F1 Paddock Notebook - Monaco GP Saturday

- Lewis Hamilton swept to his second pole position of the season on Saturday in Monaco after beating Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas in the final stage of qualifying by eight-hundredths of a second. It marked the Briton's 85th career pole, and the second around the streets of Monaco.

- Hamilton dedicated the pole success to the late Niki Lauda, who died earlier this week at the age of 70. In his first media appearance since Lauda's passing, Hamilton spoke warmly of his close friend, saying he wanted to "give it assholes" for Lauda, adding: "That's honestly what he says all the time!"

- Hamilton also spoke of the role Lauda played in him signing for Mercedes in 2013: "He was part of the process of changing my life. If I hadn’t had the call all that time ago, I would be a one-time world champion now, and probably 22 wins whatever it was when I was at McLaren. And I sit here a five-time world champion. I definitely feel like I owe him a lot."

- Valtteri Bottas made no secret of his disappointment after missing out on his fourth straight pole. Bottas had led Hamilton after the opening runs in Q3, but traffic and cold tyres meant he could not improve with his final effort. "I felt I had it today," the Finn said.

- Max Verstappen was left pleased with P3 for Red Bull, but felt the half a second gap to pole-sitter Hamilton was exaggerated after he struggled to get a perfect lap together in Q3 due to struggles with his tyres.

- Verstappen made light of the fact it was only the third time in five years he had taken part in Monaco qualifying, with his 2018 absence coming as a result of an FP3 crash. Verstappen rejected the suggestion from Red Bull team boss Christian Horner that said crash was his "lowest point", though: "Sometimes you need the ones which hurt a bit more to become a better driver and that’s exactly what happened last year."

- Ferrari was left licking its wounds after Charles Leclerc's shock Q1 exit. The team opted against running him late in the session as its data said he would make it through, only for teammate Sebastian Vettel to bump him out. Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto called an unscheduled press briefing to explain the incident and what happened, calling it a "misjudgement". Binotto said Ferrari did not need to change its procedures or personnel in light of the incident, though.

- Vettel got through Q1 despite touching the wall during one of his runs, eventually finishing the session fastest. Another mistake in Q3 - touching the wall at Tabac - meant he could only qualify fourth. These followed a lock-up and crash into the wall at Turn 1 in opening practice earlier in the day.

- Pierre Gasly recorded his best qualifying result for Red Bull in P5, but was hit with a three-place grid penalty for blocking Romain Grosjean. Grosjean said he felt the penalty for Gasly was harsh, despite himself not advancing to Q3 due to the block. Kevin Magnussen, Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat all gain one place on the grid as a result of the penalty.

- Antonio Giovinazzi has also received a three-place grid penalty for blocking, dropping him from P15 to P18.

- Charles Leclerc, Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg all escaped a penalty for not immediately reporting to the weighbridge during the session, with the stewards finding the layout of the Monaco pit entry meant the drivers were unable to commit to going to the weighbridge by the time their number had been shown.

- Sergio Perez, Max Verstappen and George Russell all continued their perfect qualifying records over their teammates so far this year, leaving them 6-0 up.

- James Key took part in his first media briefing since joining McLaren, saying that he found his gardening leave period from Toro Rosso one of the "most frustrating times in my 21 years in F1". Key had to down tools for a number of months before officially starting with McLaren at the end of March, after signing last summer.

- A number of celebrities were out and about in Monaco on Saturday including football star Kylian Mbappe and Game of Thrones' Liam Cunningham. Prince Albert of Monaco was also present today.