Reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton says that even a “perfect lap” wouldn’t have been sufficient to dislodge Daniel Ricciardo from pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix.
Hamilton played down Mercedes’ chances in the build-up to the event while Ricciardo went on to lead all three practice sessions and controlled qualifying, storming to top spot.
Hamilton held a provisional front-row spot after the first Q3 runs but slipped behind Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel after the conclusion of the second laps, and is set to start from third.
“It was a really good session, I gave it everything that I could,” said Hamilton.
“But even with a perfect lap we couldn't catch Daniel today; Red Bull just had a little bit more performance, particularly in the last sector.
“I was 0.27s [up on a personal best] but I lost it in the middle and the last sector so naturally not happy with that.
“That wouldn’t have been enough anyways for pole but it would have made a difference, obviously I would have been second. Am I happy about that? No, but it’s a long race tomorrow.
“I gave it everything I could and you can’t always get it perfect. The good thing is the car is in one piece and I can live to fight another day.”
Valtteri Bottas, meanwhile, was never in the fight for a front-row spot and will line up from fifth position, behind compatriot Kimi Raikkonen.
“Today was tricky,” he said. “We expected the Red Bull to be very fast around here and we also knew that it was going to be one of the most difficult tracks for our car.
“We improved the set-up from Thursday and the car felt much better to drive.
“The main limitation was overall grip rather than balance, I was sliding around quite a bit. I don't think I could have gone any quicker as I feel like I would have ended up in the wall.
“P5 is not ideal as it's easier to start from the front row in Monaco, but we know anything can happen here.”
