Monaco Grand Prix final practice and qualifying

Summary

Hamilton qualifies 14th as Raikkonen takes first pole for nine years
Hamilton out in Q2 after cars struggles and Vandoorne crash
Vettel 2nd, Bottas 3rd, Button 9th but will start last
Button handed 15-place grid penalty
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Live Reporting

Postpublished at 09:44 British Summer Time 27 May 2017
Why is Christian Horner giving Tom Clarkson a great big kiss on the cheek? Why not I suppose.
You can listen to audio commentary online, which starts at 09:55 BST ahead of final practice.
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A momentary blip?published at 09:41 British Summer Time 27 May 2017
Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer in Monaco
Image source, Getty Images
“Weird,” that was the word used by both Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo to explain the lack of pace displayed by Mercedes in second practice on Thursday.
Lewis Hamilton had set the pace in the first session, but was a second off in the afternoon, and Mercedes admitted they were struggling. “I don’t understand it,” Hamilton said. “P1 was really good, the car was feeling great. Then there was night and day difference, black and white. We couldn’t work the tyres for some reason, lots of sliding about. Lot of studying to do to find out where we went wrong, but I’m confident in my guys.”
Final practice on Saturday morning will be an indication whether this was a momentary blip, or whether Mercedes are heading into an off weekend as it appeared they would have in Russia this year - and did in Singapore in 2015.
A strange daypublished at 09:38 British Summer Time 27 May 2017
What was unusual about Thursday practice, you might ask.
Well Mercedes were distinctly off key as Lewis Hamilton was eighth quickest with Valtteri Bottas 10th.
It was down to the team getting their set up wrong. A rare mistake but perhaps it is the form of Ferrari that is causing these mistakes. They were once again on point as Sebastian Vettel finished quickest in practice, half a second quicker than Daniel Ricciardo for Red Bull.
Interesting times ahead.
'Glorious Monaco'published at 09:34 British Summer Time 27 May 2017
Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer in Monaco
Image source, .
Monaco does not always live up to its sunshine reputation - the cliffs surrounding the harbour here create their own little microclimate. But not this week. It’s glorious. Picture-perfect weather for the picture-perfect race. So there won't be rain to disrupt proceedings, that at least is clear.
Everything else, though, remains something of an unknown after an unusual Thursday practice day. This is one of the most intriguing qualifying days for some time.
Back to businesspublished at 09:30 British Summer Time 27 May 2017
Some spent it out in the sea...
Image source, Getty Images
... others went to a fancy do in their smartest clothes...
Image source, Renault
... and not-so-smart clothes...
Image source, Renault
...however Friday fun day is over and now it's back to business.
It's Monaco Grand Prix qualifying day, baby!