Jenson Button on pole in Monaco

The session started off with a bang, Felipe Massa making a mistake in his fast lap, damaging his nose by hitting the barriers. Heikki Kovalainen took the best time, being dispossessed by Jenson Button, then Sebastian Vettel. The world championship leader takes back the lead (1:15:817) before his teammate, Rubens Barrichello, takes the lead (1:15:660). It is then the reigning world champion who stands out. Lewis Hamilton loses control of his car and will destroy his left rear axle in the Mirabeau corner, losing any chance of gleaning a good place on the grid. After a break to clear the damaged Mc Laren, Räikkönen and Massa both climbed into the Top 4. Jenson Button took the best time (1:15:210), while the Force Indias and the Toro Rosso se hissent dans le Top 15. A la traîne tout le week-end, les BMW (Heidfeld, Kubica) et Toyota (Trulli, Glock) sont éliminées dès Q1, en compagnie de Lewis Hamilton.

The session restarts in Q2 with the best times of Räikkönen (1:15??746) and Vettel (1:15??217) before Rosberg drops below 1:15?? with a super time of 1:14:846. A time quickly beaten by Barrichello, Webber then Kovalainen (1:14:809), who take over in turn. At the house of Renault, Nelson Piquet makes a mistake at Rascasse and Fernando Alonso enters the Top 10. The last minute of Q2 is very hectic, Räikkönen takes over the reference time (1:14:514) before Q3. Both Force India (Fisichella, Sutil) and Toro Rosso (Buemi, Bourdais) are eliminated, as well as Piquet (Renault).

Sebastian Vettel sets the first reference time in Q3 (1:16:206). Rosberg, often the fastest during free practice, displays all his mastery in the streets of the principality (1:15??602), but Vettel responds immediately (1:15?:395). Räikkönen is closing in on the German by a few thousandths, as is Massa. Starting in the last seconds of this session, Jenson Button showed up at the best time and climbed to the top of the hierarchy by setting the best time (1:14:902). The Briton will therefore start from pole position once again on Sunday. He is ahead of Räikkönen, Barrichello, Vettel and Massa. The pilots Ferrari can rejoice: here they are again ready to fight for victory.