Hamilton out of action and Rosberg powerless against Ricciardo
Winner in Monaco for the last three editions, Nico Rosberg won't be starting from pole position tomorrow as he attempts to claim a fourth straight victory on the streets of the Principality. He will have to make do with second place, just ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who suffered another mechanical problem at the start of Q3.
Nico Rosberg seemed somewhat surprised in the press conference after qualifying. The time achieved by Daniel Ricciardo impressed him, as did the Australian’s choice to start on Super Soft tires tomorrow in the race: « I was very surprised by his time at the start of Q3. I was quite happy with my own time, but when I looked at the standings and saw that we were three-tenths apart, I knew it would be very hard to catch up. I don’t think it’s down to me. Daniel was just the fastest today, and he deserves the pole position. I just wasn’t fast enough. »
The German learned about Ricciardo’s tire choice by asking him the question just before the post-qualifying press conference: « I would have more grip at the start, maybe it will help me, I hope so. I experienced this in China, starting with harder or softer tires than others and it wasn’t good. Who knows? Maybe it will work in my favor… »
Hamilton had another tough day, facing a problem with his car at the very beginning of Q3, which deprived him of the final battle for pole position. His 3rd place on the grid is almost a miracle for the Brit: “It was a difficult qualifying, I don’t really know what to say at the moment. The positive point is that I finally managed to go out for a lap. It’s not as bad as other races where we’ve had engine problems. I’m grateful to have climbed to 3rd place. I’ll do my best tomorrow during the race to salvage what is still possible with this result,” he declared, somewhat resigned, before concluding: “If the car holds up, I’ll fight as hard as possible with these guys. You can’t overtake here, so…”
