Sat: McLaren, Williams, Sauber, Manor

Improvement for McLaren, but they are yet to reach Q3 while it was a disappointing afternoon for Williams.

McLaren
Jenson Button: "There’s always a bit of ‘shoulda woulda coulda’ in qualifying, but I would have easily been inside the top 10 today. On my final lap in Q2, I lost a lot of time lifting for the yellow flag at Turn One. I then gained a lot of it back – I was only a tenth off my best – but it wasn’t enough. And I think we could have had some fun in Q3, too – I think we’d have been fighting two or three cars for position. The car felt really good – although we still don’t have enough outright pace – but I have a lot of confidence in it, especially under braking. Today’s performance shows the progress we’re making. The team has done a fantastic job this weekend, and they should be happy because the car is getting better all the time. This is a nice little stepping stone for the future. Our aim tomorrow will be to score points."

Fernando Alonso: "We don’t exactly know what happened to my car in Q2: I guess it was something electrical because the car switched itself off in the middle of the straight. I had no power, no electrics, and no readout on the steering wheel. But, overall, the team’s performance has been better this weekend, and Jenson at least has the opportunity to score a few points tomorrow. I don’t wish to sound pessimistic, but, in the Monaco Grand Prix, the race finishes on Saturday afternoon. On Sunday, you just join a train of cars. Starting 14th, hopefully we can gain some experience of the car, and improve its performance and reliability. We’re still too fragile at the moment."

Williams
Felipe Massa: "There were no major issues during qualifying that caused us to be out of position; Monaco just isn’t a circuit that suits the characteristics of our car. We struggled throughout the day and found it hard to set the lap times we wanted. Tomorrow won’t be easy, but anything is possible due to the nature of the track. It’s not a great result as we have become used to qualifying higher, but I’m confident we can still get points and that must be our focus."

Valtteri Bottas: "I had some traffic on my initial option run and couldn’t go at the sort of pace needed to keep the tyre temperatures correct, and on my timed lap I just lacked overall grip throughout the lap. We knew this track was not going to suit our car and we’ve been struggling to get the tyres to work throughout the weekend. Then again this is the sort of track where lots of things can happen and if we stay out of trouble and finish the race then points are still possible."

Sauber
Felipe Nasr: "We are obviously disappointed about being near the back of the starting grid. Looking back to the free practice sessions, we all knew it would be difficult for us. At the moment we have to make the best of our current package. Tomorrow we need some luck, but we are in Monte Carlo, and we know from previous races that anything can happen here."

Marcus Ericsson: "It was a diffucult qualifying for us. Since the first practice session we have been struggling to get the tyres to work in these cooler track temperatures. I was a bit unlucky with some traffic, so I lost a bit of time in the last sector. But this can happen on the narrow streets in Monaco. We will do our best in tomorrow’s race."

Manor
Will Stevens: "It’s encouraging to be a little bit closer to the cars ahead, but I think there was a little more to come from the car because our first run was cut short when I had a problem. We managed to get on top of it in between the first and second runs. Overall it was a good session and a very special feeling to take part in my first F1 qualifying here. I’m really looking forward to the race tomorrow and to making the most of any chances to progress through the field."

Roberto Merhi: "It was not a bad qualifying for me. I am a little closer to my team-mate and my runs were good, so I think we can have a good race tomorrow. The chances of being able to keep pace with the cars directly ahead are a little improved by the nature of this track, so that means we can be in a good position to take advantage of any opportunities that may come our way."