5/26/2019 Lewis Hamilton pips Valtteri Bottas to Monaco GP pole as Leclerc slumps | Sport | The Guardian

Lewis Hamilton pips Valtteri Bottas to Monaco GP pole

as Leclerc slumps
Hamilton beats Mercedes teammate into second on final Q3 lap
• • Ferrari’s Charles
Leclerc knocked out in Q1 in 16th place
Giles Richards in Monte Carlo
Sat 25 May 2019 15.24 BST

Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix with a fine lap around the streets
of Monte Carlo, leaving his best to last to secure the place with his final lap of the day. He beat
his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas into second with Max Verstappen’s Red Bull in third.

Sebastian Vettel, having crashed in final practice, recovered to take fourth place but his
teammate Charles Leclerc endured a shocker at his home race. He went out in Q1 in 16th place
as Ferrari miscalculated badly in not sending him out to do a second run. Pierre Gasly in the
second Red Bull was in fifth.

Hamilton took the pole with a stunning final lap with which he was ecstatic. Under pressure
throughout the session he had it all to do on his last lap in Q3, and with a time of 1min
10.166sec pipped Bottas by just under a tenth of a second.

Hamilton was a little late on the brakes into the chicane out of the tunnel on his first hot run
and could manage only second place to Bottas, but on their final runs Hamilton had the edge
while Bottas pushed but could not improve on his time.
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5/26/2019 Lewis Hamilton pips Valtteri Bottas to Monaco GP pole as Leclerc slumps | Sport | The Guardian

Vettel was quickest in the first session but Verstappen had the edge in Q2 just a tenth up on
Bottas, with Hamilton in third. Ferrari had kept Leclerc in the garage at the end of the first
session, assuming his time was good enough to save a set of tyres. However as the track got
quicker he fell down the table and was left furious as he found himself knocked out while
standing helpless next to his car. He admitted the team believed they had done enough.

“I asked whether they were sure [the time was good enough], they said: ‘We think we are,’” he
said. “I don’t have any detailed explanations yet, it is a very difficult one to take. I need some
explanations. It is heartbreaking and disappointing, a difficult day.”

This is Hamilton’s 85th career pole position and his second this season, having taken the top
spot for the opening meeting in Melbourne. His pace and control over the single lap discipline
remains remarkable. He took pole 11 times last season but this is only the second time he has
claimed pole at Monaco, having last done so in 2015.

Hamilton does not have the best record on the streets of the principality and has only won
here twice in 12 attempts, in 2008 and 2016. He has, however, never been caught out by the
looming walls of Monaco and has finished every race he has competed in here. After victory at
the last round in Spain and having retaken the championship lead by seven points from Bottas,
he will be optimistic that he will be able to further extend it on Sunday, with pole absolutely
vital here.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc during qualifying before his early exit.

Photograph: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters

The team was rocked by the death of non-executive chairman Niki Lauda on Monday and
Hamilton will be eager to return a win in the three-time champion’s honour. The Mercedes are
running with their halo devices painted red in his memory, with the tribute “Niki we miss you”
written on them. A minute’s silence will be held before the race and F1 has invited a selection
of Lauda’s contemporaries and peers to attend the grid where each will hold a red cap in
tribute, when they join the drivers for the national anthem.

For Mercedes, who have a record-breaking five consecutive one-two finishes already this
season, making it a sixth looks to be highly likely with another front-row lockout. Hamilton
ensured his win in Spain by beating Bottas off the line, and if he keeps his nose in front into
turn one in Monaco the race will be in his hands.

Haas’s Kevin Magnussen was in sixth with Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo in seventh. The McLaren
of Carlos Sainz was in ninth with the Toro Rosso’s of Daniil Kvyat and Alexander Albon in
eighth and 10th.

Nico Hülkenberg in the Renault went out in 11th. Britain’s Lando Norris was in 12th for
McLaren, with the Haas of Romain Grosjean in 13th. The Alfa Romeo’s of Kimi Raikkonen and
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5/26/2019 Lewis Hamilton pips Valtteri Bottas to Monaco GP pole as Leclerc slumps | Sport | The Guardian

Antonio Giovinazzi were in 14th and 15th.

The two Racing Point’s of Sergio Pérez and Lance Stroll were in 17th and 18th with the
Williams’ of George Russell and Robert Kubica in 19th and 20th.

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Topics
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