On the biggest stage in the F1 world and after seeing his precocious new teammate Max Verstappen grab a race win in Spain two weeks ago, Daniel Ricciardo showed that both his and Red Bull’s resurgence were no fluke with a strong run for pole in Monaco. Ricciardo beat out the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg by over a tenth while teammate Lewis Hamilton had to scramble for P3 after engine troubles delayed his quail run in Q3. Proving that success can be fleeting, last race’s hero Verstappen put his Red Bull into the always-encroaching walls on this tight street circuit in Q1 and will start from the back of the pack on Sunday. Rosberg is gunning for his unheard of fourth win in a row on the Principality’s streets but it looks like Ricciardo has everything he needs to put an end to that streak come Sunday and grab the win for himself.
Sebastian Vettel was a displeased P4 for Ferrari while Vettel’s teammate Raikkonen could muster no better than P6. Nico Hulkenberg exceeded expectations for beleaguered Force India with an excellent P5 and his stablemate Sergio Perez was not far behind in P8. The two Toro Rosso’s were also split with Carlos Sainz P7 and Daniil Kvyat P9. And Fernando Alonso was fast enough for tenth on the grid in the improving McLaren.
Top 10 qualifiers for the Monaco Grand Prix:
| POS. | NO. | DRIVER | TEAM | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | DANIEL RICCIARDO | RED BULL RACING | 1:14.912 | 1:14.357 | 1:13.622 | 21 |
| 2 | 6 | NICO ROSBERG | MERCEDES | 1:14.873 | 1:14.043 | 1:13.791 | 24 |
| 3 | 44 | LEWIS HAMILTON | MERCEDES | 1:14.826 | 1:14.056 | 1:13.942 | 21 |
| 4 | 5 | SEBASTIAN VETTEL | FERRARI | 1:14.610 | 1:14.318 | 1:14.552 | 23 |
| 5 | 27 | NICO HULKENBERG | FORCE INDIA | 1:15.333 | 1:14.989 | 1:14.726 | 25 |
| 6 | 7 | KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN | FERRARI | 1:15.499 | 1:14.789 | 1:14.732 | 25 |
| 7 | 55 | CARLOS SAINZ | TORO ROSSO | 1:15.467 | 1:14.805 | 1:14.749 | 23 |
| 8 | 11 | SERGIO PEREZ | FORCE INDIA | 1:15.328 | 1:14.937 | 1:14.902 | 28 |
| 9 | 26 | DANIIL KVYAT | TORO ROSSO | 1:15.384 | 1:14.794 | 1:15.273 | 23 |
| 10 | 14 | FERNANDO ALONSO | MCLAREN | 1:15.504 | 1:15.107 | 1:15.363 | 26 |
Complete qualifying relates available via Formula1.com.
Tomorrow’s race coverage begins live at 8:00 AM Eastern on NBC Sports here in the States. Hope to see you then to start the biggest day of the year in motorsports in inimitable Monte Carlo style!