Nico Rosberg's Monaco pole is under investigation after his Q3 off

Rosberg's Mercedes team-mate and Formula 1 title rival Lewis Hamilton was adamant that he would have taken pole but for Rosberg's incident.

Both drivers were on their final Q3 flying laps, with Rosberg holding a narrow provisional pole, when he locked up at Mirabeau and slid down the escape road.

Hamilton had to back off for the resultant yellows and then abandoned his lap, which had been a few hundredths of a second faster than Rosberg in sector one.

While Rosberg said immediately afterwards that he had simply made a mistake, the nature of the incident has left stewards unsure about whether or not it was deliberate. His reversing move onto the track is also part of the investigation.

"Nico has been quick all weekend and I've been working away with it all weekend," said Hamilton. "I knew starting the last lap that this was it, and I was two [hundredths] up.

"I was on the pole lap, but I guess it doesn't matter."

The F1 championship leader refused to directly answer reporters' questions about whether he felt Rosberg had gone off deliberately.

"I can't say I've been in this position before. Never had that happen before," said Hamilton, who declined to respond to the majority of questions put to him in the press conference and TV pen.

The stewards have summoned Rosberg to an investigation to work out if there was any intent to deliberately hamper Hamilton.