Lewis Hamilton Equals Ayrton Senna's Pole Record at 2017 Canadian Grand Prix

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton tied Ayrton Senna's record of 65 pole positions during qualifying for the 2017 Canadian Grand Prix on Saturday, smashing the track record in Montreal in the process.

The Brit narrowly beat Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel to the top spot with a time of 1:11.459. Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen will start from the second row.

Michael Schumacher's 68 pole positions remains the record, but Hamilton is fast closing in.

Recap

Ferrari came out early on the supersofts to start the first session, and after their good showing in practice, fans were eager to see how their engines would stack up against Mercedes on the fast track in Canada.

The Silver Arrows and Red Bull opted for the ultrasofts―as did the bulk of the field―and to the shock of everyone, Hamilton was slower than Vettel at the start of the session, despite using the faster compound. While Bottas did go fastest, the difference was minimal.

In the background, Stoffel Vandoorne brushed the wall with his McLaren, and Pascal Wehrlein sent his Sauber into the barriers, ruining the flying laps of several riders in the process, per Sky Sports F1:

In a reversal, Ferrari didn't leave the pits early to start the second session, with Mercedes grabbing the top spots instead. When Ferrari ventured onto the track on the ultrasofts, Vettel had issues with traction in the final corner, and the Squadra couldn't pass their rivals.

The top four―barring Vettel―went out for a second run, but the drama was reserved for the backmarkers, as Daniil Kvyat couldn't get into the top 10 due to a puncture.

Vettel started the final session by locking up, ruining his flying lap, and Hamilton sent the fans through the roof when he smashed the track record on his very first try. As shared by WTF1, the German wasn't all that far behind when he set his lap:

But Hamilton wasn't finished, breaking his own record to strengthen his position at the top of the board. Vettel also improved, but it wasn't enough to beat his rival.

Per F1's official Twitter account, the Senna family had prepared a special gift for the occasion:

Raikkonen and Bottas were way behind the duo and not as far ahead of the Red Bulls as expected, setting up an interesting scenario for Sunday's race. Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo haven't enjoyed much success this season, but they could be in for a good showing in Montreal.