Brilliant Ricciardo delivers first career pole in Monaco as Red Bull beat Mercedes; Rosberg starts second, with Hamilton third after early Q3 engine problems; Verstappen 21st after crash
Saturday 28 May 2016 18:40, UK
Daniel Ricciardo claimed a sensational first pole position of his F1 career for resurgent Red Bull in Monaco, with Nico Rosberg beating Lewis Hamilton to second as Mercedes ran into fresh reliability concerns.
Two weeks on from Red Bull's return to winning ways in Spain, Ricciardo delivered their first pole since 2013 as the Australian followed through on his stunning Thursday practice pace around the principality's streets.
He will start Sunday's race alongside championship leader Rosberg, who outqualified Mercedes team-mate Hamilton.
Hamilton salvaged third place at the last after missing out on the first Q3 runs when his W07 stopped at the exit of the pit lane with what Mercedes confirmed was a fuel-pressure problem.
Team boss Toto Wolff said there was the same issue on Rosberg's car, although the German was able to complete both of his planned runs.
Red Bull's joy at returning to the front of the grid was tempered by a crash for Spanish GP victor Max Verstappen, who will start from the back row.
Sebastian Vettel was fourth for Ferrari, as Force India's Nico Hulkenberg starred to beat the other Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen to fifth. Raikkonen will now drop to 11th after an unscheduled gearbox change.
Hamilton down after engine woe
Ricciardo, who felt he would have won in Spain had his strategy proved more advantageous, had topped the times by 0.6s on Thursday and unleashed a stunning lap at the start of Q3 - 1:13.622 - to lay down a marker no one else could reach.
"No disrespect to Red Bull, but I think that's Ricciardo's pole position," said Sky F1's Martin Brundle. "He's been on it all weekend."
In a potentially ace strategy card for Sunday, Ricciardo will also be the only driver in the top 10 to start the race on the more durable supersoft tyres after clocking his best Q2 time on the red-marked rubber. The other leading runners will start on ultrasofts and theoretically have to pit earlier.
Hamilton had himself set an eye-catching pace in Q2, but his W07 ground to a halt as he exited the pits at the start of the pole shootout. Having already seen engine problems scupper his qualifying sessions in China and Russia, Hamilton's W07 was eventually restarted and he came out in time for the deciding final runs.
After several warm-up laps to bring his ultrasoft tyres up to temperature, the world champion was quicker than Ricciardo through the first sector of his final effort but in the end fell 0.320s adrift of the flying Red Bull. Rosberg, winner in Monaco in each of the last three years, then consolidated his second place.
"I don't know what the problem was," a forlorn-looking Hamilton said. "If the car keeps going l will fight as hard as I can. Hopefully it rains - that will be pretty amazing."
Hamilton trails Rosberg by 43 points in the championship after five races and last won in Monaco, then from third on the grid, in rainy conditions in 2008. Wet weather is forecast for race day.
As Ricciardo starred to claim his first F1 pole at the 94th attempt, team-mate Verstappen went from hero to zero on an error-strewn Saturday at F1's showpiece event.
Arriving in Monaco as F1's new youngest-ever race winner after a startling Red Bull debut at Barcelona, Verstappen had already tagged the barriers in final practice before another error in Q1.
Breaking his car's suspension against the guardrail on the exit of the Swimming Pool complex, Verstappen was sent into a heavy collision course with the barrier.
He will start the race, arguably the hardest to overtake at of the whole season, on the back row alongside Felipe Nasr, whose Sauber blew-up in the early minutes of Q1.
"I turned in a bit too early so I clipped the wall and broke the suspension as I hit the wall," Verstappen told Sky Sports F1.
"I felt quite good, I felt confident on my push lap. Car balance was good, it was all coming together but into the chicane I underestimated the grip I had. I turned in too early and it was all wrong."
With Verstappen out of the top-10 running, former team-mate Carlos Sainz capped an impressive weekend so far to take seventh for Toro Rosso - two places and half a second ahead of team-mate Daniil Kvyat.
Sergio Perez was eighth in the second Force India, with Fernando Alonso making the top 10 for the second successive race for McLaren. Jenson Button qualified 13th.
Monaco GP Qualifying
Q3
1. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:13.622
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:13.791
3. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:13.942
4. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:14.552
5. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:14.726
6. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:14.732*
7. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:14.749
8. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:14.902
9. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1:15.273
10. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:15.363
Q2
11. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:15.273
12. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 1:15.293
13. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:15.352
14. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:15.385
15. Romain Grosjean, Haas, 1:15.571
16. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 1:16.058
Q1
17. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:16.299
18. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1:16.586
19. Rio Haryanto, Manor, 1:17.295
20. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 1:17.452
21. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 1:22.467
22. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, No time
*five-place grid penalty
Watch the Monaco GP live on Sky Sports F1. The race starts at 1pm on Sunday, with build-up underway at 11.30am. Or watch the race without a contract for £6.99 on NOW TV.
