Hamilton could have been on pole without Rosberg’s exit
Lewis Hamilton, visibly nervous and frustrated after qualifying, admitted that he could have easily beaten his teammate Nico Rosberg if not for the yellow flag caused by him at the end of the session.
Once again, the two Mercedes dominated the qualifying sessions as they have since the start of the season. Unusually, it’s Nico Rosberg who is ahead of Lewis Hamilton, as in Bahrain. But the latter still had more to give when he was forced to slow down due to the yellow flag caused by… Rosberg going straight off.
The Briton, very frustrated by this mishap, stated that he still had the possibility to gain a few more tenths on his own time and thus snatch pole position from Rosberg. Hamilton’s goal was to gain two-tenths on his last lap as expressed by his engineer over the radio. The Briton was on track to do so, according to him: I was on target. I was gaining a handful of tenths. But that’s how it is. Now we will look at the data and see where we can improve. Nico has been fast all weekend.
Being the last to launch and clock a time during qualification can lead a driver to this kind of situation. But Hamilton doesn’t seem particularly concerned about this issue: I have no answer to provide on this topic.
Rosberg signed the pole position in 1:15.989 compared to 1:16.048 for Lewis Hamilton. But the German is under investigation by the race stewards for his gesture that could be seen as unsportsmanlike, somewhat reminiscent of what his compatriot Michael Schumacher did in 2006 at Rascasse. Is the relationship between the two men likely to be affected after this incident? Their battle for victory tomorrow could prove decisive on this point.
From our special correspondent in Monaco.
