Rich Energy Haas F1 Team driver Kevin Magnussen turned in a solid qualifying effort of sixth while teammate Romain Grosjean was hampered by traffic and posted the 13th-best qualifying lap for Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix on the legendary Circuit de Monaco. Magnussen will start the Monaco Grand Prix fifth on the grid after Pierre Gasly received a three-position penalty – having originally qualified fifth, for impeding Grosjean in turn four on the final lap of Q2.
Grosjean set the eighth-fastest time in Q1 with a lap of 1:11.837 around the 3.337-kilometer (2.074-mile), 19-turn street circuit while Magnussen was 10th-quickest with a lap of 1:11.865. Only the top-15 drivers move on to Q2.
In Q2, Magnussen turned an exceptional lap of 1:11.363 that was fifth-quickest while Grosjean was balked by Gasly on the racing line on his final flying lap and had to settle for 13th with his previous-best lap of 1:12.027. Only Magnussen advanced to Q3, his fifth appearance in the final knockout round in six races this season.
In Q3, Magnussen continued to find speed and ultimately claimed the sixth spot on the grid with his lap of 1:11.109, placing him behind a pair each of Mercedes and Red Bull entries and one Scuderia Ferrari. It was Magnussen’s best career qualifying effort at Monaco, bettering his effort of eighth in 2014.
Both Magnussen and Grosjean ran exclusively on the Pirelli P Zero Red soft tire throughout qualifying.
Taking the pole for the Monaco Grand Prix was Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton. His fast lap of 1:10.166 eclipsed then-Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo’s track record of 1:10.810 set in Q3 last year and was good for his 85th career pole, his second of the season and his second at Monaco. It was .086 of a second better than his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas’ Q3 lap today that earned the second starting position and gave the duo its fourth front-row lockout in a row.
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