The Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen will start on pole position for the first time since the 2008 French Grand Prix at the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend, as the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton fails to make it into Q3 on pace alone for the first time since the 2013 Italian Grand Prix.
Monaco qualifying is perhaps the most important qualifying session of the year, and it’s one that always throws up some form of drama. Today was no exception as the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen snatched pole from his team mate Sebastian Vettel by just over four hundredths of a second. Throughout the sessions this weekend Vettel has looked to have the measure of his Ferrari team mate in the Free Practice sessions. However, when it mattered Raikkonen was able to find the pace to take his first pole position in 129 races, and Ferrari’s first pole at Monaco since 2001. The Finn also now holds the record for being the oldest polesitter in 20 years at the age of 37 years and 7 months.
“It was by no means perfect but it was good enough and l was very happy with the car,” said Raikkonen after the session. “I’m happy for the team and happy for myself.”
The Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas was third today in what seemed to be a serious case of damage limitation for the team. Since topping the timing sheets in first practice on Thursday the team have yet to show that level of pace again, with suggestion being the team may once again be struggling with tyre temperatures. Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff admitted the team had “took a wrong junction in setting up the car,” after the second Free Practice session on Friday, leaving the team with a lot of work to do. Although Bottas failed to get on the front row by just four thousandths of a second, the real mystery is the lack of performance from his team mate Hamilton.
In perhaps the biggest shock of the session the Mercedes of Hamilton was only able to qualify 14th for the race tomorrow, though he will start 13th due to grid penalties for other drivers. The Brit looked unhappy throughout the session, and even had to manage possibly the save of the weekend so far going through Massane corner. The mistake meant he was really only left with one flying run at the end of the session, which is always the biggest risk around Monaco to take. It did look like he was going to make it through to Q3 judging by his pace in the first two sectors, though the lap was hardly something spectacular. Unfortunately for Hamilton the McLaren of Stoffel Vandoorne crashed into the swimming pool barriers, which ended his hopes of a final shootout entirely. It’s always a risk around Monaco to not set a banker lap early in case of incidents like this, but today for Hamilton it proved to be an incredibly costly one. Hamilton will now strive for a trouble and contact-free getaway from the middle of the pack tomorrow. And hope that his championship rival Vettel can’t capitalise too much on his misfortune.
“I don’t know, I can’t pinpoint the problem,” said Hamilton afterwards to the media. “It’s disappointing. It’s a little bit unfortunate with the yellow flag at the end. That lap may have got me into the top 10 but I think I’d have struggled to be in the top five. Valtteri’s lap shows we’re not terrible here so we need to know what happened.”
Back towards the front of the grid the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo will line up fourth and fifth respectively. It’s a harsh blow to the team, and especially to Ricciardo who took the only non Mercedes pole of 2016 here in Monaco last year.
“We’re better than fifth,” rued the Australian. “We under-achieved and this is the last place to do that. I’m frustrated and not happy at all.”
It was another impressive qualifying session for the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz, who pulled his car into an impressive sixth position today, showing that once again there is some pace to be found in that Toro Rosso. He will start ahead of the Force India of Sergio Perez, who will be looking to score his 16th consecutive points finish from seventh on the grid. He will have the Haas of Romain Grosjean alongside him, who wrestled his car into a top ten shootout position. The Frenchman suffered a spin in early qualifying, and on the whole looked to be at war with the car round the twisting Monaco streets. However he was able to keep it out of the barrier which is the most important thing to do here.
McLaren supersub Jenson Button carried on a highly impressive comeback weekend by reaching the top ten shootout, qualifying ninth ahead of Vandoorne, who did not take part in the top ten shootout due to damage sustained to his McLaren in Q2. It’s not all good news for the Brit though as he will start in last place following a 15 place Grid penalty for changes to his engine. His team mate for the weekend Vandoorne also has a three place grid penalty as a result of his clash with Felipe Massa at the Spanish Grand Prix.
It was another disappointing session for the Williams of Lance Stroll and the Renault of Jolyon Palmer. As once again both drivers were outqualified by their team mates and failed to make it out of Q1, adding yet more pressure for them to deliver in what has been an underwhelming start to the 2017 season for the pair of them. They were joined in the Q1 dropout by the Saubers of Pascal Wehrlien and Marcus Ericsson, as well as the Force India of Esteban Ocon. The Force India driver had a clout with the barriers in Free Practice Three, and although the team fixed the car in time 16th was the best the Frenchman could do.
With Hamilton starting further back that usual tomorrow could prove to be one of the more interesting races for Monaco, as we wait to see if Hamilton can make it through the pack at one of the hardest circuits for overtaking all year.
Monaco GP Qualifying Timesheet
Q3
1. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:12.178
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, +0.043
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, +0.045
4. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, +0.318
5. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, +0.382
6. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, +0.984
7. Sergio Perez, Force India, +1.151
8. Romain Grosjean, Haas, +1.171
9. Jenson Button, McLaren, +1.435 (Starts 20th with Grid Penalty)
10. Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren, no time set (Starts 12th with Grid Penalty)
Q2
11. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1:13.516
12. Nico Hulkenberg, Renault, 1:13.628
13. Kevin Magnussen, Haas, 1:13.959
14. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:14.106
15. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:20.529
Q1
16. Esteban Ocon, Force India, 1:14.101
17. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1:14.696
18. Lance Stroll, Williams, 1:14.893
19. Pascal Wehrlein, Sauber, 1:15.159
20. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:15.276
Feature Image Credit: McLaren Honda Press Release
