Daniel Ricciardo will start the Monaco Grand Prix from pole position while his Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen missed qualifying due to his free practice accident.
Ricciardo topped the first two stages of qualifying, with Verstappen unable even to take to the track thanks to damage sustained in a morning accident at the second part of Swimming Pool that forced a gearbox change, before setting a blistering marker of 1m10.810s on his first run in Q3 to take the top spot.
New lap record 👏
Second career pole 💪
And all on @redbullracing's 250 Grand Prix weekendRide onboard with @danielricciardo for that stunning #MonacoGP lap 👀 pic.twitter.com/n13gHNpEwZ
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 26, 2018
The Dutchman will now line up P20 and last, which could change to starting in the pitlane if his gearbox issue needs more repairs.
Lewis Hamilton initially put himself on the front row of the grid after the first laps in Q3, just 0.002s faster than Sebastian Vettel and 0.005s quicker than Kimi Raikkonen.
A second run saw Vettel move up to second place, 0.229s off the pace, while Hamilton improved his time but had to settle for third place.
Raikkonen was fourth fastest, 0.034s slower than Hamilton, with the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas in fifth place.
Esteban Ocon was P6 ahead of Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz, while Sergio Perez and Pierre Gasly completed the top ten.
#MonacoGP grid top 10
1️⃣ Honey Badger 🇦🇺
2️⃣ Red finger 🇩🇪
3️⃣ Terrible tyre 🇬🇧
4️⃣ Iceman 🇫🇮
5️⃣ Robodonkey 🇫🇮
6️⃣ Oc-on it a bit 🇫🇷
7️⃣ Can I go to Indy now? 🇪🇸
8️⃣ King Carlos 🇪🇸
9️⃣ Im-Pérez-sive 🇲🇽
🔟 Just enough Gas 🇫🇷#F1 pic.twitter.com/oyXQCxPVw0— Fantasy GP (@Fantasy_GP) May 26, 2018
Nico Hulkenberg’s final lap in Q2 was not good enough to get him into the top 10, falling a tenth short of Gasly’s time.
McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne was shuffled down to P12, having been sixth based on his time on the first runs, thanks to failing to improve on his second set of tyres.
Williams driver Sergey Sirotkin and Sauber’s Charles Leclerc were P8 and P9 respectively in Q1, but ended up P13 and P14 overall despite both making slight improvements in the second stage of qualifying.
Out in Q2
1️⃣1️⃣ Credible Hulk
1️⃣2️⃣ Stof-fell at the last hurdle
1️⃣3️⃣ Sirotkin (apparently)
1️⃣4️⃣ It is I, Leclerc
1️⃣5️⃣ Woe-main Goes-on#MonacoGP #F1— Badger GP (@Fantasy_GP) May 26, 2018
Meanwhile, Romain Grosjean qualified P15 but will drop three places on the grid after incurring a grid penalty for his antics on the opening lap of the Spanish Grand Prix.
Out in Q3
1️⃣6️⃣ Hartley had a chance
1️⃣7️⃣ Old Mobile
1️⃣8️⃣ Strolled when should be running
1️⃣9️⃣ Oh Kevin
2️⃣0️⃣ Crashtappen#MonacoGP #F1— Badger GP (@Fantasy_GP) May 26, 2018