Lewis Hamilton says matching his idol Ayrton Senna's tally of pole positions at this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix would feel "very unreal".
Hamilton needs just one more pole to draw level with Senna's total of 65, a feat he could achieve this weekend in Monaco at a circuit Senna famously dominated. The Brazilian claimed a record six wins, eight podiums and five poles around Monte Carlo's iconic streets during his career. Hamilton made the best possible start to the weekend as he set the fastest-ever lap of Monaco to top the opening practice session on Thursday.
"I love to watch the old on-board footage of Senna racing in Monaco -- seeing him coming out of the tunnel and thinking 'Hey, that's what I do every year now!'," Hamilton said. "And matching his qualifying record? That somehow feels very unreal and I am very honoured being up to him. But there is no pressure about that: if it happens it happens, if not then not."
The two-time Monaco Grand Prix winner is looking to knock title rival Sebastian Vettel off top spot in the drivers' standings with his third win in the principality, though he admits Monaco is an impossible race to predict.
"This race is so special and so impossible to predict -- like the phenomenon of a unicorn," he explained. "Probably I could have won two or three more [wins], but in the end I am happy with the ones that I have -- especially with how these two wins came in 2008 and 2016. These were real 'quality races' -- really earned. But sure I want more!"