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F1 2015: Monaco GP Qualifying Report – Hamilton On Pole

Lewis Hamilton. Free practice, Monaco GP

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton secured pole position ahead of his teammate Nico Rosberg for Sunday’s Monaco grand prix.

The Mercedes pairing were well clear of the third placed Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel as they locked out the front row of the starting grid. Lewis Hamilton snapped up his first pole position start around the Monte Carlo streets with a three tenth margin over his Monaco-specialist teammate Rosberg. The German, who has won on the last two visits to the Principality, took to the escape road at turn one as he attempted to start his final run in the third part of the qualifying session.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel finished best of the rest and will share the second row of the grid with Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. Daniil Kvyat wrapped up fifth with Kimi Raikkonen in the other Ferrari round out the top six. Force India’s Sergio Perez delivered the performance of the qualifying hour as he set the seventh fastest time in a season which has so far been a struggle for the Indian-owned team.

Carlos Sainz out-qualified his teammate in eighth while Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado will line up ninth ahead of Max Verstappen. Romain Grosjean set the eleventh quickest time but a five place grid penalty for a new gearbox means he will start the race from 16th. It promotes McLaren’s Jenson Button to eleventh ahead of the other Force India of Nico Hulkenberg.

The biggest disappointment of the qualifying session was Fernando Alonso’s inability to show any of McLaren’s improvements as he ground to a halt in the first part of the qualifying hour. Elsewhere, Williams endured a woeful afternoon which will see Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas start the race in 13th and 17th respectively.

monacoquali

About Natalie Le Clue

Natalie Le Clue is an F1 aficionado of the most dedicated vein. And, true to form for any F1-enamoured junkie, she readily admits to crying the first time she saw a F1 car, calling it an ‘overwhelming moment’. Natalie has won the 2010 gSport Woman In Media award, the 2015 Woman In Media Print award, and has been named as one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in South African Sport by the Department of Sport and Recreation. Natalie is currently serving as SAfm's F1 correspondent. Follow Natalie on Twitter @nlc27

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