This one’s for Niki, says Hamilton

Bottas completes front row; Verstappen third on the grid

May 25, 2019 09:37 pm | Updated 09:37 pm IST - MONACO

From pole to fence: Lewis Hamilton celebrates his record-extending 85th pole with fans.

From pole to fence: Lewis Hamilton celebrates his record-extending 85th pole with fans.

Lewis Hamilton celebrated an emotional pole position for dominant Mercedes at the Monaco Grand Prix on Saturday with teammate Valtteri Bottas joining the Formula One leader in a front row sweep.

The pole, record-extending 85th of the Briton’s stellar career and second of the season, came with the sport mourning the death of triple world champion and Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda.

The team looks set to deliver a perfect tribute to the Austrian in Sunday’s race in the shape of a sixth successive one-two finish, with Ferrari out of sorts on a shambolic afternoon.

“This is definitely one of the best poles,” said Hamilton, who denied Bottas a fourth successive top slot with a last lap 0.086 quicker than the Finn’s best effort around the metal-fenced streets.

“This one’s for Niki,” added the five-time world champion, who leads Bottas by seven points in the standings.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen qualified third and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel will line up fourth after narrowly avoiding going out in the opening phase.

Glaring error

A glaring error by Ferrari denied Charles Leclerc the chance to shine at home, with the 21-year-old failing to make it through the first phase and qualifying only 16th after going fastest in final practice.

Verstappen’s teammate Pierre Gasly qualified fifth with Kevin Magnussen sixth for Haas and Daniel Ricciardo, last year’s winner for Red Bull, seventh in a Renault.

Toro Rosso had two cars in the top-10, with Daniil Kvyat eighth and Alexander Albon 10th. McLaren’s Carlos Sainz lines up between them in ninth.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.