Hamilton on second row but remains hopeful

MONTE CARLO, CMC – Championship leader Lewis Hamilton will start from second row of the grid for today’s Monaco Grand Prix, after Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo set a new track record to clinch pole in final qualifying.

The Brit was four-tenths of a second slower than Ricciardo which was only good enough for third as Ferrari nemesis Sebastian Vettel took a share of front tow.

Hamilton will start alongside the other Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen, making for a highly anticipated contest at the Circuit de Monaco.

With a 17-point lead over Vettel heading into the race, Hamilton said his major focus was finishing ahead of the German.

“That’s what I’m going for tomorrow,” said Hamilton, the four-time Formula One world champion.

“Somehow, someway, I’m going to try to switch places with them. Nothing’s impossible at this track but everything’s impossible too.”

If history is on Hamilton’s side, then he may have little to worry about as both of his previous wins in Monacao have come from third place starts.

But having tipped the Red Bulls to dominate this weekend, Hamilton also conceded that it would prove difficult to catch Ricciardo.

“Like I said, we knew what was going to happen this weekend. So… it still doesn’t feel great but it’s just one race,” lamented Hamilton, whose paternal grandparents hail from Grenada.

“It’s a long race tomorrow. I gave it everything I could and you can’t always get it perfect. The good thing is the car is in one piece and I can live to fight another day.”

The 33-year-old Hamilton sits on top of the drivers standings on 95 points and arrived in Monaco on hat-trick of wins after winning in Azerbaijan and Barcelona.