That he might match his hero Ayrton Senna in Montreal will doubtless not have escaped Lewis Hamilton’s attention when he entered qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix, but to do so with a performance that echoed Senna’s brilliance was simply sublime. Taking the top spot at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, and in doing so equalling the Brazilian’s total of 65 pole positions, required a lap that was not only flawless but at the very limit of the unforgiving track and he delivered with a run he rightly described as close to perfection.
Already jubilant after a strong comeback from a difficult weekend at the last round in Monaco, he was left reeling when presented with a gift from the Brazilian’s family: a race-worn Senna helmet from 1987. “I am shaking. I am speechless,” he said. “The fact that I have now reached him in that area, I can’t believe it. I remember getting home from school and putting on the video of Ayrton so its strange that I’m here now with that many poles.”
He finished ahead of his title rival Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in second, his team-mate Valtteri Bottas in third and Kimi Raikkonen in fourth, and acknowledged it had taken something special to do so. “Being that it is the most difficult season of my career racing against these two great drivers and Kimi and having us so close, pushes us all to the limit and relies on us all being perfect. We can’t be perfect but today I got as close as I could get.”
He has three poles already this season and that he would equal Senna’s total was inevitable but he did so with a lap that was more than fitting to go on par with his hero. “If I’m going to get a pole, get that special pole, if anywhere it’s going to be here,” he said.
“Coming across that line, almost holding your breath, hoping, fingers crossed, waiting, knowing that Sebastian was still on a lap, Valtteri was still on a lap. It was a good lap but you don’t want to get your hopes too much up because you’ll be disappointed if they do a better lap – but the intensity of the moment – I don’t really recall having as intense a moment.”
The scale of his achievement was recognised by the Mercedes nonexecutive chairman, Niki Lauda. “Incredible laps. Unforeseeable,” he said. “We did not expect he could go this quick. Lewis did a fantastic job.”
His consistent and quick running throughout qualifying was just the fillip he required and it was significant that he excelled on a track that shares many of the characteristics of Monte Carlo, where he had difficulty with his set-up and with putting the tyres into the correct temperature operating window.
But on the same selection of rubber at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, which has a similar low-grip, low-abrasion surface and short duration, low-speed corners, he had the Mercedes hooked up throughout. He led the timing screens in Q2 and put in a masterful quick run at his first attempt in Q3 of 1m 11.791sec. It had looked unbeatableimpossible to better but he went out again and promptly did soexactly that, claiming pole with an exceptional lap of 1m 11.459sec. His car control was fluid and while the walls in Montreal beckoned they were not even brushed.
The breathtaking run, the fastest recorded at the circuit, was not only enough to secure pole but also to allay some of the concerns of the team, who have been working to better understand their car’s performance. He was pushed by Vettel, who threw everything at his lap, but the magnitude of Hamilton’s achievement was further emphasised when the best the German could manage was a full three-tenths back.
Hamilton must now make the best of it on Sunday. He trails Vettel by 25 points in the drivers’ championship and while it is not job done, his record in Canada is strong. He has won here five times , two short of the record of Michael Schumacher, who he now trails by just three poles for the highest achieved by any driver. Hamilton has converted four of his previous five front of the grid starts at Montreal into victory and he shows every sign of being able to repeat the feat. Should he do so it will be the third time in a row and the perfect way to close what has already been an emotional weekend.
The two Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen were in fifth and sixth respectively; followed by the Williams of Felipe Massa, the Force India of Sergio Pérez and Esteban Ocon and the Renault of Nico Hülkenberg. Fernando Alonso again had an impressive run putting his underpowered McLaren into 12th.
