Sebastian Vettel will start the Monaco Grand Prix from pole position, with Mark third on the grid. Vettel’s Q3 time of 1:13.556 puts him on pole, alongside McLaren’s Jenson Button on the front row. Mark Webber posted a Q3 time of 1:14.019, a place ahead of Fernando Alonso on tomorrow’s gird. Michael Schumacher, Felipe Massa, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, Pastor Maldonado and Sergio Perez complete the top 10, although Perez crashed with just under three minutes of the session remaining.

Pole Position Sebastian Vettel 1:13.556

“It’s a long way around this track. Qualifying is tough, there are three segments and you have to give 100% in each one. My laps in Q1 and Q2 were not perfect, but in Q3 it was spot on, so I was happy with that. The most important thing to hear is that Sergio is okay and is conscious. We were sitting and waiting to go out, but we were watching the images on the TV screen as well and so we’re all thinking of him and wish him all the best. Hopefully he will be fit again very soon. It wasn’t easy to sit and wait for such a long time in the garage and not many people improved their time afterwards. It’s a long race here tomorrow and lots of things can happen. We’ve seen this year with multiple pit stops that things can change. Pole position is very important here, so we can be happy with that, but there’s no guarantee for tomorrow’s race. We need to push hard and see what we can do.”

P2 Jenson Button 1:13.997

“Today’s result in qualifying takes a bit of a back seat after what happened to Sergio [Perez] in Q3 this afternoon. We all know this circuit can be dangerous, and I know what it feels like to go off at that particular corner, but I’m very happy to hear that he appears not to have been seriously injured. I’ve got no doubt that he’ll already be telling the doctors that he wants to race tomorrow. As for my performance, I was very happy with my Q3 lap: I knew there was more to come from the car after my Q1 and Q2 runs, when I had a bit too much understeer. While second isn’t the easiest place to get away from here, it’s still nice to be up at the front. I think we’ll see a different Monaco Grand Prix from what we usually see – strategy will be important, and I think it will make the race more exciting than normal because we should be able to push for victory despite not starting from pole. Our car feels good here, and that’s given me a lot of confidence: I’ll be pushing in the race tomorrow.”

P3 Mark Webber 1:14.019

“The races are more mixed up this year compared to the last few years, and tomorrow is no exception. It’s possible to win from P3 but, that said, qualifying is crucial here and pole is certainly a nice benefit to have. Seb did a great lap and deserved pole and JB did too. It was a messy session for all of us – you never anticipate not getting a second go, but that’s the way it fell today and bigger priorities took over when one of our colleagues, Sergio, had a crash. All our thoughts are with him; he’s in great hands and he’s talking and is conscious, which is good news; he’ll bounce back I’m sure. We can learn from this in terms of safety here and it’s probably an area that we need to look at improving for the future. Jenson was lucky and Karl Wendlinger back in the nineties – so there are a few places around here we need to keep an eye on.”

P4 Fernando Alonso 1:14.483

“In qualifying I did not have as good a feeling from the car as I got in free practice and we need to work out exactly why. Today, McLaren were very quick and I think Hamilton was probably favourite to get pole. I don’t think the result of Q3 represents the true order because the red flag mixed up plans for many of the drivers. For Hamilton it went badly, while everything was fine for Red Bull, with us at a halfway point: we should have done two runs of two timed laps each without refuelling and therefore, we did not get the most out of the tyres. I reckon that tomorrow, overtaking will be pretty much impossible, despite the KERS, DRS and whatever else. The start will be very important and our race pace is good, so I hope I can make up some places, also making the most of any unpredictable situations and of our strategy. I expect some drivers will try for two stops and maybe others will risk doing only one. The car is handling better than a week ago at the Catalunya circuit: the balance is fine and the supersofts are working well. Perez’s accident? From inside my car I had no information as to his condition. Frightening accidents like this do make for a bit of tension, but then you try and stay focussed and do your best.”

P5 Michael Schumacher 1:14.682

“First of all, I am happy to hear that Sergio seems to be well, which is obviously the most important news. The incident reminded me a lot of what happened to Karl Wendlinger in 1994 and it shows the quality of the safety improvements the FIA have implemented since then, especially the side impact tests. As for my starting position, I benefited a little from the circumstances and probably P7 on the grid would have been more realistic. Having said that, our car looks better in race trim this weekend, so with another good start, I will try to make the most out of it. Overtaking is known to be more difficult here than at most other circuits, so it will come down to having the right strategy, especially because the tyres should last longer than in recent races and we can expect fewer stops. I think it will be an exciting race.”

