Monaco Grand Prix: Daniel Ricciardo seals Red Bull’s first pole position since 2013, Rosberg and Hamilton in second and third

Daniel Ricciardo secured the first pole of his Formula One career, and Red Bull’s first since 2013, with an incredible lap in qualifying for Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix.

Championship leader Nico Rosberg will join the Australian on the front row with his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who has not won at the principality since 2008, only third on the grid. 

Hamilton already trails Rosberg by 43 points, and the fraught defence of his championship crown took another dramatic twist after another engine failure prevented the Briton from posting a quick lap until the closing moments of qualifying.

Hamilton emerged for Q3 - the final phase of qualifying - but was told to stop at the end of the pit-lane with a fuel leak issue before his car was recovered by his Mercedes mechanics.

The 31-year-old Brit was back on track with six of the 12-minute phase remaining, and in the closing moments he appeared on course to snatch a dramatic pole from Ricciardo, but a slow final sector means he will start not only behind Ricciardo, but his Mercedes team-mate, too.

With overtaking almost impossible at the narrow street circuit, Hamilton, three-tenths of a second slower than Ricciardo, cut a bleak figure in the post-qualifying press conference.

Ricciardo's Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen had thrilled the sport with his incredible victory at the Spanish Grand Prix to become Formula One's youngest-ever winner, but the 18-year-old crashed out of qualifying in dramatic fashion.

He will start last but one on Sunday after he clipped the barrier on the entrance to the chicane at the high-speed swimming pool complex, breaking his right-front suspension, and crashing head-on into the wall.

The session was immediately red-flagged as the debris from the accident littered the asphalt. Verstappen, who also crashed in final practice earlier on Saturday, emerged from the Red Bull cockpit with only his dignity bruised.

Jenson Button predicted the twisty street circuit would herald his best chance of a strong finish this season, but the 2009 world champion failed to reach the final phase of qualifying and will start only 13th

He was three tenths adrift of his McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso, who made it through to Q3, and posted a lap good enough for tenth.

Elsewhere, Sebastian Vettel was fourth for Ferrari with Force India's Nico Hulkenberg fifth.

Kimi Raikkonen qualified sixth, but will drop five places after being dealt a gearbox penalty.

ANALYSIS: PRESSURE MOUNTS ON FERRARI F1 TEAM AS MARCHIONNE PREDICTS VICTORY IN SPAIN

Ferrari chairman and newly appointed CEO Sergio Marchionne expects the Scuderia to start winning Formula 1 races from this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix and blames bad luck for its disappointing start to the season.

After the first four races of 2016, Ferrari has scored 76 points to Mercedes’ 157, and has achieved a best finish of second for Kimi Raikkonen in Bahrain and Sebastian Vettel in China.

The squad was in a position to win the season opening race in Australia but made the wrong call on tyres during the red flag period caused by Fernando Alonso’s enormous crash with Esteban Gutierrez

There had been much speculation over the winter months, from Marchionne and other Ferrari figures, that the team could bridge the gap to Mercedes and fight the German manufacturer for this year’s world title, but so far this has not been the case.

As he spoke at a presentation for the new Alfa Romeo road car, the Giulia, in Italy, Marchionne predicted that the Scuderia would return to the top step of the podium as early as this weekend’s race in Barcelona, which would be its first F1 win since the 2015 Singapore Grand Prix.

He said: “I am confident. Sunday will be an important day. So far, much of it was down to bad luck, but the season has just begun. I expect us to win shortly, starting with Spain.”

.Marchionne also explained that he was happy with the performances of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, who have both been involved in high-profile mechanical retirements and crashes so far in 2016. The pair even collided at the start of the Chinese Grand Prix, which Vettel vocally blamed on Red Bull’s former driver, Daniil Kvyat, before saying it was a racing incident.

That was also the only race where both Ferrari drivers made it to the chequered flag. Raikkonen retired with power unit problems in Australia, Vettel suffered a parade-lap engine failure in Bahrain and Kvyat punted him out of the Russian race.

The Ferrari boss said: “I’m very satisfied with both Vettel and Raikkonen. The only thing that hasn’t worked well is luck.”

Whether Ferrari truly does have the pace to challenge Mercedes this year will surely be revealed in Spain. At last year’s race in Barcelona Nico Rosberg finished 45 seconds clear of Vettel, the top Ferrari driver in that race.

