Raikkonen takes pole while Hamilton suffers shock elimination in Monaco F1 qualifying 

Kimi Raikkonen took pole for the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix ending a 128-race pole-position drought stemming from the 2008 French GP in a Ferrari one-two.

Ferrari carried on from its strong Free Practice 3 performance with a front-row lockout, but this time Sebastian Vettel was runner-up as he starts second for the race, just 0.043s off the fastest time of 1m12.178s.

A shock elimination due to an untimely caution in Q2 was Lewis Hamilton's to bear and he will start 13th for the race after a torrid day which majorly sets-back his championship hopes.

Hamilton did qualify 14th, but a grid-penalty for Fernando Alonso's stand-in Jenson Button, who qualified ninth, moves Hamilton a place forward on the grid.

Both McLarens made it to Q3 for the first time this season but only Button ran as Stoffel Vandoorne crashed at the Swimming Pool, triggering the caution which eliminated Hamilton in Q2.

The Red Bulls challenged Ferrari throughout qualifying but Valtteri Bottas' resurgence kept Max Verstappen away from a third place start.

The top three were separated by just 0.045s with Bottas in third.

Q1

Red Bull topped the first segment of qualifying as Verstappen led with a time of 1m13.078s, just 0.012s faster than runner-up Vettel.

Verstappen set consecutive fastest times in Sector 1 where the Red Bull made its gains over the second and third place Ferraris – but only 0.039s separated the top three.

Daniel Ricciardo was fourth, ahead of Bottas. The Mercedes drivers seemed content with their times and risked little in their attempts to earn a spot in Q2 even though Hamilton (ninth) was more than half a second off Verstappen at this point.

McLaren's Vandoorne advanced past Q1 for the first time this season in sixth place, while team-mate Button comfortably avoided the cut-off in 11th.

Esteban Ocon hit the barriers nose-first on the entry of the Swimming Pool section in FP3 and his car was repaired and ready to run with nine minutes of Q1 remaining.

However, Ocon was narrowly eliminated from Q1 as fellow Frenchman Romain Grosjean knocked him out of the session on his final lap of the session with a time of 1m13.786s.

Jolyon Palmer struggled to set the pace complaining of understeer and was eliminated in the first qualifying session in 17th, ahead of Williams' Lance Stroll and both Saubers.

Renault team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, however, advanced in 13th.

Marcus Ericsson's day ended very early as he clipped a barrier at the Swimming Pool section and lost a tyre.

Q2

Now on the back foot, Mercedes had to make an impact in the second session but it was Ferrari which stamped its authority while Hamilton was eliminated.

Raikkonen went out with intent and set a time of 1m12.231 to top the boards, 0.218s faster than team-mate Vettel in third.

Bad luck eliminated Hamilton who was in the pits with seven minutes of Q2 remaining in the drop-zone (14th) as the team furiously attempted to fix his set-up issues.

Then, when he finally managed to go for a flying lap with two minutes left, McLaren's Vandoorne crashed at the Swimming Pool exit and triggered a yellow flag which put Hamilton 14th on the grid for the race.

Vandoorne (seventh in Q2) caught the new yellow speed bumps on the exit of the chicane; all four wheels were in the air and his right-front tyre was embedded in the barrier.

For the first time in 2017, both McLarens made it to Q3 but only Button had a chance to set a laptime.

Championship contender Hamilton was thus eliminated in Q2 along with Daniil Kvyat, Hulkenberg, Felipe Massa and Kevin Magnussen

Magnussen was eliminated as he complained that Hamilton “held me up so badly” on the flying lap.

Massa underlined Williams' traditional woes at Monaco having qualified 15th.

Kvyat, caught in traffic on his flying lap, was slowed down and a lap of 1m13.516s wasn't enough to make it to Q3.

Q3

Raikkonen came out early and a time of 1m12.296s was enough to hold the lead, and he improved on it with a minute to go setting a time of 1m12.178s for pole, his first since the French GP at Magny-Cours in 2008.

Team-mate Vettel was a tenth faster than Raikkonen in Sector 1 on his final flying lap, but he lost time in the middle sector and even more in Sector 3 to miss out on pole by 0.043s.

Sole Q3 Mercedes driver Bottas was only 0.002s off second place, having missed out on a chance to split the two Ferraris.

Though Verstappen and Ricciardo were challenging the Ferraris in previous sessions, they managed fourth and fifth; Verstappen half a second faster than his team-mate.

Toro Rosso's weekend was solidified as Carlos Sainz Jr took sixth, beating both Force India's Perez and Haas' Grosjean.

Button qualified ninth, but a 15-place grid penalty will send him to last on the grid after the hybrid component of his  car's power-unit needed replacing again.

Fellow McLaren driver Vandoorne, who qualified ninth, starts 12th due to a three-place penalty from the last race in Spain.

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Grid, Monaco GP: