Hamilton needs pole in Monaco GPrix after 8 races without a win

Vettel looking over his shoulder at Red Bull

MONACO, May 27, (Agencies): With pole position so important at the Monaco Grand Prix, the pressure will be firmly on Lewis Hamilton in Saturday’s qualifying as the Formula One champion bids to avoid a ninth race without a win.

Hamilton calls winning Monaco from pole “a procession” because the run to turn 1 is not long enough to give a driver much chance of overtaking. He would have won from the front last year, only to be undone by a late team order to come to the pits following a crash and finishing third.

“Everyone that’s expecting a good race should know this is a track that you really can’t overtake on, so qualifying’s going to be the race,” Hamilton said. “Everyone here knows if you have pole position you are going to win, and with a one-stop race it’s a procession.”

Hamilton’s championship run last year was equally stress-free, clinching it by 59 points ahead of Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg.

He was a picture of confidence when he won the United States GP in late October to clinch his second straight F1 title — and third overall — with three races to spare. He even dismissively tossed a cap for Rosberg to wear on the podium.

It all seemed rather easy, much like winning the Monaco GP from pole — where the only major stress can be when

Hamilton

pole but Rosberg made a brilliant start, screeching past him on the way to victory. It didn’t do that much to dent Hamilton’s title charge, but it was an early sign that Rosberg was improving his outright speed, which has been confirmed this year.

Both drivers, however, have other things than their own rivalry to think about before Saturday afternoon’s qualifying session — notably how good Red Bull is going to be.

Following on from teen driver Max Verstappen’s stunning victory in Spain, Red Bull fared strongly in Thursday’s second practice, with Daniel Ricciardo fastest and Verstappen nestled in fourth behind the two Mercedes cars.

Red Bull looks to have made better use of the new ultra-soft tire compound, which has given Mercedes much to think about.

“It’s important we do our homework,” Rosberg said. “We want to see if we can get a bit more out of (the tires) for qualifying because the Red Bulls were doing something pretty good, and we need to try and understand.”

When Hamilton was easing toward his third title last year, Red Bull was lagging well behind and it came close to cutting ties with engine supplier Renault.

Now, with Verstappen on board, Ricciardo finding his form and a strong chassis, things are looking up again for Red Bull — which won four straight drivers’ and constructors’ titles with Sebastian Vettel behind the wheel from 2010-13.

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel started the Formula One season with high hopes of challenging dominant Mercedes. Instead, the four-time F1 champion is behind his own teammate Kimi Raikkonen and looking over his shoulder at resurgent Red Bull.

The German is in fourth place after five races, trailing championship leader Nico Rosberg by 52 points and secondplaced Raikkonen by 13 — having ended last season well clear of Raikkonen in the standings.

Vettel, who finished third overall last year, is level with his former Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo, with Red Bull’s teen driver Max Verstappen only 10 points behind them.

Vettel’s first season with Ferrari in 2015 saw him win three races, a welcome boost following a hugely disappointing final year with Red Bull where he was outperformed by Riccardo.

It has been a complicated season so far for Vettel — who failed to get any points in Bahrain and Russia — and missed an opportunity to win two weeks ago at the Spanish GP when Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg crashed into each other and out of the race. Vettel finished third in Barcelona, while the 18-year-old Verstappen became F1’s youngest race winner.

The Penguins rallied from a 3-2 deficit by controlling the final two games of the best-of-seven series, winning 5-2 in Tampa Bay in Game 6, then backing it up with what coach Mike Sullivan said “might have been the most complete 60-minute effort we had.”

In disarray in December when Sullivan took over for Mike Johnston, the Penguins have sprinted through April and May and will head into June with a chance to win the franchise’s fourth Cup, one that would serve as a bookend to its last triumph seven years ago when stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were still in their early 20s.

They’re older now. Wiser. And undaunted by a series of postseason failures that made it seem the window of their primes was closing. Yet here they are after dispatching the New York Rangers in five games, the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Washington Capitals in six and the defending Eastern Conference champion Lightning in seven.

“They played better hockey than us the whole series,” said Tampa Bay defenseman Anton Stralman, who lost a Game 7 for the first time after starting his career 7-0 when pushed to the limit.

Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos had two shots in 11:55 in his return from a two-month layoff while dealing with blood clots.

Pittsburgh had dropped

five

straight Game 7s at home, including a 1-0 loss to Tampa Bay in 2011 in a series Crosby and Evgeni Malkin missed due to injury.