What will be a concern to the Scuderia, as well as the incidents that have blighted its recent races, is that it has spent 26 power unit tokens (out of a possible 32 for the season), and it introduced a big upgrade from the last race in Sochi.

Mercedes has spent five fewer tokens and yet the closest Ferrari has come to beating the Silver Arrows in qualifying was in Shanghai where Raikkonen was 0.5s adrift of Rosberg and behind Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo.

A clean race for the Ferrari drivers in Barcelona should finally give us an answer on the team’s gains, but we believe that Mercedes remains a good half a second quicker.

There has been speculation in the last 24 hours that Marchionne could move to replace Arrivabene as team principal with technical director James Allison. We have made some discreet enquiries in Italy about this and it seems to be nothing more than speculation, possibly triggered by the confirmation of Marchionne’s new executive role.

There is no move in hand to replace the former tobacco executive and Allison only recently returned to work after the sudden and tragic death of his wife Becky.

Alfa Romeo return dependent on sales

There have also been rumours that Marchionne is planning to bring the Alfa Romeo brand back to F1, he is the CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, which owns Ferrari and Alfa. But the Italian described how this would only be possible on the successful sales of the company’s road cars.

He said: “It will depend on the success of the Giulia. Surely our participation will be limited to F1. We are not, however, available to run only as engine suppliers, but we would focus on a complete package like Ferrari.

“To finance the races you have to sell the cars. Today is only the beginning of a long road. ”

VERSTAPPEN MOVE TO RED BULL 'GOOD NEWS' FOR F1

F1 veteran David Coulthard has backed Red Bull's controversial decision to oust Daniil Kvyat and replace him immediately with Max Verstappen. The Scot, a former Red Bull driver and now respected commentator and broadcaster, said: "It makes for some excitement in formula one that of course everyone is talking about. So it's good news," Coulthard is quoted by De Telegraaf newspaper.

It is the very best news for Verstappen, even if some wonder that making a mid-season switch to a truly top team might be coming too soon for an 18-year-old. "Max is ready for this opportunity," Coulthard insisted. "He has the speed and the intelligence. I think Carlos Sainz is also ready, but you can't put two drivers in one car," he added. "It's a great opportunity for Max but it doesn't mean Carlos will not get a chance later this year. Or that Daniil Kvyat cannot come back. Things can change quickly," said the former 13-time race winner.

Coulthard therefore rejected the theory that Red Bull has overstepped the mark with a particularly brutal move against Russian Kvyat, who returns to Toro Rosso. "Actually," he said, "all the Red Bull and Toro Rosso drivers have contracts with the same employer. If you recall, when I started to drive for the team in 2005, at the wheel of the second car they constantly changed between Tonio Liuzzi and Christian Klien," Coulthard is quoted by Russia's Sportbox.

"So this has always been part of the Red Bull philosophy. It's a company that likes to promote its young talent. You can understand how disappointed Daniil must be right now, but the most important thing for him is that he is still in formula one and the Red Bull family," he added. 

ALLISON COULD REPLACE ARRIVABENE AS FERRARI BOSS

Wild speculation in Italy suggests Ferrari could be set for yet another change at the top of the fabled Maranello team. After the ultra-successful Jean Todt era, Ferrari has raced through team principals Stefano Domenicali, Marco Mattiacci and now the charismatic Maurizio Arrivabene.

"Ferrari has made some important steps forward," Todt, now the FIA president, said at the weekend. "Now they have to win races which is not easy when you face a very professional team (Mercedes) that does a fantastic job."

Autosprint, an authoritative Italian media source, reports that after Arrivabene failed to deliver a win in the opening four races of 2016, president Sergio Marchionne is now eyeing another change. The report said Arrivabene could be ousted and replaced by British technical boss James Allison. It goes on to suggest that, to fill Allison's current position, Ferrari could re-hire Aldo Costa, its former designer who is now working with roaring success at dominant champions Mercedes.

Autosprint even said an agreement between Ferrari and Mercedes could be reached so that Costa does not need to serve the customary 'gardening leave'. The German-language Speed Week said Ferrari and Mercedes did not comment.

Vandoorne set for Barcelona test run

McLaren reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne will receive extra running in the Honda-powered MP4-31 during the post-Spanish Grand Prix test in Barcelona next week.

Barcelona will stage the first of two in-season tests in 2016, the other to be held at Silverstone, with running taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday after each race.

Vandoorne, who replaced the injured Fernando Alonso at the Bahrain Grand Prix, is set to drive on the second day, taking over from regular driver Jenson Button.

