MONTREAL — In the 40th year since Gilles Villeneuve's victory at the Canadian Grand Prix, it is only fitting that a Ferrari will start at the front.

Sebastian Vettel gave Ferrari pole position on Saturday with a record lap in qualifying on the track now named Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Villeneuve, from Berthierville, Que., claimed his first Formula One victory on what was then called Circuit Ile Notre-Dame in 1978 in a Ferrari. From the number of red flags with the prancing pony logo, the Italian squad remains the clear favourite in the grandstands.

"The meaning of Ferrari in this country is huge, with the history," said Vettel, a four time F1 champion when he raced for Red Bull Renault. "Gilles Villeneuve, the favourite driver of Enzo Ferrari.

"I think his charisma, the character he brought to Formula One and racing in general, is still alive today. You can see there's a lot of flags. He left a heritage, so I think the people who fell in love with motorsport back then are still there, and their kids and grandchildren. I'm happy for them."

Before the race on Sunday, the car Villeneuve used in 1978 will be driven by his 47-year-old son Jacques, the 1997 world champion, to lead the ceremonial parade lap.

Right behind him will be Vettel, who took a first Canadian pole position for Ferrari since seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher in 2001. Vettel's best lap time of one minute 10.776 seconds bested the record of 1:11.459 set last year by Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton.

"It was great to carry the momentum we've had this year into qualifying," said Vettel, who took pole position for the fourth time in seven races this season. "It's great when you have a session like that."

Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes will start beside Vettel on the front row.

Max Verstappen, who was quickest in all three pre-qualifying practice sessions, placed third and will start in the second row next to Hamilton, whose run of three straight Canadian poles ended.

Lance Stroll of Montreal, the first Canadian to race in F1 since Jacques Villeneuve left in 2006, qualified 17th as his Williams team's struggles continued.

Hamilton is looking to equal Schumacher's record of seven career Canadian GP wins. The Briton has won the last three on the track that seems to suit the Mercedes car with its heavy braking after long straightaways and tight chicanes.

But Bottas and Hamilton may have been set back by the team's inability to get an updated engine ready in time for the race, while Ferrari and Red Bull both had new parts.

"There would have been gains and I think it would have been a close fight for the pole with the new engine parts, but we're going to get it later," said Bottas.

Hamilton retains a slim lead over Vettel in driver standings and will likely challenge the German when racing begins in earnest. Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull have dominated the field this season.

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, the 2014 Canadian GP winner, is coming off a victory two weeks ago in Monaco.

"We knew that, in general, we're lacking power, so we just try to compensate with that," said Verstappen. "But it showed in Monaco that we have a great car.

"With the long straights it's hard to fight for pole position. In the race, it all calms down a bit so that's why I think we're always a bit more competitive in the race."

Ricciardo starts on the third row with the second Ferrari driven by Kimi Raikkonen.

Vettel sees another chance to honour the memory of Gilles Villeneuve, who died in a crash at the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix, with a Ferrari win.

"We got pole today for a reason," said Vettel. "I was a lot happier with the car and I think we can carry that into the race. We've seen this year it's very close between the three teams and the six drivers so we'll see, but for sure if you start on pole you want to win."