• Monaco GP - Qualifying

'I was on the pole lap' - Hamilton

ESPN Staff
May 24, 2014 « Success more valuable after four-year struggle - Mercedes | Rosberg keeps pole position after stewards' investigation »
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Lewis Hamilton insists pole position would have been his at Monaco were it not for Nico Rosberg's error in Q3, though he refused to comment on whether he thought it was a deliberate error from his team-mate.

Hamilton looked far from happy after qualifying, agreeing with a statement that it was an "ironic" turn of events as it put his team-mate on pole. Rosberg went off at Mirabeau and pulled into a run-off area, but then appeared to be reversing out as Hamilton made his way into the second sector.

Hamilton had completed his personal best first sector before having to back off on the entry to his favoured middle sector because of the yellow flags, and he is adamant his lap would have been good enough to topple his team-mate.

In the subsequent post-qualifying press conference for the top three, Hamilton said: "Yeah, it is ironic. But that's ok, I was up a couple of tenths, but it's ok.

In front of the media later, Hamilton again stopped short of accusing Rosberg of parking his car intentionally, but was clearly unhappy with how the final two minutes unfolded.

"Who knows?" Hamilton said when asked if it was a calculated move from Rosberg.

When told again the incident seemed "ironic", Hamilton replied: "I feel the same way. I can't say I've ever been in that position before, I've never had that happen before."

But Hamilton refused to be drawn into comment, adding on further questioning about Rosberg's incident: "I'm not saying that. I'm not saying anything."

"I was on the pole lap. But it doesn't really matter, I guess I should have done it earlier."

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