Hamilton secures Monaco pole as Rosberg falters

Lewis Hamilton will start the Monaco Grand Prix from pole position, easily beating team-mate Nico Rosberg by over three-tenths following a mistake from the German.

Rosberg had topped the previous sessions, but when it came down to Q3, Hamilton put in the perfect lap, whilst Rosberg locked-up as he approached Turn 1 and eventually abandoned the attempt.

That left Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who looked likely to challenge the Mercedes early on, to take P3 ahead of the Red Bull pairing of Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat in fourth and fifth respectively.

The second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen was sixth, whilst Sergio Perez impressed for Force India to slot in seventh ahead of Carlos Sainz, Pastor Maldonado and Max Verstappen.

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Jenson Button narrowly missed out on a Q3 slot when he was forced to back out of his fastest lap after Rosberg caused yellow flags when he went off at Sainte Devote – an identical mistake to Q3.

The McLaren driver would easily have made the cut had it not been for Rosberg’s error.

Meanwhile team-mate Fernando Alonso had to settle for 15th when his Honda engine cut out as he started his first flying lap.

Valtteri Bottas was the surprise exit of Q1. The Finn struggled to heat his tyres and therefore struggled for grip, whilst Felipe Massa will start P14.