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Lewis Hamilton on Saturday scored his second pole in the streets of Monaco to qualify ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen's Red Bull.
Hamilton's 1m 10.166 lap set a new track record around Monte Carlo, though Bottas' effort was only 0.086s slower, with the world champion qualifying in front of his teammate for the first time from Bahrain and ensuring the lockout of Mercedes fourth in front row.
Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari was fourth after his last attempt at Tabac, finishing ahead of Pierre Gasly's Red Bull in fifth.
Kevin Magnussen was in 6th place for Haas after being impressive throughout qualifying to beat Monaco's Daniel Ricciardo, seventh in the Renault, ahead of Daniil Kvyat of Toro Rosso, Carlos Sainz of McLaren and Alex Albon's second Toro Rosso. , ranking among the top 10.
One of the biggest shocks of the session however occurred in the first quarter, when Charles Leclerc found himself in the first part of the qualifications, after Ferrari failed to put him back on track while others 'improved, leaving the local hero – and one of the favorites. for the pole – 16th on the grid. Unsurprisingly, Leclerc was a very unhappy Monegasque as he was heading towards Saturday night …
READ MORE: "I need explanations" – Leclerc asks for answers to Ferrari after the shock of the first quarter in Monaco
AS IT HAS BEEN CONDUCTED
Q1 – Leclerc, local hero, was eliminated at the end of Vettel's turn
He was the fastest man in free practice 3. But Charles Leclerc was eliminated in the first qualifying round of his home race, after Ferrari failed to put him back on the track. the end of the first quarter.
Ironically, the man who knocked him out was his teammate Sebastian Vettel, who was forced to make a last-ditch effort to escape the playoff area after hitting the wall outside the resort's complex. pool and be forced to go back there.
Vettel's last lap was good, however, as he was ahead of Lewis Hamilton's two Mercedes and Valtteri Bottas, and the others were improving, an angry Leclerc was dropped in P16 and Q1, with the Racing Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll (two points) fail to qualify for the 10th consecutive race in Q1 – and the Williams of George Russell and Robert Kubica, Kubica overqualified by the young Briton for the sixth time in as many races this year.
stunned:
Leclerc
Perez
Walk
Russell
Kubica
Q2 – Both Toro Rossos enter the third quarter while the Alfa pair gives up
Alfa Romeo said Thursday that it was aimed at the third quarter after solid free practice tests 1 and 2. But this was not the case, as the team failed to convert its pace impressive Saturday in P14 and P15, with Kimi Raikkonen ahead. of Antonio Giovinazzi.
They were joined in the drop zone by Nico Hulkenberg (Renault) in P11, Landar Norris (McLaren) in P12 and Romain Grosjean (Haas) in P13, who all had to witness the progression of their teammates in the third quarter – Kevin Magnussen of Haas doing it with a fantastic The last effort was only 0.745s slower than Max Verstappen's lap time on the segment, placing him fifth.
Grosjean had mitigating circumstances in his defense, however, appearing to be blocked by Pierre Gasly's Red Bull descending to Mirabeau. It was an offense serious enough for the stewards to investigate, while a Grosjean explosive-laden radio message to his Haas team said a lot about his feelings about his compatriot's actions …
stunned:
Hulkenberg
Norris
Grosjean
Raikkonen
Giovinazzi
Q3 – Hamilton takes pole position despite last difficult effort
So we entered the last part of qualifying, and it seemed like a four-way fight between the two Mercedes, Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari and Max Verstappen of Red Bull.
Vettel's retired from this fight in the final moments of qualifying, the Ferrari driver hit the barriers to Tobacco's outside while he was pushing hard, which means that he was unable to Did not manage to improve his effort by 1m 10.947 to finish fourth.
As Hamilton struggled to defeat his team-mate after a final effort, with Bottas setting a new track record with a 1m 10.252, the onboard camera seemed to show Hamilton that he had one last nightmarish sector of the round, almost hitting the barrier at the exit. from the pool before closing and taking two bites of cherry to move in Scorpion. It seemed like everything was over.
And yet … and yet. Hamilton has perfect cornering skills, even when he is stuck. When crossing the finish line, he shot a dive over the timing screens to secure pole number 85 and only his second goal in the Principality, thus improving his track record. 1m 10.166s.
In the end, the threat of a pole or a Red Ferrari or a Ferrari was not taken to the rendezvous – and with a certain margin, with the third effort of Verstappen at 0.475s pace of Hamilton, while Vettel finished at 0.781.
Behind, Magnussen was really impressive to finish at one second from the loaded Mercedes, while Ricciardo, King of Monaco last year, has a good spot on the grid to score points Sunday after finishing seventh. Carlos Sainz continued his series of races in the top 10 in Monaco, finishing ninth for McLaren.
But the day was played by Hamilton, who seemed delighted to have scored his first pole since the start of the season in Australia – and his first ever in Monaco since 2015. That was exactly what the much-missed Mercedes totem would have wanted …
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