Jenson Button described his return to qualifying "a lot of fun" as the McLaren stand-in was ninth fastest on Saturday, a day which saw McLaren get both of its cars through to Q3 for the first time this year.
Button believes he could have finished a little higher up had he more experience with the new 2017 cars, but was happy with his performance.
"It was a lot of fun out there," said the Briton. "Practice was fine, but in qualifying you reach a point where you really need to fine-tune the car’s performance, and that’s still a bit of a learning curve for me.
"This year’s tyres are completely different to last year’s in terms of how they work; how they fade away; how they last. It’s been tricky trying to find those last few per cent."
Button will however start from last place thanks to a 15-place grid penalty due to a MGU-H and Turbo Charger change.
"I’m happy – in my one and only race this year I qualify ninth… and start 20th! I never expected to have this opportunity, so this is a great memory for me: driving around Monaco in these monsters, such great machines. I’m very lucky.
"I’ll take that ninth position home with me at the end of the weekend – I should be chuffed to bits with that."
Team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne meanwhile crashed out of Q2, but managed a time quick enough for Q3 prior to his contact with the wall, meaning he qualified tenth, but again drops down the order thanks to a three-place grid penalty, which could grow if a new gearbox is required for Sunday's race.
"This is a positive day. It’s my first time in Q3 – but I really should have been out on track for that last session. Sadly, I didn’t make it!
"It’s a shame my qualifying session ended with a little crash – but that’s what sometimes happens when you’re pushing hard on the limit around this place."
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