2012 Monaco Grand Prix qualifying
Michael Schumacher was fastest in qualifying, but a penalty means Mark Webber will start the Monaco Grand Prix from pole
Michael Schumacher was the fastest man in qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix, but a penalty means Mark Webber will start from pole position.
Schumacher's final lap of the day was just eight-hundredths of a second faster than Webber, but he starts sixth due to a five-place grid penalty following his collision with Bruno Senna in Barcelona. Webber has form at Monaco, having won the race from pole in 2010.
Mercedes' Nico Rosberg - who was fastest in final practice - will join Webber on the front row of the grid, ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Romain Grosjean.
Fernando Alonso is in fifth, having qualified just a tenth of a second faster than his teammate Felipe Massa. This is the first time the Brazilian driver has qualified within the top 10 this season, and he was fastest of all the drivers in Q2.
Lotus' Kimi Raikkonen will start in seventh place ahead of Sebastian Vettel, who was the only driver not to set a time in the final qualifying session.
Maldonado was ninth fastest but will start the race from 23rd due to a 10-place grid penalty, plus a five-place drop for a gearbox change, following a crash in final practice. The Venezuelan driver - who took his first Formula One victory in the last race in Barcelona - appeared to cause a collision with Sergio Perez, before crashing his Williams just a few moments later and bringing the session to an end. This follows his penalty for driving into Lewis Hamilton in Belgium last year.
Nico Hulkenberg has then inherited 10th place, and will start ahead of Kamui Kobayashi and Jenson Button. All three failed to make it into the final qualifying session.
The biggest casualty of the day was Sergio Perez. He crashed into a barrier during the first qualifying session, due to what looked like a steering problem. He lost his left-rear wheel and was forced to park his car on track.
Perez also had a huge crash during qualifying in Monaco last year, which left him out of the race and in hospital with severe concussion.
2012 Monaco Grand Prix grid
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1'14.381 |
| 2 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1'14.448 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1'14.583 |
| 4 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1'14.639 |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1'14.948 |
| 6 | Michael Schumacher* | Mercedes | 1'14.301 |
| 7 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1'15.049 |
| 8 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault | 1'15.199 |
| 9 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | No time |
| 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1'15.421 |
| 11 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1'15.508 |
| 12 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1'15.536 |
| 13 | Bruno Senna | Williams-Renault | 1'15.709 |
| 14 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1'15.718 |
| 15 | Daniel Ricciardo | STR-Ferrari | 1'15.878 |
| 16 | Jean-Eric Vergne | STR-Ferrari | 1'16.885 |
| 17 | Heikki Kovalainen | Caterham-Renault | 1'16.538 |
| 18 | Vitaly Petrov | Caterham-Renault | 1'17.404 |
| 19 | Timo Glock | Marussia-Cosworth | 1'17.947 |
| 20 | Pedro de la Rosa | HRT-Cosworth | 1'18.096 |
| 21 | Charles Pic | Marussia-Cosworth | 1'18.476 |
| 22 | Narain Karthikeyan | HRT-Cosworth | 1'19.310 |
| 23 | Pastor Maldonado** | Williams-Renault | 1'15.245 |
| 24 | Sergio Perez*** | Sauber-Ferrari | No time |
107 per cent time: 1'20.697
* Five-place grid penalty for causing a collision in Barcelona
** 10-place grid penalty for causing a collision in practice, plus five for a gearbox change
*** Five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change