P6 Felipe Massa 1:14.877

“A misture of satisfaction and regret for me after this qualifying. Along with the team, we managed to improve the handling of the car compared to free practice, reducing the oversteer, but a mistake at Rascasse in Q3 cost me one or two places. A shame, as I was on a good lap. Starting sixth is not brilliant at Monaco but here you need to use your head in the race: we will have to concentrate throughout as anything can happen. The start will be very important, but so too will be staying calm and cool-headed, lap after lap, because any mistake can cost you dear. Tyre degradation is less than we have seen before, so I don’t think there will be so many pit stops. I hope Sergio is okay: it was a frightening accident and the impact was really heavy. That part of the track is very tricky and accidents are very common there.”

P7 Lewis Hamilton 1:15.280

“I hope Sergio is well – my prayers and thoughts go out to him and his family. He was driving so well this weekend – you could see that from the onboard footage – but it was a very heavy shunt. You never want to see another driver get injured, and it’s at the back of your mind when you go back out, but you need to stay professional. After the restart in Q3, I had no temperature in my tyres or my brakes, so I didn’t manage to pull a great lap together. With hindsight, we probably should have put a banker in. I felt I’d been driving well all weekend and I had the pace to be on pole – I’m certain of that, in fact. I’ll do my best from my grid slot – and, while it’ll be tough to win from there, I won’t give up. I’ll keep pushing. My job will be to get as many points as I can tomorrow.”

P8 Nico Rosberg 1:15.766

“I have to say a special thank you to the team and the attitude everybody had today after my accident. This morning, I made a little mistake and lost control of the car but nobody was angry about that when I came back to the garage: the guys simply came up to me and said, let’s go for it in qualifying! The circumstances in Q3 were a bit tricky because the red flag came at the worst moment for me. When we went back out, it was not possible to do a fast lap because the tyres weren’t working properly, but I am still happy to have made it to Q3 after such a tough day. I also want to send my best wishes to Sergio and we are all pleased to hear that he is ok after such a big accident.”

P9 Pastor Maldonado 1:16.528

“I’m happy! We were consistent in Q1 and Q2 and I made it into Q3. It was very tight at the end of the session because of the red flag; we had just over two minutes to do our lap, so I’m pleased with ninth. We’ve been competitive throughout the weekend and we squeezed 100% out of our package again today. Our pace is strong and I will do my best to get us into the points tomorrow. I hope Sergio is ok and wish him well.”

P10 Sergio Perez no time

Medical services were on the scene quickly after Sergio Perez’ heavy crash with only 2m26s left of Q3, and the young Mexican was gently removed from the cockpit and placed in the ambulance, conscious and responding to questions from Sauber CEO Monisha Kaltenborn, at 15.08 local time.

P11 Vitaly Petrov 1:15.815

“We should be comfortably in the top 10, so naturally starting 11th on the grid is not particularly satisfying. We have found the super soft tyres challenging this weekend and I only managed to take off a few tenths when I used them, so we need to look at why this has happened. We should really be a second quicker than we are, so we will look at the data this evening and see what needs to be improved to ensure we are performing better tomorrow – we are going to have to be very much on our game strategically come race time. On another note, Sergio’s crash was a tough one. He seems to have lost control exactly where I had a problem on Thursday. We were teammates in GP2 so I hope he’s OK and I wish him all the best.”

P12 Rubens Barrichello 1:15.826

“The car felt ok but it seemed quicker on older tyres. When I went onto new tyres I didn’t get the grip I was expecting. That was the difference today and I’m a few tenths behind. It was strange and we need to understand why that was the case. I need the car to stick to the ground as much as possible. That is what I am looking for. Strategies are going to play a big part tomorrow. We all hope Sergio is ok.”

P13 Kamui Kobayashi 1:15.973

“Sergio’s accident was, of course, a shock and I’m obviously happy he has no severe injuries. In the beginning I didn’t know about the accident because I had been taken for a doping test. In qualifying I still had difficulties with my car, which kept bouncing too much despite some further set-up changes we did in the third free practice. Nevertheless, from my grid position points are within reach and this is what I’m heading for tomorrow.”

