Lewis Hamilton produced a new lap record to beat Sebastian Vettel and secure pole for the Canadian Grand Prix in one of the most intense qualifying sessions in a long time.
The Mercedes driver went out early in the final session and became the first driver to get below the 1m12 mark around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, that would appear good enough for pole but Vettel hit back with four minutes to go, moving into second and setting a time just 0.004s slower.
Hamilton would respond on his final lap, however, dropping the car even further to a 1m11.459 with a jaw-dropping lap, while Vettel tried to fight back his effort came up three-tenths short as he had to settle for second.
With this pole, Hamilton matched his hero Ayrton Senna’s pole total with 65, tying them in second place only three poles away from Michael Schumacher.
Valtteri Bottas came in third followed by fellow Finn Kimi Raikkonen in another close battle, but some seven-tenths off the pace.
Red Bull, as expected, was the third best team with Max Verstappen finishing just ahead of teammate Daniel Ricciardo in fifth and sixth, as Felipe Massa was able to keep his Williams ahead of the developing Force Indias.
Sergio Perez recovered from a difficult final practice to beat Esteban Ocon into eighth with the Frenchman one tenth behind. Nico Hulkenberg completed the top 10 after a satisfying qualifying session for the German.
Daniil Kvyat hit the wall exiting Turn 7 as he trying to make it to Q3, causing a puncture, he still qualified 11th, however, followed by Fernando Alonso, who produced a great lap to take 12th ahead of a disappointed Carlos Sainz.
Romain Grosjean had to settle for 14th place after struggling to find grip throughout the whole weekend with Jolyon Palmer completed the Q2 order in 15th, but a full second slower than the best time set by Hulkenberg, five places ahead of him in the sister Renault.
Q1 ended with a crash for Pascal Wehrlein after losing control under braking on the approach to Turn 1, hitting the barriers. The accident caused yellow flags forcing drivers to abandon their last flying laps, including Stoffel Vandoorne in 16th and local favourite Lance Stroll in 17th.
Kevin Magnussen was the biggest disappointment, only qualifying 18th in the Haas, outqualifying the Saubers, with Marcus Ericsson 19th and Wehrlein 20th.
