Hamilton took his first Monaco pole position – over three tenths of a second ahead of teammate Rosberg. Red Bull had a good qualifying -with their drivers lining up 4th and 5th tomorrow. Both Williams drivers struggled and Bottas didn’t even make it out of Q1. Jenson Button was running well in Q2 but failed to get through to the next session due to a yellow flag.
Rosberg was fastest in Q1, but only just, with 0.06 seconds between him and Lewis Hamilton. Both drivers made it through to Q2 without having to use the super-soft tyres. Behind, Valtteri Bottas was stuck behind other cars and could only make 17th. The two Saubers also failed to reach the next session but both McLaren drivers managed to get through.
Alonso had issues in Q2, when his car switched off and he was forced to stop. This means he will start the race in 15th tomorrow, behind Felipe Massa who struggled to get his tyres up to temperature. Rosberg was fastest on a 1:15.471, with Hamilton second on a 1:15.864. However, Rosberg made a mistake at Sainte Devote, which meant the yellow flags were out. This prevented Jenson Button from improving and possibly reaching Q3, instead he will start in 12th. The other drivers who didn’t make Q3 were Hulkenberg and Grosjean.
With rain beginning to fall at the start of Q3, drivers were out on track as early as possible. Hamilton initially set the pace with an impressive 1:15.304. Rosberg was close behind on a 1:15.440. Perez put in a time to reach sixth, but he spent the rest of the time in the pits as he only had one set of super-softs remaining. On his second run, Rosberg again made a mistake at Sainte Devote which meant Hamilton claimed pole. Despite having secured pole position, Hamilton improved to a 1:15.098. Vettel was third with a 1:15.849, followed by the Red Bull drivers Ricciardo and Kvyat. Raikkonen pushed Perez down to seventh, he was followed by Sainz, Maldonado and Verstappen.
Grosjean received a 5-place grid penalty for replacing his gearbox. This means he starts the race in 15th. Sainz also got a penalty but this was for missing the weigh bridge in Q1, he will start the race from the pit lane. This means that Maldonado starts 8th and Verstappen in 9th. Button will have his first top ten start of the year, as he is promoted to tenth. Huldenberg moves up to 11th, Massa 12th, Alonso 13th and Nasr 14th. Bottas, Ericsson, Stevens and Merhi all move up one position.