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Lewis Hamilton takes pole position of the Monaco Grand Prix to his team-mate Mercedes Valtteri Bottas in his last round of the session.
Hamilton, often in the back during qualifying, took the pole 0.086 seconds.
But the story of the day was in many ways the strategic mistake Ferrari had seen Charles Leclerc eliminated in the first session.
Ferrari has chosen not to send Leclerc for a second run, and the Monegasque will start 15th for his home race.
Max Verstappen (Red Bull) was third, ahead of Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari), who knocked out Leclerc.
What was Ferrari doing?
Vettel struggled after a mediocre first run in qualifying and had to go out again to pbad the first session.
But Ferrari did not see the danger against Leclerc, despite the fact that his time at this stage was less than 0.2 seconds less than Vettel's.
Leclerc was delayed when he missed the weighbridge and had to be pushed back by his mechanics to have the car checked, but he said it was not the cause of the problem.
Leclerc, helpless, who grew up in an apartment right next to the main straight line of the Monaco runway, said: "I asked them if they were sure, they said we thought so. said, "Should not we go again? "I have not explained in detail yet.
"Very difficult to take – we had plenty of time to go out – the weighbridge was not a problem – we had the fuel to start over, we just had to put tires on." 39; explanations. "
Ferrari has not yet said what happened.
Vettel, who struggled all day after falling in the final test, lost 0.781 seconds after touching the Tobacco wall in his last race.
The battle of Mercedes
The Mercedes, wearing a red halo head protection device, pays homage to the late triple champion Niki Lauda, whose non-executive president, who died Monday, was engaged in a private battle for pole.
Bottas had seemed lively all weekend and the Finn was more than 0.2 seconds ahead of his teammate after the first tries of the last session, but when it mattered, Hamilton managed to shoot the bag, which did not improve his performance. last round.
Hamilton said, "I love it here, it's at home, it's the race that every driver dreams of, we came with a great car, a great battle with Valtteri." been fast all weekend, the desire and willingness to get this pole, it means so much to me.
"I'm really grateful to my team, the tour was just beautiful."
"The ride was hard, all the drivers, we take our car, fast or slow, to the limit, and when we are at the limit, it's like fighting against a bull." a moment of oversteer in the scorpion fish, and I just held I do not know what the gap is, but I take it, it's perfect. "
It was the 85th pole position of his career in Hamilton and the reigning world champion added, "This is definitely one of the best poles of my life.
"We've had a lot of success over the years, but I do not remember the one that means as much as this, the week was tough for the team, we had a cloud all week long. -end and we tried to lift ourselves up. "
Bottas said that he had been affected by traffic in preparation for his last run.
"I am disappointed.In the first lap, there were still many places where I could improve.In the last lap, I had a lot of traffic and I could not heat the tires enough. for the quick ride.I thought I'd have it today, but it did not have to be. "
A tribute to Lauda
Hamilton was exempted from the media's obligation Wednesday after Lauda's death, a decision that sparked some criticism, and after being qualified, he explained his feelings about it.
"The other day, I did not think I was ready," he said. "It was not the time to dig our feelings.
"I have been very often in touch with Niki over the past eight months, we were going to send videos to us – it was always difficult because sometimes it looked nice and full of color." And he said that he would see us on this occasion or this race, and on other days when he did not.
"I've always talked about how Ross [Brawn, former team boss] It's the convincing part of my coming on the team, but Niki is the one who phoned me and said, "Mercedes is where you should be. I had never really spoken to him before. He brought it to me and really crossed the line.
"All these years, he was my partner in crime, he was such a runner, he participated in the process of changing my life.
"If I had not had this call, I would be a champion at a time now.I sit here five times and I owe him a lot.It was really hard earlier in the week and I think I have to confirm what everyone thinks … Wednesday was not the time, but it will stay in all our memories. "
The rest
Behind Vettel, Red Bull's Pierre Gasly takes fifth place, but faces an investigation for Haas driver Romain Grosjean.
Magnussen finished sixth ahead of Daniel Ricciardo (Renault), Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso), Carlos Sainz (McLaren) and the second Toro Rosso of the Anglo-Thai rookie Alexander Albon.
The British novice Lando Norris finished 12th in the second McLaren, while George Russell maintained his strong lead over Williams teammate Robert Kubica in 19th place.
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