This is how important pole position could be for Hamilton or Verstappen

The narrow street circuit of Monaco is known to make a good starting position very important, as it is almost impossible to overtake. However, pole position is certainly no guarantee of victory, as can be seen from some of the results in recent years.

For example, in recent years it can be seen that several times the race was not won from pole position. This was the case three years in a row: in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Also in the further past, the first starting position proved far from always a guarantee of victory.

In 2015, victory went to Nico Rosberg, who won the historic Grand Prix in Monte Carlo for the third year in a row. However, he did not start from pole: that was done by Lewis Hamilton, who led the race for a long time. However, when a crash involving Max Verstappen and Romain Grosjean triggered a safety car, Hamilton lost both first and second place by making a pit stop, while Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel stayed out.

In 2016, it was Daniel Ricciardo who started from the first starting position, and he seemed to have victory in his pocket. However, during his second pit stop, problems arose at Red Bull Racing, causing him to lose the victory to Hamilton.

In 2017, pole position also proved no guarantee of first place on Sunday. Kimi Raikkonen was the fastest in qualifying, but his then Ferrari teammate Vettel managed to beat him with a better pit stop strategy.