Kimi Raikkonen secured his first pole position since France 2008 in a dramatic qualifying session for the Monaco Grand Prix.
The Finn showed incredible commitment through the middle sector en route to a 1m12.178s, just enough to beat team-mate Sebastian Vettel by 0.043s as Ferrari claimed their second front-row lockout of the season.
Any disappointment for the German is likely to be short-lived, however, as a disaster for Lewis Hamilton in Q2 saw the Mercedes driver only 14th fastest, though he will move up to 12th on the grid thanks to grid penalties in front.
Valtteri Bottas was able to salvage third for the world champions beating the Red Bulls, as Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo disappointed somewhat in fourth and fifth.
Indeed, Carlos Sainz proved Toro Rosso’s pace in practice was no fluke, only a tenth slower than Ricciardo in sixth. Sergio Perez maintained his strong form around the streets of Monte Carlo in seventh for Force India, asRomain Grosjean used the Q2 mayhem to take eighth in the Haas.
For McLaren, it will be a story of ‘what if?’ as Jenson Button claimed ninth for his one-off return. However, a 15-place grid penalty for the Briton for taking new engine components will demote him to the back of the grid.
Stoffel Vandoorne had arguably his best and worst qualifying session as he made it out of Q1 for the first time. A crash exiting the Swimming Pool in Q2, however, while meaning he made Q3 and ended Hamilton’s session, was somewhat disappointing for the Belgian. His own three-place grid penalty for hitting Felipe Massa in Spain drops the former GP2 champion to 13th for the race.
Daniil Kvyat will be the biggest beneficary as the Russian moves up to ninth of the grid. Traffic issues hurt the Toro Rosso on his best lap as well as Vandoorne’s crash meaning he was unable to match his team-mate’s performance.
Nio Hulkenberg will be positively surprised to start 10th, after the problems Renault have had all weekend while Kevin Magnussen, like Kvyat, will have hoped for more in 11th. Hamilton and Vandoorne will take row six with Felipe Massa highlighting Williams’ struggles around Monaco in 14th.
Force India did an excellent job to get Esteban Ocon out for qualifying, following the Frenchman’s crash in final practice, sadly a lack of confidence hurt the 20-year-old as he slipped to 15th.
Otherwise, it was the usual suspects towards the back, as Jolyon Palmer had a puncture early in Q1 and couldn’t find enough time on his last run as he finished 16th. He will line-up alongside Lance Stroll’s Williams once again, as the pair continue to flounder against their respective team-mates..
The two Sauber’s of Pascal Wehrlein and Marcus Ericsson completed the grid but both will move up one place thanks to Button’s grid penalty.
