Monaco Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton qualifies 13th

Qualifying: Top 10

Scroll down for report and full qualifying times

1 Kimi Raikkonen
2 Sebastian Vettel
3 Valteri Bottas
4 Max Verstappen
5 Daniel Ricciardo
6 Carlos Sainz
7 Sergio Perez
8 Romain Grosjean
9 Jenson Button
10 Stoffel Vandoorne

Qualifying report

Lewis Hamilton is set to start a lowly 13th for the Monaco Grand Prix following a disastrous display in qualifying on Saturday as Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen claimed pole position.

Hamilton has struggled for pace all weekend in Monte Carlo, but his failure to progress to the top-10 shootout will come as an almighty shock to Hamilton and his Mercedes team.

Raikkonen secured the number one spot - his first in nearly a decade - after seeing off the challenge from Hamilton's championship rival Sebastian Vettel by just 0.043 seconds as Ferrari sealed a front-row lockout. Hamilton's Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas lines up in third.

An impressive Jenson Button posted the ninth best time on his return to Formula One action, but he will start from the very back after he was dealt a 15-place grid penalty following a series of changes to his Honda engine.

Hamilton arrived in Monaco bidding to join childhood hero Ayrton Senna on 65 poles - 30 years after the Brazilian secured his first of a record six wins here - but after going fastest in opening practice on Friday, Hamilton has slid back down the order, and his erratic display in qualifying was that of a man struggling for confidence.

Hamilton endured two hairy moments where he almost collided with the barriers, first at Massenet and then at Mirabeau, before he claimed something was not right with his Mercedes car.

And the Briton's last-gasp attempt to make it into Q3 was destroyed when Stoffel Vandoorne lost control of his McLaren and crashed into the wall at the swimming pool chicane.

Hamilton had to slow right down, and with the allocated time over, the Briton was left with no option but to pull into the pits. He qualified 14th, 1.8 seconds off the pace, but will be bumped up one spot following Button's penalty.

The 32-year-old, shaking his head as he arrived in the Mercedes garage, will take some joy from the fact that it is Raikkonen, who starts on pole for the first time since the 2008 French Grand Prix, and not Vettel. But the Englishman will still have it all to do in Sunday's race with overtaking almost impossible at this most twisty and narrow of tracks.

"I was devastated after the session to the point that I could not get out of the car," Hamilton said.

"So much energy and work goes into these weeks, collectively as a team and individually the way you prepare yourself. So when you see the other car was able to get it to work, and you for the life of you can't think why you are not able to, it feels like a mystery because none of us can really understand it.

"When you don't get into Q3, your weekend is pretty much done. And it is really about trying to recover as much as you can.

"Everyone at the factory is working so hard. They rely on me to get it together and today somehow I wasn't able to. We stand together. And tomorrow I will try everything I can to get up as high as possible. It is very difficult to overtake. We will probably have to take some risks."

Hamilton is six points behind Vettel in his quest for a fourth title, but it seems highly probable that the Ferrari driver, who starts alongside Raikkonen on the front row, will extend his championship lead.

Indeed it is not beyond the realms of possibility that Ferrari will do their best to ensure it is Vettel and not Raikkonen - a distant fourth in the title race - who prevails on Sunday.

But pole-sitter Raikkonen said. "I don't know why people expect that it is something different tomorrow than it's been the last two years. Nothing has changed."

Vettel added: "We're here to race, and we're here to race each other."

Button meanwhile, qualified an impressive ninth on his comeback, but will start last as punishment for a series of changes to his Honda engine. 

British driver Jolyon Palmer is looking for a spark to re-ignite his poor campaign, but the Renault driver has been slow once more here.

The 26-year-old from Horsham has occupied lower echelons of the order over the course of the weekend, and he was only 17th of the 20 runners in qualifying.

Indeed Palmer was nearly one second slower than his Renault team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, who comfortably progressed to Q2 before posting the 12th best time.

Elsewhere, Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo were fourth and fifth for Red Bull with Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz an impressive sixth.

Qualifying times in full

1 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1min 12.178secs

2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:12.221

3 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP 1:12.223

4 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:12.496

5 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 1:12.998

6 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:13.162

7 Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India 1:13.329

8 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 1:13.349

9 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 1:13.613

10 Stoffel Vandoorne (Bel) McLaren No Time

11 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:13.516

12 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault 1:13.628

13 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 1:13.959

14 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:14.106

15 Felipe Massa (Bra) Williams 1:20.529

16 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Force India 1:14.101

17 Jolyon Palmer (Gbr) Renault 1:14.696

18 Lance Stroll (Can) Williams 1:14.893

19 Pascal Wehrlein (Ger) Sauber-Ferrari 1:15.159

20 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber-Ferrari 1:15.276

Jenson Button has a 15-place grid penalty due to power unit changes so will start in 20th.