Vandoorne is combing his F1 reserve duties with a full Super Formula campaign, and kicked off his challenge with a third-place finish at the recent Suzuka season opener.

McLaren to test upgrades to MP4/31 during Friday practice

Spanish Grand Prix – McLaren are scheduled to run updates to their car during Friday’s practice sessions at the Circuit de Catalunya. As Formula 1 returns to Europe for the first time since pre-season testing at the same venue, this gives the teams a chance to introduce new parts with greater ease thanks to the relative proximity to home. McLaren are no exception, confirming that they are one of the teams due to carry out upgrades on the chassis front for this race.

Eric Boullier, speaking in the team’s official preview, said: “In Russia, there’s no doubt we gained from others’ misfortune in some ways, but both our drivers report positively about the balance of the car, which reassures us that we’ve created a solid foundation, and that we can have faith in the direction in which we’re going.

“We’re always impatient for more, but I’m pleased that the hard work consistently being undertaken behind the scenes was finally rewarded with some valuable points, and we head into the European season hopeful of scoring some more positive results at circuits on which our car should theoretically be slightly stronger. That, coupled with an unrelenting development programme, is exciting and gives us optimism for the next few races ahead. 

“It certainly won’t be easy – while we’ll be evaluating upgrades to the car in Barcelona, so will many other teams – but the loyal Spanish fans will be behind Fernando and the team, and we hope to put on a good show for them and carry some positive momentum into the European season.”

Honda boss Yusuke Hasegawa says that his company are not planning any upgrades for Spain, and that any updates requiring token usage still await confirmation:

“The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is a technical circuit that is less strenuous on the power unit compared to the first four races, but much more stressful on the balance of the car. From a power unit perspective, it is important to have the correct amount of deployment, harvesting and throttle response, so our focus will be to deliver the best balance to suit the needs of our drivers.

“Our power unit development is ongoing and we have not yet confirmed to which races we will bring token updates, but hopefully we can fight for more points during Sunday’s race.”

Sebastian Vettel denies role in Daniil Kvyat's Red Bull relegation

Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel has insisted that he has nothing to do with Daniil Kvyat's sudden dumping from Red Bull following the Russian Grand Prix.
 
Kvyat was relegated to Red Bull's junior team Toro Rosso while Max Verstappen was called in as his replacement for the remainder of the Formula One season.
 
The decision came after Kvyat's reckless display at the Russian Grand Prix forced Ferrari's Vettel out of the race last week.
 
22-year-old Kvyat had bumped into the back of Ferrari at turn two before crashing into him again moments later. The force of the second impact was so massive that the German spun into the wall that eventually ended his race.
 
Reflecting on the same, Vettel said that he doesn't have any issue with Kvyat and insisted that the 22-year-old's demotion has anything to do with what happened in the race,Sport24 reported.
 
However, Vettel admitted that the situation would not be easy for the Russian.
 
Earlier, McLaren driver Jenson Button expressed his shock over Red Bull's decision and wrote on Twitter, "Really? one bad race and Kyvat's dropped, what about the podium in the previous race? 

Massa sets Williams podium target

Felipe Massa has set Williams the target of finishing on the podium at this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, after the team's best result of the season in Russia last time out.

Massa crossed the line fifth at Sochi Autodrom, just behind team-mate Valtteri Bottas, as both drivers continued their 100 per cent points-scoring record for the 2016 campaign.

Massa hopes the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya will yield even more.

"It is a circuit that a good car overall normally goes well because you have a little bit of everything; high-speed corners and low-speed corners," the Brazilian said ahead of the event.

"If the car works well here, it will work well on most of the tracks.

"I'm looking forward to having a good race and hope we can keep improving race-by-race. To be able to fight for a podium would be great; we know it won't be easy but we will try everything."

Bottas is also optimistic over Williams' chances after its pre-season showing.

"Barcelona is probably the track I've driven the most in my life because all of the pre-season testing normally takes place there," added the Finnish racer.

"It is a nice event and there are plenty of fans, so it would be nice to have a good result there, especially because testing looked good for us there."

F1 race director Charlie Whiting completes latest Baku inspection

Formula 1 race director Charlie Whiting has no doubt Baku will be ready to host its debut grand prix in June following his latest inspection of the street circuit this week.

Azerbaijan's capital city is scheduled to host the Grand Prix of Europe on June 17-19, with Whiting applauding the work done so far.

