Lewis Hamilton (centre) flashes the V-sign as he celebrates taking the pole position in the parc fermee next to second-positioned Daniel Ricciardo (left) and third-placed Sebastian Vettel (after the qualifying session at the Monaco street circuit in Monte-Carlo yesterday.
Agencies/Monte Carlo
World champion Lewis Hamilton yesterday clinched pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix ahead of Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg.
Hamilton saved his best for the last session to beat Monaco-based Rosberg, who is seeking a hat-trick of wins in Monte Carlo, by 0.342 seconds.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was third, 0.751 seconds behind Hamilton, with Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo fourth.
Hamilton clocked a fastest lap of 1 minute 15.098 seconds in overcast conditions on the Monte Carlo street circuit for his fifth pole in six races this season.
It was the first Monaco F1 pole for the Briton, whose only previous win in the principality was in his 2008 championship year with McLaren.
“This is not even half the job done,” he said.
“There is so much to do tomorrow. It will be mentally and physically challenging. I am just sitting here and thinking about previous years and what got away or what was not good enough so I am looking forward to tomorrow.
“The last time I was on pole here was in 2006 in GP2, so it will be a very special day.”
Rosberg, who won in Monaco from pole in 2013 and 2014, could not match the Briton in Q3 after being quickest in the first two qualifying sessions.
“Didn’t have a good weekend so far - I lost touch before the end. I knew Lewis was going quickly and it didn’t work out - that’s it,” Rosberg said.
Hamilton, who leads the standings on 111 points, 20 ahead of Rosberg, will now be favourite to win on a circuit in which overtaking is difficult.
It will be the 14th successive time Hamilton starts from the front row in what is the 43rd pole of his career.
“I can’t express to you how happy I am,” he said. “It was not the easiest session. There were a lot of things that throw you off your rhythm and I did not have that rhythm until the last couple of laps. I am very, very happy.”
Behind Vettel and Ricciardo on the grid are Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat and Kimi Raikkonen in a Ferrari.
Sergio Perez (Force India), Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso), Pastor Maldonado (Lotus) and Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso) made up the leading 10.
Vettel, who won in Monaco with Red Bull in 2011, said: “I am generally happy with the result but it was a bit too cool for most people and we were struggling with warming up the tyres.
“It is a shame the sun was hiding behind the clouds but overall it was a good session and our aim now is to have a good race tomorrow and try to split the Mercedes.”
It was a disappointing qualifying for Williams, with Valtteri Bottas failing to get through the first qualifying session, and Felipe Massa missing the cut in Q2.
McLaren were also unable to get into the final session. Fernando Alonso pulled up in Q2 with a technical problem, while team-mate Jenson Button was out of the final 10 in 12th place.
Romain Grosjean (Lotus) and Nico Huelkenberg (Force India) also went out in Q2, while Sauber duo Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson, and the Manor drivers Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi, exited after Q1.
