Qualifying Report - Polar opposites

By Dan Knutson in Monaco

Qualifying turned into a case of opposite poles for the Red Bull team. Daniel Ricciardo won the pole for the 76th running of the Monaco Grand Prix with a record lap. His teammate Max Verstappen had an accident late in the Free Practice 3 session. Because Verstappen's car was not repaired in time for qualifying he will start the race from the opposite end of the grid from Ricciardo.

The line-up for the weekend was: Mercedes - Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas; Ferrari - Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen; Red Bull TAG Heuer - Ricciardo and Verstappen; Force India Mercedes - Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon; Williams Mercedes -Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin; Renault - Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz; Toro Rosso Honda - Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly; Haas Ferrari - Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen; McLaren Renault - Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne; Sauber Ferrari - Marcus Ericsson and Charles Leclerc.

QUALIFYING 1

Ricciardo topped FP3 with a time of 1:11.786 on the hyper soft Pirellis. His teammate Verstappen had been quickest but crashed late in the session. So the Red Bull mechanics were scrambling to get his car repaired for the 18-minute Q1. The car would need a new gearbox.

Soon all the drivers were on track except for Verstappen. Pirelli's hyper soft tire was the obvious choice.

The ambient temperature at the start of qualifying was 79 degrees Fahrenheit (26 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 degrees Centigrade).

Ricciardo got to the top quickly with a 1:12.769 but had traffic in the last sector. He didn't stay there for long, as Raikkonen and others went faster.

But then Ricciardo was back on top with a 1:12.013.

Halfway through the session Leclerc was 15th and on the bubble with Ocon 14th and Hartley 16th. Verstappen had yet to go out.

Out front it was Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Alonso, Sirotkin and Vandoorne.

While Ricciardo stayed ahead, things got shuffled behind him in the final minutes.

The five drivers who were eliminated at the end of Q1 were: Hartley, Ericsson, Stroll, Magnussen and Verstappen whose car was not repaired in time.

The fastest 15 drivers who moved on to Q2 were: Ricciardo, Vettel, Bottas, Hamilton, Vandoorne, Raikkonen, Alonso, Sirotkin, Leclerc, Perez, Grosjean, Gasly, Sainz, Ocon and Hulkenberg.

QUALIFYING 2

All 15 drivers were soon out on track as the 15-minute Q2 session began.

Vettel did a decent time of 1:11.518, but Ricciardo did better with his 1:11.353.

Mercedes tried a gamble on the ultra soft tires, but that put Hamilton 11th and Bottas 14th after the first round of runs.

Ricciardo was first followed by Vettel, Raikkonen, Perez and Alonso with four minutes to go.

Meanwhile, Gasly was in 10th and on the cut line, and Sainz was ninth.

"This tire is terrible," Hamilton radioed.

He and Bottas now went out on the ultras. And they moved up to third and fifth respectively.

In the waning moments Ricciardo improved to a 1:11.278, and Raikkonen went from fourth to second.

The fastest 10 drivers who moved on to Q3 were: Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Vettel, Hamilton, Bottas, Ocon, Perez, Alonso, Sainz and Gasly.

The five drivers who were eliminated at the end of Q2 were: Hulkenberg, Vandoorne, Sirotkin, Leclerc and Grosjean.

QUALIFYING 3

Q3 lasted 12 minutes.

Hamilton posted a 1:11.261 and Bottas a 1:11.553.

But then Ricciardo rammed in a 1:10.810.

Raikkonen's 1:11.266 put him third, but along came Vettel who beat that with his 1:11.263.

So the order was Ricciardo, Hamilton, Vettel, Raikkonen, Bottas, Sainz, Alonso, Perez, Ocon and Gasly after the initial laps.

And so it came down to the final three minutes with all 10 drivers on track.

Vettel moved up to second. Hamilton could not improve so dropped to third. Ricciardo didn't go faster but stayed on pole.

The top 10 qualifiers were: Ricciardo, Vettel, Hamilton, Raikkonen, Bottas, Ocon, Alonso, Sainz, Perez and Gasly.