Disastrous day for Hill as he qualifies 17th

The ex-champion, competing on the circuit where his father won five times and became known as Mr Monaco, crashed in the morning session and never made up the track time he lost.

The result was 17th on the grid and the worst start position in two years as a Jordan driver.

His team-mate Heinz-Harald Frentzen rubbed salt in the wound by putting his car where Hill hoped his would be - in the top six - his best performance as a Jordan pilot.

'Qualifying 17th was not what I wanted. There is not much more I want to say,' said Hill.

'My shunt this morning was bad and it meant we lost most of the running time, even though my mechanics did a fantastic job to get me out again on the track for some laps.'

To cap it all his drive shaft broke and his car finished the session nestled against the barriers half way around the circuit at Tabac corner.

But Hill refused to completely give up hope that Monaco would throw one of its famous quirky results his way.

'The Monaco Grand Prix is a lottery though, so who knows what will happen tomorrow,' he said.