Monaco – Qualifying: Rosberg takes pole and frustrates Hamilton!

The sun is still shining brightly over the Principality circuit for this sixth qualifying session of the season.

Q1: Nico Rosberg is the first on track, followed by Lewis Hamilton. Both men need to set their times within three laps, so the first time is not significant. The German clocks 1:17.938, more than eight-tenths ahead of the Briton; he then improves by two-tenths. Behind them, it’s the same strategy for most drivers, with the notable exception of the Red Bulls, which haven’t left their garage.

Daniil Kvyat gets a massive scare exiting the tunnel: he loses his Toro Rosso under braking and brushes his front wing against the barrier before heading into the escape road. He can continue. Meanwhile, Hamilton is 0.209 seconds behind Rosberg. The Lotus cars, already on super soft tires, are in 3rd and 4th places, with nine minutes remaining. Daniel Ricciardo slots in, falling six-tenths behind Rosberg, then on the next lap, four-tenths.

Five minutes from the end, a lot of traffic to report and some drivers are losing a lot of time. Button moves up to two-tenths of Rosberg’s time, but the Briton is on super soft tires (red) while the Mercedes was on soft tires (yellow). Hamilton, who was on a very fast lap, is ultimately hindered by Max Chilton and has to let Jean-Eric Vergne take the lead of this session just as Ericsson and Massa made contact at Mirabeau. This freezes the result of Q1.

Eliminated in Q1: Gutierrez, Sutil, Bianchi, Chilton, Kobayashi, and Ericsson

**Q2:** The drivers are off, with the Mercedes leading the pack. In the first timed lap, Rosberg clocks in at 1:16.682 and Hamilton at 1:16.717. Behind them, as often is the case, Ricciardo takes the 3rd position, 0.5 seconds behind the driver in car number 6. Alonso and Räikkönen are behind this trio, while Vettel has yet to set a time halfway through the session.

The four-time world champion announces that he has lost the use of the MGU-K, but on the next lap, he climbs to fourth place, 0.7 seconds behind Ricciardo. The fight is on to get into Q3: Grosjean will attempt to make it, but the Lotus seems to lack speed. In the end, Kvyat and Vergne secure Q3, as does Pérez. Hülkenberg fails in Q2, as does Button, who cuts his momentum in his last effort. Hamilton set the fastest times in all three sectors to claim the top spot in Q2.

Eliminated in Q2: Hülkenberg, Button, Bottas, Grosjean, Maldonado, and Massa

Q3: The race for the pole begins! Pérez is the first on the track. The first salvo favors Rosberg, who clocks in at 1:15.989, 59 thousandths ahead of Hamilton! Following behind are Ricciardo, Vettel, Alonso, Räikkönen, Vergne, Magnussen, Pérez, and Kvyat. The attack is full-on, as evidenced by Vergne’s big slide at the entrance of the swimming pool.

Logically, the second round of timed laps is led by Pérez. Rosberg makes an error at Mirabeau and goes straight into the escape road. Yellow flag displayed and Hamilton has to slow down! Pole position for Nico Rosberg, the sixth of his career, ahead of his teammate and Daniel Ricciardo!