'Pole number 44 feels special' - Hamilton

Pole position was exactly what Lewis Hamilton needed to get firmly back on track after his bitter Monaco set-back a fortnight ago as the Mercedes driver delivered the goods during a session in which his dominance never really appeared in jeopardy.

All the stars lined up as the driver of car number '44' conquered his 44th career pole and his 4th in Montreal, the scene of his very first Grand Prix win back in 2007.

"I really feel amazing today," Ham enthused. "It wasn't the easiest of days as FP3 was actually quite tough as I really didn't get any complete laps, which was mostly my fault, so I went into qualifying blind really as to where the set-up would be. But I won my first GP here in 2007, and that was incredibly special, so to be back here and get another pole, the 44th, that's very very special for me."

Hamilton progressively built up momentum towards the Q3 session and his first run in that segment was decisive.

"Yes, the first lap was pretty good, it could have been better, then the next lap started off bad but was good in the middle sector so there was good time in the car. It was definitely tough out there with these tyres which were pretty hard to switch on for everyone but I enjoyed."

Today's poleman acknowledged that based on yesterday's free practice sessions, Ferrari's long runs and race pace looks good but still believes the team and himself will have what it takes tomorrow to target a sixth Mercedes win.

"Ferrari have picked up their pace this weekend but fortunately, collectively as a team we've managed to at least maintain the pace that we had or try to improve in some areas, which is good. Tomorrow is a bit of an unknown, and once again as I said it hasn't been the smoothest of weekends but I think we can build on the foundation that Nico and I have achieved today."

Click here for Friday's gallery from the Canadian Grand Prix

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