Kimi Räikkönen takes Monaco pole, his first since 2008 - Hamilton caught out by slow car and yellow flags
Published by Christine
Ferrari always seemed to have the upper hand during qualifying in Monaco, easily making it through the first few sessions. It was no surprise to see the Sauber pair, as well as Palmer and Stroll all dropping out in Q1 but it was a shame for Esteban Ocon who also missed out on Q2. He’d crashed in FP2 and the team managed to patch up the car in impressive time but to no avail.
The big surprise came during the second session when Lewis Hamilton, who was really struggling for pace and complaining of something wrong with the car, failed to complete a lap. He was fighting for the final flying lap when Stoffel Vandoorne crashed into the barrier, and brought out the yellow flags, holding everyone, including Lewis up. He qualified 14th.
It was disappointing for Vandoorne, who had got into the top ten, as did Jenson Button – the first time this year both McLarens have been in Q3, although both have penalties to take. Meanwhile out front, Räikkönen set the benchmark and then improved upon it, with Vettel joining him on the front row. Bottas settled for third, with the two Red Bulls rounding out the top five.
