Lotus driver Romain Grosjean rues missing out on potential Monaco Grand Prix pole

The Lotus driver was three tenths of a second slower than Michael Schumacher, quickest in the session, after failing to get the most out of his car in the second sector during his final run in Q3.

Grosjean will start from fourth place following Schumacher's penalty.

"We are not as high on the grid as we wanted to be, but things were very tight today," said Grosjean. "I did a very good lap in the first part of Q3 but then I couldn't improve on my second set of tyres. This was a shame because our strategy was perfect for the last part of qualifying.

"The traffic wasn't too bad but I missed out in sector two. I think pole position was within reach. P4 is not exactly where we wanted to be but the race will be long.

"It's Monaco, it will be difficult; nonetheless we know that the car is quite good on high fuel and with the tyres, so let's see what we can do and put the best strategy into place."

Team-mate Kimi Raikkonen qualified in eighth position, the Finn not happy with his performance after struggling to get his tyres working properly.

"For sure we're not very happy after that session," he said. "Since the first practice we've been a little bit behind where we should have been and we've been trying to catch up. The car is fine, the biggest problem today was trying to get the tyres working as it seemed to be a bit tricky to get them up to temperature.

"I could have been a bit faster on my best lap, but I went a little bit too deep in the Swimming Pool section. It's a bit disappointing but you can't get it right every time.

"At a normal racetrack you would be able to gain positions through overtaking, but in Monaco this is difficult. That said, anything can happen here so hopefully we can achieve something good tomorrow."