Hamilton nips Vettel for pole position at Canadian Grand Prix
MONTREAL — Winning pole position at one of his favourite races was a thrill for Lewis Hamilton, but being presented afterward with a helmet once worn by his boyhood idol Ayrton Senna had the defending Canadian Grand Prix champion nearly in tears.
Hamilton’s best lap in a blazing, course-record one minute 11.459 seconds on Saturday earned the 65th pole position of his 11-year career, tying him with Senna for second place all-time, three behind Ferrari legend Michael Schumacher.
The Mercedes AMG ace will start on the front row at the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday alongside his Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel.
As fans in the packed pit row grandstand stood and cheered after the qualifying session, Hamilton was handed Senna’s raceworn yellow helmet as a gift from the Brazilian great’s family. Senna was likely the world’s best driver when he was killed in a crash at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.
“I don’t own any of Senna’s artifacts,” the British driver said. “This is the most special thing I have, above and beyond any of my trophies, so a big thank you. I’m honoured.
“I’d equalled Ayrton in race wins (41) a while ago so this was the focus for me. As a kid, I always thought if I can get to F1 I want to emulate Ayrton, so the fact that I’ve now reached him in that area, I honestly can’t believe it.”
Williams rookie Lance Stroll had a disappointing outing before a home crowd at his first Canadian GP. The 18-year-old was among the five drivers eliminated in the first 15-minute qualifying session, finishing 17th at 1:14.209 and will start the race second row from the back. Stroll, who has finished only two of the first six races, hopes to place in the top 10 and earn his first F1 points.
It was Hamilton’s sixth career Canadian Grand Prix pole position, one short of Schumacher’s record.
The British driver’s five wins at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve included victories from pole position the last two years, but it is a closer battle with Ferrari this year with F1 moving to somewhat bigger, more powerful cars.
Vettel, who leads the championship by 25 points over Hamilton, has won three races and finished second at the other three this season. Vettel and teammate Kimi Raikkonen finished one-two at Monaco two weeks ago while Hamilton struggled.
“We’ve been working very hard over the last two weeks to rectify the issues we had with the car,” said Hamilton. “The guys did an amazing job. “We knew all weekend it would be very close. It did seem the Ferraris had the upper hand.”
Vettel had a mishap on turn two on his final fast lap or he may have had a chance to nip Hamilton for the pole.
It will be a major challenge for Hamilton to hold him off in the race.