Jenson Button On Pole Again as Lewis Hamilton Crashes Out of 2009 Monaco GP

Jenson Button once again grabbed pole position after a fantastic drive in Qualifying on the streets of Monaco. But fellow British driver and defending world champion Lewis Hamilton had a day to forget.

The McLaren driver seemed to be going fine before locking his brakes and smashing the back end of his car into one of the tight barriers, bringing out the red flags during Q1. 

He wasn’t the only surprise of the first session, with both Toyoto cars continued their poor weekend finishing in the bottom two places, highlighting the Toyota’s frailties on the slower circuit.

While the BMW team suffered another blow, with both drivers also out in the first session, joining Hamilton and the Toyota’s in the last five spots on the grid, Force India will be celebrating their best ever qualifying performance in Qualifying as both drivers made it into Q2, finishing 13th and 15th respectively.

Button had a bit of a wobble during the second session, but made it safely through to the top ten shootout at the expense of Toro Rosso pair Buemi and Bourdais. 

Fernando Alonso will perhaps be the most disappointed with his finish down in ninth, especially after his performance in third practice, where he finished top of the pile, and will face a nervous wait for the outcome of an appeal from Jarno Trulli, who accused the Spaniard of blocking him on a fast lap, meaning the former World Champion could be penalised some further places on the grid.

Williams and Ferrari will have plenty to smile about with both teams having both of their cars in the top ten, with Kimi Riakkonen set to start the race in second place. 

But it is Brawn GP who will once again be celebrating after Ruebens Barrichello came in on the second row in third, ahead of Felipe Massa and both Red Bull cars, and team mate Jensen Button took a dramatic pole from Kimi as the seconds ticked out in the final qualifying.

Ferrari will be looking to take their first podium of the season and get some real points on the constructors board, while Button and Brawn will be looking to further extend their lead in the Drivers and Constructors titles respectively, as Button pushes for a fifth win of the season, and Brawn look for a third 1-2 finish of the season. 

Whatever happens, we have one hell of a race in store for us on Sunday.

1.                  Jenson Button

2.                  Kimi Riakkonen

3.                  Ruebens Barrichello

4.                  Sebastian Vettel

5.                  Felipe Massa

6.                  Nico Rosberg

7.                  Heikki Kovalainen

8.                  Mark Webber

9.                  Fernando Alonso

10.              Kazuki Nakajima