Hamilton poleaxed by his car
LEWIS HAMILTON’S Monte Carlo dream nosedived when he failed final qualifying for today’s Grand Prix.
Hamilton arrived in Monaco bidding to join childhood hero Ayrton Senna on 65 poles – 30 years after the Brazilian secured his first of a record six wins here.
But the Brit will start 13th on a course with little chance to overtake after he failed to bank a safe time in Q2 before his session ended with a crash ahead of him.
Kimi Raikkonen suprisingly claimed his first pole position in nearly 10 years and a frustrated Hamilton said: “The opportunity was not there for me.
“I just struggled with the car. I don’t really know what to say. I’m deflated but will keep pushing tomorrow.
Erratic
“That’s pretty much the weekend done. Tomorrow I will just be driving around in whatever position.
“I will try to get into the top 10 but it will be a nice Sunday drive I imagine.”
It was an erratic display in qualifying from a man struggling for confidence.
Hamilton endured two hairy moments where he almost collided with the barriers, first at Massenet and then at Mirabeau, before claiming there was a problem with his Mercedes car.
And the Briton’s last-gasp attempt to make it into Q3 was destroyed when Stoffel Vandoorne lost control of his McLaren and hit the wall at the swimming pool chicane.
Hamilton had to slow right down, and with the allocated time over, the Briton was left with no option but to pull into the pits. He qualified 14th, 1.8 seconds off the pace, but will be bumped up one spot following Jenson Button’s penalty that will put him at the back of the grid.
Hamilton will take some joy from the fact Raikkonen starts on pole and not main rival Sebastian Vettel.
Raikkonen said: “It’s the best place to start. It doesn’t guarantee anything but I will take it.
“I was very happy with the car. I was able to push and it’s good for the team to have two cars on the front row.”