Lewis Hamilton claims Canadian Grand Prix pole and ties great Ayrton Senna on all-time list
Hamilton held the bright yellow helmet over his head for the cheering crowd to see, and gave it a kiss as if he had already won the weekend’s biggest prize
Lewis Hamilton held the bright yellow helmet over his head for the cheering crowd to see, and gave it a kiss as if he had already won the weekend’s biggest prize.
The souvenir: a helmet worn by Ayrton Senna , whose family sent it in anticipation of one three-time Formula One champion matching another by claiming his 65th career pole position on Saturday at the Canadian Grand Prix.
“This is the most special thing I have, above all my trophies and everything,” Hamilton said after setting a record at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve with a qualifying lap of one minute, 11.459 seconds. “I’m shaken, speechless. Ayrton, he was why I wanted to be here today.”
Hamilton remains three poles behind Michael Schumacher’s career record of 68. But it was Senna, Hamilton’s favourite driver, who was the target.
And seeing the yellow helmet brought back memories of his childhood in Britain, where he would pop in videotapes of Senna’s races and say, “That’s my driver.”
“That’s what kids notice, the yellow helmet,” Hamilton said. “As a kid, I would come home and I would go, ‘If I’m really lucky and can get to Formula One, I want to emulate Ayrton.’”
A five-time winner at the Canadian GP, which celebrates its 50th anniversary, Hamilton already led qualifying – but by just four one-thousandths of a second over Sebastien Vettel – when he made his final trip around the circuit.