Raikkonen takes pole in Monaco

It was storybook result for Ferrari at the Monaco Grand Prix as the Scuderia locked out the front row for Sunday’s race.

Kimi Raikkonen secured pole position over his teammate, Sebastian Vettel, and he hasn’t had a pole since 2008 so starting the Monaco GP from pole is not only a return to qualifying for for Kimi but the best possible chance of winning the race in the crowded streets of Monte Carlo. 

For Lewis Hamilton, it was a tough day in the office failing to make it to Q3, for the firs time since 2013, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. The Monaco winner from 2016 did a masterful job of trying to keep his car out of the barriers as the car just wasn’t working for him and he said the team have a lot of work to do to figure out what is wrong. Lewis will start from 14th.

Lewis’s teammate, Valtteri Bottas, managed to redeem the pace of Mercedes by slotting in third with a brace of Red Bull’s behind him led by plucky teen Max Verstappen.

Ferrari are looking to end a 16-year absence from the top step in Monaco and this weekend could be their best chance in years as the front row is all red. both Red Bulls looked competitive all weekend long in this circuit but were unable to claim the front row.

Sister team Toro Rosso looked competitive with Carlos Sainz in the starting along side Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull. Carlos’s teammate, Daniil Kvyat, looked very fast all weekend and was furious when he missed out on Q3. It’s understandable as I believe he was heading for a much better position than 11th. 

Equally, Kevin Magnussen was doing a great job in his Haas F1 car but was balked by Hamilton preventing him from getting any higher than 13th. 

While Stoffel Vandoorne crashed on his final attempt in Q3, the fact is, both McLaren’s were in the top 10 and into Q3 and that’s a big improvement for the team. 

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