Fortunately his team mate at Red Bull, Daniel Ricciardo managed to bring his vehicle home for the team’s first pole since the Brazilian GP back in 2013. Vettel is in a Ferrari and Webber a Porsche sports auto now, but for the Red Bull Racing pairing of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, just one race old, shades of that former glory are starting to appear.
Advertisement
Sergio Perez completed the podium positions for Force India in third place.
Ricciardo, however, was the man to beat with a flying lap in 1:13.622 that left him nine-tenths clear of all his rivals – stunning evidence of his potential.
With cars trailing around behind the safety vehicle for the first seven laps, some drivers began to sound impatient.
But the Virtual Safety Car was deployed a lap later after Renault driver Jolyon Palmer crashed at the Sainte Dévote corner.
Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton befell yet another hardship at the start of Q3, as prior to his pit-lane exit – his Mercedes AMG halted without explanation. Nico Rosberg has won the past three races in Monaco and has a 39-point lead in the drivers’ standings.
Hamilton’s shot at pole at a circuit where overtaking is virtually impossible, was severely hampered by a fuel pressure issue.
Hamilton showed what he is capable of by pulling out two purple laps and after only four laps he was 10.3sec ahead of Rosberg. “I prayed for a day like this, it came through and I feel truly blessed”.
The supersoft has a longer life span than the ultrasoft, meaning Ricciardo has the more durable tyre and track position in his favour at a circuit where passing opportunities are at a premium, and where pit stops and strategic options are limited.
With 30 laps gone, Hamilton had Ricciardo all over his tail.
He made the right call on the tyres, with a late change to slicks, and got more mileage out of the ultrasofts than expected.
Ricciardo, understandably, cut a disconsolate figure after the race.
Hamilton’s hopes of pole suffered a big blow at the start of the final 12-minute session when Mercedes told him to stop at the end of the pitlane as he headed out.
Hamilton responded with his fastest lap of the race, a 1m 23.979s, and then an even quicker 1m 22.446s.
Following Raikkonen’s grid penalty, Carlos Sainz will start from sixth while Daniil Kvyat will line up eighth in an impressive session for Red Bull’s sister team.
Behind, Sebastian Vettel could do no better than fourth for Ferrari, 0.610secs off Hamilton and 0.930secs off pole.
Advertisement
Rosberg, the runaway championship leader, will need a strong start on Sunday to stand a chance of a fifth win in six races this season.
