“They’ve done a great job up to now, with the track especially”, said Rosberg, who had been slower than triple world champion Hamilton in practice but may yet have the last laugh.
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Rosberg edged out Force India’s Sergio Perez to take pole for Mercedes at the Baku City Circuit as teammate Lewis Hamilton made four mistakes across the course of a session marred by yellow flag periods.
“The lap we put together in Q3 was very strong”.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel set an identical time to Ricciardo but the Ricciardo’s track position earned him P3. I need to say a big “thank you” to my team for the fantastic job they did to fix my vehicle in time for qualifying.
Perez will drop to seventh on the grid by virtue of a penalty for changing his gearbox after a crash in FP3, lifting Ricciardo onto the front row of the grid for Ferrari.
Team workers modified the track overnight, removing kerbs that had lifted in Friday practice and moving the white lines at the pit lane entry.
Rosberg, who will be keen to bounce back from two miserable race weekends, added: “It is not imperative that I win. It is damage limitation from here and I will do what I can”, said Hamilton. “Thanks to the guys the team for getting me out at the front and giving me that clear run to make sure i got a lap in”, he said.
The German Mercedes driver took advantage of Hamilton’s mistake in Q3 and claimed P1 shortly afterwards, but refused to think anything of it as he knows the Brit has the capabilities to tear through the grid no matter where he starts. In Q3 I did one of my best laps in Formula One – maximising every corner and kissing the walls.
Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg, however, was probably the biggest casualty, having to settle for 12th, after locking up on his first flying lap and then pitting by mistake at the end when he thought he had time to do another run.
“One of them, I think Nico, was complaining about the speed into the pitlane”. A blisteringly quick 1:42.758 lap time marks Rosberg’s third pole position in the 2016 season.
Kimi Riakkonen will start fourth on the grid ahead of Felipe Massa, Daniil Kvyat, the demoted Perez and Valtteri Bottas. Max Verstappen finished ninth for Red Bull ahead of the crest-fallen Hamilton in P10.
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Unhappy about the safety of the circuit, the 2009 champion was eliminated along with Indonesian Rio Haryanto, who was a creditable 17th for Manor and his team-mate Pascal Wehrlein, 18th. Behind Button were Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson and the Renaults of Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer.
