Hamilton was ecstatic afterwards. “It does [mean a lot],” he said. “It’s been a long time. I can’t express to you just how happy I am. It wasn’t the easiest session. I had a lot of things that could throw you off the rhythm. I didn’t have a rhythm until the last two laps. Coming across the line just hoping for once you’ve got it. This is incredibly special for me. I’m very, very happy.
“It’s difficult to express how hard this track is. Getting your head around it, and improving. It’s like climbing a ladder. If you slide back down, it’s sometimes hard to get back up. It wasn’t easy. It makes it even more special.”
Rosberg was in polar opposite mood to Hamilton. He said: “I had a good rhythm starting off and then just lost touch a little bit towards the end. I was going for it because I have to. It didn’t work out. That’s it.”
Morning practice offered hope that qualifying would not be the customary Mercedes domination. Vettel ended fastest, a fraction ahead of Hamilton and Rosberg.
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But once qualifying got underway, the championship leaders asserted their authority, ending the first session top of the pile, with just a tiny fraction of a second between them. Held up in traffic, Hamilton was second. “That was so dangerous man,” he told his engineers.
At the back, Fernando Alonso almost missed out, scrapping through in 15th. The biggest surprise of Q1 was Valtteri Bottas ending 17th for Williams. He was joined by the two Manors and Saubers.
All Alonso’s effort came to nothing in Q1. At the start of his first flying lap, his typically-unreliable McLaren gave up at Sainte Devote. The nightmare reunion continues.
Hamilton was not entirely on song either, unhappy with the team on his first effort. “Let’s calm down and reset for this run,” he said. “That was a really bad run, didn’t get any gaps, and the tyres weren’t in good shape.” Pete Bonnington, his race engineer, replied: “That’s my bad.”
Sebastian Vettel during qualifying, he will start third on the grid
Amusingly, given what happened here last year when he scuppered Hamilton’s final shot at pole, Rosberg locked up and went straight on at the first corner with a few seconds left. This time it did not appear suspicious, but the yellow flag did ruin Button’s final effort. When told he was 0.1s off the shootout for pole, he let out a groan and said: “That’s painful!” Felipe Massa, Nico Hulkenberg, Romain Grosjean and Alonso also lost out.
All of a sudden, moments before Q3, the weather turned. A few drops of rain in the air prompted a mad rush to get a banker lap in early. Hamilton sat at the end of the pitlane, Rosberg just behind. They both scampered up the hill towards Casino Square desperate to get their effort in first.
Bizarrely, both Mercedes abandoned their first laps, but then Hamilton led the way, fastest in two out of three sectors and a tenth ahead of Rosberg. The most important and spectacular qualifying session of the year was set for the grand finale it deserved.
For the final run, Hamilton opted for caution and went out ahead of his team-mate. The memory of last year was still clearly in his mind. Rosberg faltered behind with another huge lock up at turn one, allowing Hamilton extended his advantage, taking pole by 0.35s.
The great peroration never came. Hamilton could not have cared less. The pole he has coveted more than any other was finally his.
Final Positions After Qualifying: 1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1min 15.098secs, 2 Nico Rosberg(Ger) Mercedes GP 1:15.440, 3 Sebastian Vettel(Ger) Ferrari 1:15.849, 4 Daniel Ricciardo(Aus) Red Bull 1:16.041, 5 Daniil Kvyat(Rus) Red Bull 1:16.182, 6 Kimi Raikkonen(Fin) Ferrari 1:16.427, 7 Sergio Perez(Mex) Force India 1:16.808, 8 Carlos Sainz(Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:16.931, 9 Pastor Maldonado(Ven) Lotus F1 Team 1:16.946, 10 Max Verstappen(Ned) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:16.957, 11 Romain Grosjean(Fra) Lotus F1 Team 1:17.007, 12 Jenson Button(Gbr) McLaren 1:17.093, 13 Nico Hulkenberg(Ger) Force India 1:17.193, 14 Felipe Massa(Bra) Williams 1:17.278, 15 Fernando Alonso(Spa) McLaren 1:26.632, 16 Felipe Nasr(Bra) Sauber-Ferrari 1:18.101,17 Valtteri Bottas(Fin) Williams 1:18.434, 18 Marcus Ericsson(Swe) Sauber-Ferrari 1:18.513, 19 Will Stevens(Gbr) Manor Marussia F1 1:20.655, 20 Roberto Merhi(Spa) Manor Marussia F1 1:20.904
Note: Romain Grosjean has a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change, so will start the race from 16th.