Michael Schumacher said he was thrilled to set the fastest time in qualifying at the Monaco Grand Prix and will not dwell on the penalty that will mean he will start from sixth on the grid.

14799 - Michael Schumacher thrilled to be back on top

Schumacher's best lap of 1:14.301 was 0.080s faster than Mark Webber, who will start from pole, to register his best qualifying performance since his return in 2010.

"First of all, I'm more than thrilled about making the pole position here in Monaco," he said. "Monaco, to all of us, is the track of the year - it has a very prestigious position. To manage pole position here after what happened in the last two and half years is just fabulous and that's what will stick in my mind.

"I told you guys already in the press conference [on Wednesday] that my situation was that I would try to be on pole and start the race from sixth and go and win it. That's what I'm here for and that's what I'll aim for. That's all I have in my mind and the past doesn't matter."

He thanked his team and said their efforts this weekend had made everything click.

"I'll leave it to others to say what it means or doesn't mean," he added. "For me, I'm obviously excited, very happy and I'm feeling what I haven't felt for a long time. Sometimes you put everything together at the right moment and here it worked out. So it's a big thanks to the team, to the guys that work very close with me, we had a special session earlier this week, and this sort of unifies us even more."