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Formula 1
Monaco GP
Monaco GP final practice and qualifying
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Verstappen's change of direction in the Swimming Pool was amazing - we need to see a slow-mo of that.
Verstappen is quickest of all in the final sector, but overall he ends up four tenths down on Bottas. That's still good enough for second, because Hamilton is not having a clean run.
Gasly is third, two tenths behind Vettel and a tenth up on Magnussen, who continues to impress.
Kvyat is third, 1.8s off, two tenths up on Sainz and over a second up on Albon, who has not had a great lap.
Bottas looking mighty so far during qualifying - but he's been a changed man this year, so these performances haven't just come out of Finn air...
Stopwatch
Bottas takes provisional pole with a 1m10.252s. He's seven tenths quicker than Vettel.
Hamilton is still on a warm-up lap so will be last of the frontrunners to record a proper timed effort.
Bottas and Vettel start their flying laps, Bottas is a tenth and a half up in the first sector.
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Bottas leads Vettel and the two Toro Rossos out of the pitlane.
Replay of Gasly becoming a temporary roadblock in Grosjean's lap. Even if you close off a street circuit, there's still traffic.
Green flag
The lights go green for Q3.
So, Q3. Two Red Bulls, two Mercedeses, a Ferrari, a Haas, two Toro Rossos, a Renault and a McLaren. That's a lovely mix.
"We had plenty of time to go out again, I need some explanations", Leclerc says. Understandably, he's very very disappointed with his Q1 elimination.
This is exciting, isn't it? Absolutely no let-up of action - does this qualifying format really need tinkering with? We suspect not.
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"****** **** **** ****** *****" says Grosjean, understandably peeved to miss out on Q3. The Frenchman got stuck behind Gasly, and then sparks flew when he just grazed the barrier at the Swimming Pool.
Magnussen really gave it everything on that lap, and was just a whisker from the wall at Anthony Noghes. Brilliant stuff - he's looked the more comfortable of the two Haas-es of the weekend.
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Advancing to Q3: 1 Verstappen, 2 Bottas, 3 Hamilton, 4 Vettel, 5 Magnussen, 6 Kvyat, 7 Albon, 8 Gasly, 9 Ricciardo, 10 Sainz.
Crash
Eliminated: 11 Hulkenberg, 12 Norris, 13 Grosjean, 14 Raikkonen, 15 Giovinazzi.
Magnussen is up to fifth to secure Q3 participation, but team-mate Grosjean is out. Magnussen's improvement relegates Hulkenberg, too.
Sainz can do no better than ninth, team-mate Norris is 11th and is thus eliminated.
Checkered flag
Albon is up to sixth, behind Kvyat but ahead of Gasly. Good effort, as the chequered flag comes out.
Bottas was quickest in the first sector that time by, but ultimately came up short of matching Verstappen. Whisper it, but maybe the Dutchman has a shot here?
This session's going down to the wire, with just two minutes left the action shows no signs of abating.
An improvement from Hulkenberg demotes Albon into the provisional drop zone, where he now resides alongside Norris, Grosjean, Raikkonen and Giovinazzi.
Stopwatch
Gasly is up to sixth, marginally slower than Kvyat. Team-mate Verstappen is much quicker, and puts together a 1m10.618s to go top.
Vettel moves up to fourth, half a second slower than Bottas. This should probably be enough to secure Q3.
Grosjean has to take more of the bump into Mirabeau than he'd like, as an Alfa Romeo was somewhat in the way. Getting a lap of clear track here is a real luxury.
Grosjean's latest effort is only good enough for 12th. Suddenly it's not looking so rosy for Haas.
All 15 cars are now on the track for the final minutes, having been taught a valuable lesson by Leclerc/Ferrari in Q1.
That is, until Kvyat, Hulkenberg, Albon and Vettel join the party. The Mercs are going out too, presumably to put the tyres through a heat cycle.
Half-time (ish), and everyone apart from Grosjean's come in for fresh boots. The Frenchman's got a clear track to have a tilt at getting into Q3.
Hamilton's popped in to visit the weighbridge, before being rolled into his garage - presumably to keep a little cool in the heat.
McLaren showing much greater pace than they did in practice, with Sainz in the top six.
Drop zone as it stands: 11 Norris, 12 Magnussen, 13 Raikkonen, 14 Giovinazzi, 15 Grosjean. Albon is on the bubble, half a tenth up on Norris.
Lots of drivers struggling to improve on their second attempts, which is what currently leaves Gasly in seventh and Vettel in a pretty uncomfortable ninth.
It's always amazing to watch the cars sidestep the bump in the road on the way to Mirabeau - in the ground-effects days, the cars just steamed through it as if it wasn't there, but today it's a delicate sweep before getting back on line.
Hamilton improves to 0.134s off Bottas with his second effort, while the Finn comes up 0.03s short of his own benchmark.
By: Geoff Creighton
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