative in Q3, Lance Stroll having been eliminated in the opening phase of the session, qualifying seventh ahead of the two Force Indias.

Elsewhere, Fernando Alonso again escaped the first cut to make it into Q2, though the McLaren driver found himself among those eliminated amid complaints of a loss of power.

Contact with the barrier ended Daniil Kvyat’s chances of progressing into Q3, the Russian picking up a puncture and breaking the right rear rim on his Toro Rosso.

Also eliminated was team-mate Carlos Sainz who ended the session 13th fastest, ahead of Romain Grosjean and Jolyon Palmer.

A spin late in the opening phase of qualifying left Pascal Wehrlien as the first driver eliminated from the session, the Sauber driver dropping a wheel off the circuit before spinning into the barrier at Turn 1.

Result: Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix Qualifying