Monaco GP: Disappointing qualifying for Williams Martini

Team Summary:
The final practice session for the Williams Martini team would see both drivers well off the quickest times would seem to indicate that qualifying was going to be a difficult session. The opening eighteen minute period would commence with Vettel waiting to come out at the end of the pit lane. A 1m:14.296 from Raikkonen followed by Vettel. Hamilton was now third but Wehrlein would move ahead. Bottas was now third followed by Hamilton and Perez. Button was now sixth followed by Felipe, Hulkenberg and Palmer. Vandoorne was now seventh while Verstappen would go quickest with a 1m:13.278. Perez would move up to fourth seeing Bottas fifth. But things would all change as Ricciardo would go fastest with a 1m:13.219.

Nine minutes remaining Raikkonen would go quickest with a 1m:13.117 but Verstappen would go ahead with a 1m:13.078 while Vettel would go second. After his crash it would be late in the opening period before Ocon took to the track. Magnussen was now in seventh ahead of Hamilton. Grosjean would spin at the exit of Mirabeau corner. Three minutes remaining and Sainz would go sixth. Button would improve to eleventh while Ericsson stopped his car with an issue. The top ten was Verstappen, Vettel, Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Bottas, Vandoorne, Sainz, Perez, Magnussen, and Hamilton. The Williams drivers were fourteenth and eighteenth seeing one car out after the first period.

The second fourteen minute period would commence with just one Williams running in this period. The first time would see Raikkonen fastest with a 1m:12.780 followed by Vettel and Magnussen. Hamilton would nearly lose it at Massenet, the same location that Lance had crashed. Verstappen was now third followed by Bottas and Ricciardo. Vandoorne was now sixth followed by Kvyat, Perez and Hulkenberg. Button would move up to seventh while with five minutes remaining Raikkonen was on a quicker lap setting a 1m:12.231, the fastest time of the weekend. Grosjean was now in sixth while Hamilton was down in fourteenth and on his final lap. Vettel would go second with a 1m:12.449 to be ahead of Verstappen. Sainz was now eighth as Vandoorne would crash stopping Hamilton from setting a time. He was now fourteenth. Those out were Kvyat, Hulkenberg, Magnussen, Hamilton, and Felipe. The top ten was Raikkonen, Vettel, Verstappen, Bottas, Ricciardo, Grosjean, Vandoorne, Sainz, Perez and Button tenth. But Vandoorne would not be running while Button was to receive a fifteen place grid penalty for engine component changes.

The final period would get underway with neither Williams car taking part. The first competitive time would come from Raikkonen with a 1m:12.296 with Verstappen second. But Ricciardo would take this spot wit a 1m:12.998. Bottas would move up to third as Vettel was on a very quick lap. But Vettel would only mange third with a 1m:13.002. Bottas was now fourth followed by Verstappen, Perez, and Sainz. Grosjean and Button would come out for their single runs. Bottas was back out after his pit stop. The next driver to follow him would be Raikkonen followed by Vettel. Grosjean was up to sixth ahead of Perez and Sainz. Only Ricciardo had yet to come back out as Bottas went second with a 1m:12.559. All nine drivers were out on the track with Raikkonen setting a 1m:12.178 to improve his quickest time.

Raikkonen would not improve on his final run while Vettel would set a 1m:12.221 to go second while Bottas would go third with a 1m:12.223. Verstappen was fourth followed by Ricciardo, Sainz, Perez, Grosjean, Button and Vandoorne was tenth even though he had not run due to his crash. The Williams team would end qualifying in fifteenth and eighteenth but penalties had yet to be applied so their starting positions should change. Regardless of this their performances in qualifying had been far from impressive. It was looking like their race will be a difficult time for both Williams drivers.

Felipe Massa:
In the opening period Felipe would be first out for Williams on a new set of ultra soft tyres. Felipe would set a 1m:26.488 as he brought his tyres in for his quick lap. His next lap was a 1m:14.422 to go fourth but he would drop to sixth then ninth. As others went quicker Felipe would drop to thirteenth. He would set a 1m:14.337 and would pit and come back out on a new set of ultra soft tyres. Felipe had dropped to fifteenth with a time of 1m:13.796 goes ninth. This would become tenth and then twelfth. He would finish the period in fourteenth. Felipe would come out on a new set of ultra soft tyres for his first run in the second period. A slow 1m:29.462 from Felipe but he would pit after just two laps. But Felipe would return to the track on a new set of tyres but his final quick lap was ruined by the crash of Vandoorne. He would finish the period in fifteenth.

Lance Stroll:
Lance would follow his team-mate out also on the ultra soft tyre. Lance's first alp was very slow with a 1m:32.195 but his next lap was a 1m:15.811 to be eleventh. A 1m:15.461 would see Lance fourteenth but he would drop to fifteenth. After a six lap run Lance would pit currently sixteenth. He would drop to seventeenth remaining in his pit as the period came to an end. He would finish the period in eighteenth behind Palmer. As to whether he had an issue or the team decided simply not to send him out as he would not really have any chance to move up the order. It was later confirmed by the team that he had a hydraulic issue with his car stopping him from coming out.