P14 Paul di Resta 1:16.118

“Once again I think that P14 is a fair reflection of our pace this weekend. Everybody knows that qualifying is very important here and so I pushed hard to get as high up the grip as possible, but the race is long and anything can happen tomorrow afternoon. So I’ll just try my best to stay out of trouble and try to make some progress with the strategy. It’s my first weekend racing a Formula One car at Monaco so I’ve lots to learn but I’m really looking forward to the race tomorrow.”

P15 Adrian Sutil 1:16.121

“It’s disappointing that we couldn’t fight for Q3, but the pace was not there today. I was bit unlucky on my last run in Q2 when Petrov wasn’t watching his mirrors and I had to abort one of my flying laps. I did another lap, but my tyres were going off by then and so I probably could have been a little bit higher up. For the race tomorrow we know that overtaking is difficult and making the strategy work won’t be easy, but we will be ready for any opportunities that come our way.”

P16 Nick Heidfeld 1:16.214

“There were no problems with the car and I did have clear laps but obviously we weren’t as fast as we want to be. After Thursday’s running we knew we still had work to do, but I thought we would be able to make it into the top ten. Unlike in Barcelona, there won’t be much overtaking here because of the nature of the track but we will be pushing hard. Maybe if we use KERS in an unconventional way, where the driver in front has not expected it, there will be an opportunity, but it certainly won’t be like the last race. Of course, anything can happen with safety cars and other cars not finishing so it’s important that we finish and push as hard as we possibly can.”

P17 Sebastien Buemi 1:16.300

P18 Heikki Kovalainen 1:17.343

“Before I talk about the sessions today I want to say that it’s good to hear that Sergio is conscious and talking. I’ve had a big accident myself and know what it’s like for the team, friends and family as you wait for news, so I hope he’s back on track soon. In quali it was quite a tricky session for me today, but I’m reasonably pleased with where I ended up. My first run didn’t really go to plan – I definitely didn’t get the best out of the tyres so I had to really go for it with the second set and that was definitely better, but not quite enough to get into Q2. But the gap to the cars ahead is pretty close and I think we’ll be ok tomorrow.”

P19 Jarno Trulli 1:17.381

“That was a bit unlucky for us. The car’s not been responding as I’d like all day and the tyres were behaving strangely – the first set was mega and the second set were really poor, so I’m not too sure where we’re going wrong. I know I could have gone much quicker on the second run with more rubber on the track but for some reason I was only marginally faster which is why we ended up where we did. Tomorrow in the race we’ll keep our heads down, run to our plan and see what happens around us. I’m sure there will be places to pick up so let’s wait and see. I also want to say that I hope Sergio is ok. That was a massive shunt and I hope we have more good news about him soon.”

P20 Jaime Alguersuari 1:17.820

P21 Timo Glock 1:17.914

“That was pretty much the perfect Saturday for me. Free Practice went well this morning and that was one of the best qualifying laps I’ve ever driven here at Monaco. I put everything into it. A couple of times I just brushed the wall and had a couple of slides close to the barriers and in the end I just got a massive lap out of it. Just before the crucial lap I said to my engineers “This is all or nothing”, and it turned out to be four tenths quicker than the lap before! Big thanks to the team – they did a good job and I took my chance to make a bit of a difference. In the end we are only a tenth away from one of the Toro Rossos and right with Lotus, so I’m quite happy with my job today.”

P22 Jerome d’Ambrosio 1:18.736

“Not a great Qualifying session for me. I think we went a bit backwards compared to this morning and Thursday, so we really need to understand why we didn’t continue to make progress. We just need to focus on that and understand and then see how we get on in the race.”

P23 Narain Karthikeyan No time

“Today was a little bit disappointing. It was not safe for the car to come out as it was, so we had to make some changes to the suspension which resulted in us being unable to run in qualifying. We would have easily qualified, just like in the last four races, I have no doubts about that. So it was a good decision from the stewards to let us race.”

P24 Vitantonio Liuzzi No time

“It was a difficult day because in the morning I had a crash in corner 1. I have been struggling a lot with the balance of the car since Thursday, the rear end is suffering a lot. The FIA showed some good sense with the decision they made since we’ve been inside the 107% rule for every race since Australia. It will be a difficult race tomorrow because we’re struggling with the balance on the car but in Monaco you never know what will happen.”