"The circuit will be ready. You can see the quality of all the installations wherever you look," said Whiting.

"My next trip to Baku will be at the beginning of June and I'm expecting to be able to say it will be ready then.

"If I had to compare one circuit to this one, it would be Singapore, but the speed here will be much higher."

Double world champion Fernando Alonso conducted his own visit to Baku earlier this year, with the McLaren driver expecting a top speed of around 340kmh.

Circuit executive director Arif Rahimov is confident Whiting will not be disappointed when he makes his final visit early next month.

Rahimov said: "We are delighted by Mr Whiting's positive findings during his visit to Baku City circuit.

"We were confident the FIA would be impressed by the progress we have made so far and to have this confirmed is a source of great pride for all of our team.

"Now it is up to us to ensure we see this job through to the finish line and guarantee that upon his next visit in early June he will be able to declare the circuit fully ready to host a Formula 1 race.

"We know this will be the case and we will continue to work hard to make this a truly unforgettable and spectacular event for all fans watching from our grandstands and on television at home."

Niki Lauda: 'Replacing Bernie Ecclestone not easy'

Niki Lauda has played down mounting speculation that he is in pole position to succeed Bernie Ecclestone.

It is claimed that Ferrari's Sergio Marchionne, backed by Mercedes chief Toto Wolff, is advocating that a group of three should take over from the 85-year-old Formula 1 supremo.

"When I think about the sporting side, then for me Niki Lauda is one of the hottest candidates," Red Bull official Dr Helmut Marko told Tiroler Tageszeitung newspaper.

F1 legend and Mercedes team chairman Lauda, however, is not racing away with the job.

"If some people here believe that it is easy to replace [Ecclestone], they are mistaken," the 67-year-old former triple world champion told Auto Motor und Sport.

"Bernie still has 15% of the business and only he was able to get our engine parts through customs that fast in Russia."

Next up on the calendar is the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday.

Arrivabene: Ferrari not giving up on F1 titles in 2016

Ferrari Formula 1 chief Maurizio Arrivabene is refusing to give up on either the drivers’ or constructors’ championships in 2016 despite the Italian marque’s poor start to the season.

Ferrari entered 2016 hoping to challenge Mercedes for both titles and end its recent run of dominance, only to score just 76 points in the first four races – less than half the total of its rival – and suffer a number of issues on its car.

Nico Rosberg has won all four of the opening races and enjoys a 43-point advantage over the field, with leading Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen sitting a further 14 points behind.

However, Arrivabene is refusing to give up on the titles, believing that anything is possible with 17 races still to run.

“If I have to define the championship, we love the fight,” Arrivabene told the official F1 website. “We are looking for big challenges! What has happened is part of the DNA of racing.

“I don’t think things can be explained as bad luck. There are mostly human mistakes behind the story. I prefer to have these kind of problems now instead later in the season.

“But of course we need to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. Concerning the championship: we are not giving up! The team won’t give up and we will put all our energy from now on into the next 17 races!

“There are still 425 points to be taken. So by only winning the next five races everything is wide open again.

“Nothing is lost and we’re not giving up!”

Arrivabene is confident that the recent updates made to the Ferrari power unit will give the team a boost heading into the European leg of the season, starting next weekend in Spain.

“I trust that our performance is much better than what we’ve shown until now,” Arrivabene said.

“The characteristics of the tracks that are coming now, and because of the tokens that we’ve spent, will help us.

“Of course the others are not sleeping or waiting for us, so we have to fight.”

McLaren F1 team has 'significant' upgrade for Spanish Grand Prix

McLaren is planning to bring a "significant" upgrade to the next Formula 1 grand prix in Spain, according to its racing director Eric Boullier.

The Woking-based outfit achieved its best result since last year's Hungarian Grand Prix in Russia with Fernando Alonso finishing sixth and Jenson Button 10th.

Boullier said after the race that McLaren would have matched the pace of Williams, which finished fourth and fifth, had it not had to save fuel.

"We have a significant upgrade for the next race in Spain," said Boullier.

"Monaco should suit us, so we should be more competitive in Monaco, but Barcelona I don't know."

Boullier said he was happy with the Honda's general engine performance but added it "could be a little bit better".

Alonso agreed with his team principal that there is reason to be optimistic for the upcoming races.

"The potential is there and there are some circuits coming up now that will suit our car even better, like Barcelona and Monaco," he said.

