Lewis Hamilton on pole for Monaco Grand Prix ahead of Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel

Lewis Hamilton salutes the crowd as he beats Nico Rosberg to top spot in qualifying for today's Monaco Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton always wanted to be the Master of Monaco in the image of his hero Ayrton Senna. And on Saturday, at the ninth attempt, he finally claimed the most precious pole position in motor racing.

The double world champion will start the Monaco Grand Prix ahead of his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, who wobbled when the pressure was most fierce, a lock-up causing him to lose out by three-and-a-half tenths of a second.

Few of those who saw Hamilton place himself on the map of a wider world by driving to two crushing victories around the same track in the 2006 GP2 race thought it would be May 2015 before he took a Formula One pole position here.

QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION: MONACO GRAND PRIX

1. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 1:15.098

2. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 1:15.440

3. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Ferrari 1:15.849

4. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull - Renault 1:16.041

5. Daniil Kvyat (Russia) Red Bull - Renault 1:16.182

6. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 1:16.427

7. Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India - Mercedes 1:16.808

8. Carlos Sainz Jr (Spain) Toro Rosso - Renault 1:16.931

9. Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Lotus - Mercedes 1:16.946

10. Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Toro Rosso - Renault 1:16.957

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11. Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus - Mercedes 1:17.007 (will serve a five-place grid penalty after unscheduled gearbox change)

12. Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 1:17.093

13. Nico Hulkenberg (Germany) Force India - Mercedes 1:17.193

14. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Williams-Mercedes 1:17.278

15. Fernando Alonso (Spain) McLaren 1:26.632

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16. Felipe Nasr (Brazil) Sauber - Ferrari 1:18.101

17. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams-Mercedes 1:18.434

18. Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) Sauber - Ferrari 1:18.513

19. Will Stevens (Britain) Marussia - Ferrari 1:20.655

20. Roberto Merhi (Spain) Marussia - Ferrari 1:20.904

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1-10: third and final qualifying session

11-15: second qualifying session

16-20: first qualifying session

Watch the live race (Monaco Grand Prix) 3:00 PM (today)