Ricciardo set a 1:13.622 in qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix on May 28 to claim his first F1 pole position and Red Bull’s first pole of the season. Rosberg was second, 0.169 seconds behind, with Hamilton third.
Archive television image from Q1 of qualifying for the 2016 Mexican Grand Prix at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City.
In Q1, Nasr’s Sauber suffered an engine failure at the tunnel exit, with smoke pouring from the car and a red flag being shown. After the restart, Verstappen crashed at the Swimming Pool complex and triggered a second red flag. Ericsson, Palmer, Haryanto and Wehrlein were eliminated in Q1. Magnussen advanced to Q2, while Nasr’s failure left him without a timed lap.
Mercedes led the way in Q2. Hamilton initially went fastest with a 1:14.056 before Rosberg moved ahead on a 1:14.043. Hamilton progressed to Q3, as did Red Bull’s Ricciardo and Toro Rosso’s Kvyat.
At the start of Q3, Hamilton left the garage but stopped before the pit-lane exit, reporting a loss of power. His car was pushed back to the garage for checks. He returned to the track with about six minutes remaining, by which time Ricciardo had already set a 1:13.622. Hamilton eventually moved up to third with a 1:13.942. The problem may have been related to fuel pressure.
Rosberg was second, Hamilton third and Vettel fourth. Verstappen’s Q1 crash left him with a best time of only 1:22.467, while Nasr recorded no time after his engine failure. Both were outside the 107% requirement, but the stewards used their discretion to allow them to race. Both were listed as NC in the official classification, with Nasr’s Q1 entry shown as DNS.
Hülkenberg qualified fifth, Räikkönen sixth and Sainz seventh. Pérez was eighth, Kvyat ninth and Alonso tenth. Bottas was eleventh and Button thirteenth, leaving McLaren with one car in the top ten.
Räikkönen received a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change and started the race from eleventh. Verstappen started from the pit lane after overnight changes to his car, including a chassis replacement. Nasr also started from the pit lane.
This was the first pole position for a driver from a team other than Mercedes since the 2015 Singapore Grand Prix.
| Position | No. | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:14.912 | 1:14.357 | 1:13.622 | 21 |
| 2 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:14.873 | 1:14.043 | 1:13.791 | 24 |
| 3 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:14.826 | 1:14.056 | 1:13.942 | 21 |
| 4 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:14.610 | 1:14.318 | 1:14.552 | 23 |
| 5 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Force India | 1:15.333 | 1:14.989 | 1:14.726 | 25 |
| 6 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:15.499 | 1:14.789 | 1:14.732 | 25 |
| 7 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:15.467 | 1:14.805 | 1:14.749 | 23 |
| 8 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Force India | 1:15.328 | 1:14.937 | 1:14.902 | 28 |
| 9 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1:15.384 | 1:14.794 | 1:15.273 | 23 |
| 10 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1:15.504 | 1:15.107 | 1:15.363 | 26 |
| 11 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1:15.521 | 1:15.273 | — | 15 |
| 12 | 21 | Esteban Gutiérrez | Haas | 1:15.592 | 1:15.293 | — | 22 |
| 13 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1:15.554 | 1:15.352 | — | 15 |
| 14 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1:15.710 | 1:15.385 | — | 19 |
| 15 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1:15.465 | 1:15.571 | — | 22 |
| 16 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | 1:16.253 | 1:16.058 | — | 22 |
| 17 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1:16.299 | — | — | 12 |
| 18 | 30 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1:16.586 | — | — | 12 |
| 19 | 88 | Rio Haryanto | Manor | 1:17.295 | — | — | 12 |
| 20 | 94 | Pascal Wehrlein | Manor | 1:17.452 | — | — | 12 |
| NC | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:22.467 | — | — | 3 |
| NC | 12 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | DNS | — | — | 1 |