"So [I have] high expectations for those and hopefully we execute it OK, those weekends, and we maximise those points."

Button added: "We've got a lot more points now at this time of the year compared to last year so it's really good for the team.

"The next race is still a little bit difficult for us on outright pace but then in Monaco [we can hope for] another good points haul."

However, the 2009 world champion pointed out McLaren's Russian GP result still owed a lot to the misfortunes of other teams.

"You have to look at [the fact that] two Red Bulls [had problems] and a Ferrari didn't finish - that's three places," he said.

"It's a lot of positions gained through other peoples' incidents.

"You have to take it when you can and it's good that we were able to - we couldn't in Bahrain [where Button retired after six laps] but we were able to get both cars in the points here."

Fernando Alonso: Regular F1 points now realistic for McLaren

Fernando Alonso feels McLaren-Honda is finally in a position to target points at every Formula 1 grand prix this season following the team's Russian Grand Prix display.

For only the second time since McLaren and engine manufacturer Honda were reunited at the start of last season, the team managed to get both cars in the points at Sochi.

Alonso finished sixth, while team-mate Jenson Button claimed 10th to edge McLaren up to seventh in the constructors' championship.

"Unlike last year when we made good starts and were unable to retain those positions, the difference this year is we have the pace," said Alonso who believes McLaren's 2016 machinery is "growing" in performance.

"Qualifying in Russia, the result was a little disappointing [with Alonso 14th and Button 12th], but with the race we saw a more normal pace.

"So I think to be in the points regularly should be the target from now on."

Alonso recognises, however, there are such fine margins between the midfield teams, as highlighted during qualifying in particular in Russia.

"Two tenths [of a second] separated us from Q3," he added.

"We had a group of cars very close together fighting for Q3, and we were the last of those cars, so we are still missing a couple of tenths that will help us massively in terms of how many positions we can overtake."

Highlighting the fact the power unit is still an area of vulnerability for Honda, Alonso said: "Other people were turning up their engine a little bit in Q1, then in Q2 and Q3.

"We don't have that possibility at the moment so our performance is more or less the same, which is why we probably look a little bit better in practice than in qualifying."

Renault seeks champion driver of 2020 says Vasseur

Frederic Vasseur says Renault is looking to re-create its glory of the past by building towards success with a promising new driver.

The French carmaker returned to full works team status for 2016 with Kevin Magnussen, a formerly McLaren-backed Dane, and the 2014 GP2 champion Jolyon Palmer.

And nipping at the race duo's heels are Esteban Ocon, the team's highly-rated reserve driver, and the new SMP Racing-backed tester Sergey Sirotkin.

"The best thing now is to find a driver who will be the world champion in, say, 2020 and 2021," Vasseur, Renault team boss, is quoted by Russia's Championat.

"So it is necessary to start work now. If you look at the past, something like what Red Bull did with Vettel, Renault with Alonso and Benetton with Schumacher.

"But we need a few years for such a cooperation to gain momentum," he added.

Indeed, the Frenchman said he doubts even the radical rule changes for 2017 will give Renault the opportunity to immediately leap up the grid.

"It's not just about the rules but the structure of the team," said Vasseur. "Yes, a rule change could give us an advantage, but I don't think we can immediately reduce the gap."

Max Verstappen promoted to Red Bull as Daniil Kvyat is axed after just three races

Red Bull have dumped Daniil Kvyat after just three races of the 2016 season and replaced him with teenager Max Verstappen.

Kvyat enjoyed a career-high third place at last month’s Chinese Grand Prix leading team boss Christian Horner to hail the fact he “was driving fantastically and on the crest of a wave”.

But following a tough subsequent race weekend at his home race in Russia when he twice crashed into Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in the space of two corners, he was axed by his team with immediate effect.

Kvyat will step down to Red Bull’s B team, Toro Rosso, for next week’s Spanish Grand Prix and for the remainder of the season while 18-year-old Verstappen moves into a Red Bull race seat alongside Daniel Ricciardo.

The decision led to a rebuke from McLaren driver Jenson Button who wrote on Twitter: “Really? One bad race and Kvyat’s dropped, what about the podium in the previous race? #Shortmemories.”

But Horner insisted it the early-season driver change was right for the team and hailed Verstappen as “an outstanding young talent”.

Horner said: “We have the flexibility to move them between the two teams. Dany will be able to continue his development at Toro Rosso in a team that he is familiar with, giving him the chance to regain his form and show his potential.”