Lewis Hamilton has secured arguably the most important pole position of the Formula 1 season. His teammate Valtteri Bottas shares the front row, while both Ferrari drivers had another fraught session.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/B. Horvat
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Lewis Hamilton's 1:10.166 lap, a circuit record around the Principality, was quick enough for first on the grid in Monaco. He pipped Valtteri Bottas to top spot. Bottas had put down a quick time early in the final session of qualifying, but Hamilton was able to improve his time on his last fast lap, unlike his competitors.
"I feel amazing, just super grateful," Hamilton said after the session. "All of us drivers take our car, fast or slow, to the limit. And when you're at the limit, it's like wrestling a bull. I had an oversteer moment in the Rascasse, and I just held on. I don't know what the gap is, but I'll take it — it's perfect."
Hamilton leads Bottas by 7 points going into the race; both Mercedes drivers have a large cushion over the chasing pack.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen, again running far quicker than teammate Pierre Gasly, will start the race in third position. Overtaking is notoriously tricky around Monaco's narrow streets, though, so Mercedes have secured a major advantage as they chase a sixth consecutive 1-2 finish on Sunday.
Vettel survives Q1 scare, at Leclerc's expense
Ferrari had another torrid day. The team's mechanics were working overtime during their lunch break to prepare Sebastian Vettel's car, after the German crashed in the final free practice session on Saturday morning. Vettel thanked the team at the beginning of qualifying for their efforts, but the team's woes were just getting started.
Home favorite Leclerc was the shock early casualty in qualifyingImage: Reuters/B. Tessier
Late in Q1, Vettel came in for an unscheduled stop after again clipping the wall. The team were able to check the car over and send him back out in time for one last chance to improve on his lap. Vettel managed to up his pace and progress, but his teammate Charles Leclerc was watching from the garage at this point, presumably as Ferrari thought he'd done enough. As Vettel and several other midfielders pumped in quicker laps on an improving track, Leclerc was relegated to 16th on the grid; the Monegasque driver will have a torrid time trying to move up the order in front of his home crowd on Sunday.
Vettel ultimately progressed to the final session of qualifying and will start the race from fourth position. His final attempt to challenge for pole was thwarted when he made contact with the barriers in the "Swimming Pool" section of the circuit for the second time in the session.
Emotional tributes to Niki Lauda at Monaco Grand Prix
The F1 circus has arrived in Monaco, light one legend. Several drivers and teams plan individual tributes to Austrian three-time champion Niki Lauda. A collective race-day memorial is also under discussion.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Kainulainen
'Niki we wiss you'
Mercedes are running a scarlet halo in front of the cockpit for the weekend, with a farewell message for their non-executive chairman. There's a small hint of irony here, however. Lauda, never afraid to speak his mind, was not a fan of the new protective measure in front of a driver's head — believing that a degree of danger simply came with the territory in F1.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Isakovic
Sebastian Vettel's throwback helmet
Niki Lauda won his first two titles at Ferrari, with his trademark scarlet helmet a perfect fit at the Italian team. At Monaco, Sebastian Vettel will wear this in the 70-year-old's memory. The times have changed somewhat, of course. The 2019 version is covered with rather more adverts than Lauda's was; and the one old sponsor Marlboro is now Philip Morris' "Mission Winnow" e-cigarette venture.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/L. Bruno
Toto Wolff: 'This is very difficult for all of us'
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff lauded Lauda's no-nonsense approach: "I feel that we have lost what was the heart and soul of Formula 1. Niki Lauda could say everything he wanted. Sometimes it gave the communications teams gray hair! But Niki's comment would be, 'who cares?' In today's corporate world, it was so refreshing and important for F1 to have someone who just didn't care."
Image: picture-alliance/APA/J. Gödel
Mercedes honor their late non-executive chairman
Lauda may have won his titles at Ferrari and McLaren, but his most recent post in the paddock was as part of Mercedes' management. Lewis Hamilton, a friend of Lauda's, was excused media duties on Thursday as a result of the Austrian's passing. Lauda convinced Hamilton to join Mercedes in 2013, when the move appeared to be a gamble, at best. Four titles in six years followed.
Image: picture-alliance/empics/D. Davies
The original McCoy
Monaco's one of F1's truly timeless venues. The street circuit has not changed much since Lauda's days. Lauda won twice around the principality, on his way to his first world championship in 1975, and early in the 1976 season, before his life-changing accident at the Nürburgring.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Kainulainen
Ferrari's name plate
As in the successful seasons between 1974 and 1977, the Ferraris will bear Niki Lauda's name in white for this weekend's race. Ferrari go into the race in real need of a result, after Mercedes finished 1-2 in all five of the races so far this season — something no other team has ever achieved.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/dpa/L. Bruno
'Thanks Niki'
Toro Rosso, yet another F1 team brimming with Austrian DNA, will also carry a tribute to the 1970s hero. The grid is reportedly in discussions to hold a minute's silence in Lauda's honor on race day on Sunday. One F1 veteran, Mark Gallagher, joked on Twitter that the paddock should consider a tribute to match Lauda's persona, suggesting "2 minutes of no-bullshit, plain speaking in the paddock."
Image: Getty Images/P. Fox
Seventy years of speed
Haas Grand Prix will also pay homage to the Viennese racer this weekend. The US-owned team captioned a photo of their repainted "shark fin" above the car's engine cover with a simple message: "Remembering Niki. In our thoughts this weekend."
