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Jensen Button in the Brawn car - Source: Reuters -
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Formula One championship leader Jenson Button put himself on pole position for a fifth win in six races after a manic Monaco Grand Prix qualifying session on Sunday.
Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 world champion whose Ferrari team are threatening to walk away at the end of the season in a standoff over the 2010 rules, joined the Briton on the front row with the Italian team returning to form after a dismal start to the year.
Button's Brazilian Brawn GP team mate Rubens Barrichello qualified third on his 37th birthday with Red Bull's German Sebastian Vettel alongside.
"Today was a really tough fight," said Button of a seventh career pole position, and fourth in six races, secured with a flying lap of 1:14.902 right at the end of qualifying seconds after Raikkonen's 1:14.927.
"It was manic, as it always is in Monaco, It's good to have come away with the pole, I was right on the edge," added the Monaco resident, favourite for a home victory on a street circuit notoriously difficult for overtaking.
The published weights showed Button's car had about two laps more fuel on board than Raikkonen, weighing in at 647.5kg compared to the Finn's s 644.0. Vettel had the lightest car on the grid at 631.5.
"I think Jenson is getting into the habit of saving the best for last," team boss Ross Brawn told BBC television. "He knew that was the lap where he had to produce and he's just driving exceptionally well at the moment."
Hamilton nightmare
Ferrari's Brazilian Felipe Massa starts fifth, completing Ferrari's best qualifying of the season, with Germany's Nico Rosberg next to him in a Williams.
Raikkonen doubted he could have done a better time: "It's good to be back in the fight for the top places and I will give it my best shot to try and win," he said.
While one Briton celebrated, another had a nightmare afternoon.
Defending champion Lewis Hamilton will start last after wrecking his chances of winning for the second year in a row when he smashed his McLaren into the barriers.
The 24-year-old lost the back end of the car on the entrance to the Mirabeau hairpin and hit the tyre wall in the first part of qualifying.
With debris on the track, the session was halted briefly while Hamilton made his way back to the garages.
McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh told reporters the car's gearbox would be changed, with the penalty sending Hamilton from 16th to last place.
"Going for a race win is for sure over," said Hamilton, who expected Button to enjoy a "nice, Sunday drive" to victory.
"I just don't know what I was thinking, I made a mistake. It's a shame because the weekend had been going so well. I want to apologise to the team for wasting their time."
Toyota, still chasing their first win, were also licking their wounds after Germany's Timo Glock and Italian Jarno Trulli filled the back row.
Trulli, winner in Monaco in 2004, said he had been blocked by another car but otherwise seemed completely depressed.
"It was a terrible day," he said. "We have tried everything, we really put the car upside down and anything we did has not changed the situation.
"We never had such a bad performance...it's too much, especially for me, here in Monaco. The pace is just too far away."
However, Force India were on a high after breaking into the second qualifying phase for the first time with Giancarlo Fisichella qualifying 13th and Adrian Sutil in 15th.
"It feels a bit like a pole position for us," said Sutil.
