Kimi Raikkonen took pole in today’s qualifying at the Monaco street circuit, with a time of 1:12.178, while team-mate Sebastian Vettel was second, just 0.043 of a second slower. Tomorrow’s race will see the second all red front row of the season after the one in Russia.
Although he was fastest, Raikkonen insisted that the pole doesn’t guarantee anything. He led the way in Q2 and Q3, recording a lap of 1:12.178 – a new all-time best around Monaco. That was his first pole since the 2008 French Grand Prix. He has not won a Formula 1 race since the 2013 Australian Grand Prix
“Obviously it’s the best place to start from tomorrow, but it doesn’t guarantee anything,” Raikkonen said.
“I’ll happily take it. it’s been quite OK all weekend. We’ve been struggling a bit in certain places, working and trying to figure it out. Qualifying was better, by no means perfect, but I think it’s never going to be perfect. It was good enough in the end and I was very happy with the car. You can always go a bit faster here and there, but that’s normal. “I felt good, I was able to push and it was quite a straightforward qualifying. I’m happy for myself and the team, as we have two cars on the front row for tomorrow.”
Kimi Raikkonen took pole in today’s qualifying at the Monaco street circuit, with a time of 1:12.178, while team-mate Sebastian Vettel was second
First pole for nine years ?
First pole for 129 races ⌛️
50th pole by a Finnish driver ??#MonacoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/3opiakQmS0
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 27, 2017
Vettel made mistakes on both his Q3 runs.
“I pushed a little bit too hard on the first lap in Q3, I went wide at Turn 5. On my second attempt again I went a little bit deep, so in the second sector I was probably a bit too greedy, wanted a bit too much. But I’m sure if you ask anyone after quali we all have the feeling there’s always more. I’m not as happy as I could have been, but well done to Kimi.”
Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes was third fastest in qualifying while his teammate Lewis Hamilton could not reach the top 10. The Englishman’s last attempt in Q2 was hampered by Stoffel Vandoorne’s crash after a stellar performance. The Belgian was seventh in the second qualifying segment but could not participate in Q3 after the accident.
Jenson Button reached Q3 on his one-time comeback to Formula 1.
PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION (END OF QUALIFYING): Kimi claims 50th pole for a Finnish driver ?? #Quali #MonacoGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/W6p5EwMaTA
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 27, 2017
