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Brendon Hartley speaks to media ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix.

Brendon Hartley will start the Monaco Grand Prix from 16th place on the grid after struggling in qualifying.

The pressure is on the Toro Rosso driver, who has been struggling for speed in 2018 and has only managed to collect a solitary point in five races, with rumours swirling that he could be racing for his Formula One future in Monaco on Sunday (Monday NZT).

And his performance in qualifying, where he posted the 16th quickest time of 1min 13.179sec, won't dispel the speculation. He will start near the rare of the field in a race which is traditionally difficult to overtake.

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Brendon Hartley posted the 16th quickest time in qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix.

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"I'm really disappointed getting knocked out in Q1, especially after ending practice this morning in P7 and I was really happy with the car," Hartley said. 

"We've been looking strong all weekend, but when it came to qualifying I wasn't as happy with the car in terms of balance, so there's a bit to be looked at there. It's always a tough one around here, it can be a lottery with traffic and yellow flags, and in the last two attempts I had in qualifying there was a lot of both, so it really wasn't ideal - especially since it's very difficult to pass around here.

"It will be tough tomorrow, but our car looks good so we'll see what we can do."

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo will start from pole after posting the quickest time of 1min 10.810sec.

 - Stuff