Nico Rosberg took pole in Baku, after his teammate Hamilton crashed out in Q3. Ricciardo will line up alongside Rosberg on the front row, after a quick dash to the line in the final two minutes as the session resumed after red flags. Vettel was third, despite setting an identical time to Ricciardo, and Hamilton will line up way down in 10th position.
Q1
Rosberg was the quicker of the Mercedes in the opening laps of the session, whilst Hamilton struggled in the braking zones. Manor had an impressive session, with Haryanto and Wehrlein finishing 17th and 18th respectively. A mistake for Button as well as traffic meant he was unable to get in a clean lap, so ended the session 19th, ahead of the Sauber of Ericsson. Renault had a disappointing session, with their drivers 21st and 22nd.
Q2
A fantastic lap for Rosberg saw him over a second faster than the rest of the field. Hamilton almost failed to make it into Q2 after running into traffic. On his next lap he had a big lock-up and ran into the escape road. He didn’t have time to change his tyres but made it safely into Q2 in the final seconds of the session. He will also be forced to start the race on flat-spotted tyres.
Grosjean was the first to be eliminated, ahead of the Force India of Hulkenberg, after a communication issue meant he was unable to finish his lap. They will line up 11th and 12th. Carlos Sainz will start 13th, with Alonso 14th after getting stuck in traffic. Also failing to make it into Q3 were Gutierrez and Nasr.
Q3
Hamilton’s messy session continued in Q3, once again locking up at turn 15. On his final run he clipped the barrier at turn ten, breaking his suspension and ending his session. This means he will line up 10th. His crash brought out the red flags and the session soon resumed, with just 2 minutes remaining on the clock. Rosberg remained in the pits, confident his lap was enough for pole. Ricciardo was the first out and made a big improvement to jump into 3rd position, behind the Force India of Perez.
Vettel came over the line just after Ricciardo and set an identical time, however will have to settle for 4th. Raikkonen went fifth, ahead of Massa and Kvyat. Bottas went eighth fastest and Verstappen a disappointing ninth, after his lap being compromised by an attempt to overtake by Bottas.
The grid:
Unfortunately, Perez has to serve a 5-place grid penalty for a gearbox change, which will drop him to 7th. This means Ricciardo will be promoted to second, alongside the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg. Therefore, the provisional grid for tomorrow is:
Rosberg, Ricciardo; Vettel, Raikkonen; Massa, Kvyat; Perez, Bottas; Verstappen, Hamilton; Grosjean, Hulkenberg; Sainz, Alonso; Guiterrez, Nasr; Haryanto, Wehrlein; Button, Ericsson; Magnussen, Palmer.