Kvyat escapes stewards punishment, keeps eighth

Daniil Kvyat will start the Monaco Grand Prix from eighth position on the grid after no punishment was handed down for failing a technical scrutineering.

The Russian, competing in his second event back with the Toro Rosso team after being demoted by Red Bull, reached Q3 en route to the ninth fastest time, though this becomes eighth place by virtue of an impending grid penalty for Kimi Raikkonen ahead.

However, Kvyat faced a penalty of his own after a 'front floor' defect was found, the FIA technical delegate reporting a 'vertical deflection under a vertical load of 4000 Newton exceeded 5mm'.

Referred to the stewards for further consideration, it was eventually determined that damage to the floor during Q2 contributed to the failure and was not down to it being 'illegal'

As a result, Kvyat will start eighth, though the man himself was frustrated that the aforementioned floor damage arguably cost him a better grid spot.

"I think I hit the kerb really hard at Turn 14 - the Swimming Pool - and I think something broke. The last three corners I was just a passenger, I just couldn't turn, so I lost a lot of lap time there and unfortunately it ended up being a s**t lap."

In a strong session for Toro Rosso, Carlos Sainz will start from sixth position, the Italian team well placed to consolidate its current fifth place in the standings.