Lewis Hamilton has imposed with authority in the circuit of Monte Carlo to his teammate, Nico Rosberg, who has failed to improve his last record. Sebastian Vettel, aiming very high, finished in third place far ahead of the two Red Bull.
Classification began at Monaco GP under a very overcast sky, but no threat of rain during the session. Just at the start of Q1, after a first lap time training with heavy traffic, Mercedes became much followed up with the two Ferrari, with authority, but also with quite a distance. Both teams would not go any longer on track, confident in their early stages to move to the next round.
That operation went right to Mercedes, who maintained to the end in the first position, but Ferrari went down to mid-table thanks to the other teams using the supersoft compound, and falling dangerously in qualifying. Thus, Toro Rosso stood behind the Silver Arrows with Kvyat between them. Behind the Force India, Lotus and Button fleeing the hot zone, getting into the fight by spending some surprisingly negative Williams, Alonso and Sauber.
Finally Bottas could not improve, Massa escaped and condemned his countryman Felipe Nasr, who was eliminated together with the Finnish from Williams, his partner Ericsson, and the two Manor, in a last sigh, Stevens has been placed ahead of Merhi.
Q2 began with movement. Fernando Alonso after a slow initial twist, had to stop his car at the first corner after suffering an apparent engine problem. Upon termination of Alonso, the Spaniard will have to start from the 15th position on the grid tomorrow. Ahead, Ferrari and Toro Rosso occupied the top places until Rosberg made a spectacular 1:15,471, fastest time of the weekend, which left Vettel’s Ferrari seven tenths away and the other Mercedes Hamilton. The Lotus and Button took over from step in the absence of a new stint.
In the last minutes Hamilton improved his lap and rose to the second position, while the fifth placed was Kvyat ahead of Toro Rosso and Daniel Ricciardo who sneaked into Q3 in extremis. Behind Maldonado position ensured passage in the final seconds, while Perez condemned Grosjean. Out: the French of Lotus, Button, Hulkenberg and a very discreet Massa, which has just completed the qualifying disaster Williams team were doing.
In Q3 drivers jumped to make a first lap in which Mercedes showed their power. Hamilton stood ahead of Rosberg, while Vettel remained half a second in third. The Red Bull outnumbered Toro Rosso, while Perez, being the last to pass, would sneak into seventh place and would not more. In the second round, with new wheels, Hamilton improved his record but Rosberg’s wandered into the first corner and lost all chance to pole. Ricciardo fourth to fifth Kvyat, and kept delaying Raikkonen to sixth. Perez, surprisingly, remained seventh, ahead of Sainz, Maldonado and Verstappen, a more discreet than expected results for Toro Rosso.
Tomorrow at 14h returns the action to the streets of the Principality with the Monaco GP race.
