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Nico hit the couch after pole disaster

MONTE CARLO, Monaco - Nico Rosberg searched for positives after an error and the speed of Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton shattered his hopes of securing a third successive Monaco Formula 1 GP pole on Saturday.

It will be Hamilton’s first pole start at the showcase race.

The German driver said: "For sure a disappointing day but I've learned in my career. By tomorrow, when the lights go out, I need to be fully on it again - and I will be."

SMALL OPPORTUNITY

He added: "There are opportunities. It's of course most difficult here in Monaco but there's the start, there's the pit stops, there's whatever - the weather, I don't know. So I'll just keep the pressure on, that's what I need to do.

"The pit stops are a small opportunity. Lewis is surely going to pit before me, and it's one stop - I need to go for it."

The statistics are against him. The previous six races in Monaco were won by the driver who started on pole.

Hamilton, from third back in 2008, was the most recent exception to the rule on a street circuit so tight and twisty that drivers have more chance of winning big at the imposing casino than of overtaking anyone on the track.

'IT DIDN'T WORK OUT'

Rosberg arrived home in Monaco after stalling Hamilton's momentum, setting up the weekend by taking pole and then victory in Spain. In 2014 he was king of qualifying but that one lap success has deserted him in 2015, the Briton on pole five times to Rosberg's one.

However, the German was fastest in both of Saturday's first two phases before locking up and losing any hope in the final stage with Hamilton having already established the time to beat.

"I needed to do a good lap, I was going for it and it didn't work out," said Rosberg, who planned a quiet evening in with his pregnant wife to prepare for the race.

"Monaco is the toughest weekend in that sense because there's so much going on. I have just learned to cope with it. I'll take my time with Vivian and just relax, have a good time, sit on the couch."


Stay with Wheels24 for the 2015 Formula 1 series.

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