Qualy: Hamilton equals Senna’s tally with record lap

Editor

Lewis Hamilton recorded the first-ever sub 1:12 lap at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve as he clinched pole position for the Canadian GP and in doing so matched Ayrton Senna’s pole tally.

Montreal provided the Mercedes versus Ferrari qualifying battle that fans had hoped for with Hamilton taking the early advantage with a 1:11.791.

Sebastian Vettel was down in fourth place, prompting a quick return to the pits for fresh rubber and a second attempt.

That put the German P2, 0.004s down on Hamilton’s best, and he immediately returned to the pits for a third set of ultras and a third attempt.

Hamilton, meanwhile, left the pits for his second shot and went purple in all three sectors. A record-breaking 1:11.459 was the end result!

Vettel’s third attempt was marginally faster than his second leaving him P2 on the grid. He was 0.330s shy of Hamilton’s pole position time.

Valtteri Bottas was third ahead of Kimi Raikkonen while Max Verstappen put his Red Bull racer up into fifth place.

Daniel Ricciardo was P6 ahead of Felipe Massa, Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon. Nico Hulkenberg completed the top ten.

Both Toro Rosso drivers suffered problems with Daniil Kvyat suffering a right rear puncture after brushing the wall while Carlos Sainz spun but avoided the barriers. They qualified P11 and P13 respectively.

Pascal Wehrlein brought Q1 to a premature end as he lost control of his Sauber, spun and hit the barrier backwards.

His accident meant those behind him on the track were unable to improve on their times and Stoffel Vandoorne and Lance Stroll failed to make it out of Q1

Times
1 Hamilton Mercedes 1:11.459
2 Vettel Ferrari 0.330
3 Bottas Mercedes 0.718
4 Raikkonen Ferrari 0.793
5 Verstappen Red Bull 0.944
6 Ricciardo Red Bull 1.098
7 Massa Williams 1.399
8 Perez Force India 1.559
9 Ocon Force India 1.676
10 Hulkenberg Renault 1.812
11 Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:13.690
12 Alonso McLaren 1:13.693
13 Sainz Toro Rosso 1:13.756
14 Grosjean Haas 1:13.839
15 Palmer Renault 1:14.293
16 Vandoorne McLaren 1:14.182
17 Stroll Williams 1:14.209
18 Magnussen Haas 1:14.318
19 Ericsson Sauber 1:14.495
20 Wehrlein Sauber 1:14.810