Sebastian Vettel has claimed the pole position in the Formula One Canadian Grand Prix with the fastest lap ever on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Vettel steered his Ferrari over the 2.71-mile (4.36-km) track in 1 minute, 10.764 seconds to deprive Lewis Hamilton of a record seventh pole in Montreal. It's Vettel's fourth pole on the Ile Notre-Dame, and his first since 2013.
The Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas will also start in the front row. After leading all three practice sessions, Max Verstappen will start third, alongside Hamilton. Kimi Raikkonen in the other Ferrari and Monaco winner Daniel Ricciardo are in the third row.
Hamilton tops the championship leaderboard as he pursues his fifth Formula One title. He has a 14-point lead over Vettel and a 38-point edge on Ricciardo.
Verstappen fastest in three practice runs
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of Netherlands gets ready to go out for the second practice session at the Canadian Grand Prix Friday, June 8, 2018 in Montreal.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
Red Bull's Max Verstappen posted the fastest lap at the Formula One Canadian Grand Prix for the third practice session in a row.
Mercedes and Ferrari are right behind and will try to close the gap in qualifying on Saturday afternoon.
Verstappen completed the 2.71-mile (4.36-km) lap at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 1 minute, 11.599 seconds. That was about 5 one-hundredths of a second ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen. Championship leader Lewis Hamilton was right behind them, coming in 0.107 slower than Verstappen.
Verstappen had never led a practice session before sweeping them in Montreal. The 20-year-old Dutchman is looking to overcome a recent history of mistakes that left him threatening to head-butt anyone who asked about the crashes.
