European Grand Prix 2016 qualifying results: Nico Rosberg takes 1st ever pole in Baku

Nico Rosberg of Mercedes will start on pole position for the Formula 1 European Grand Prix in Baku, Azerbaijan. Rosberg set a blistering pace of 1:42.758 at the same time his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, was taking himself out of the session with a crash.

Hamilton had to take an escape road three times over the course of the qualifying session. He had plenty of trouble getting a clean lap in during the session, and ultimately put his car into the wall in the third session, drawing a red flag with just two minutes left. The red flags came up just as Rosberg set the fastest qualifying time of the session for pole position.

It’s been a bad weekend for Hamilton despite strong driving from him overall. He looked great in every practice session and many felt he’d set the fastest time. But he just couldn’t keep himself clean on the line and paid for it in the end.

Sergio Pérez of Force India, who has been excellent in recent weeks, had a five-place grid penalty for a change of gearbox so there was a bit of muted optimism as he frequently put himself in the podium positions throughout the weekend. Pérez qualified in second for the race, beating out Daniel Ricciardo in third and Sebastian Vettel in fourth.

Both Ricciardo and Vettel set the same time in the third qualifying session, but Ricciardo did it first and therefore got position over Vettel for the race. After Perez’s penalty, both wound up ahead of him on the official starting grid.

The new street circuit in Baku has proven to be a tough one for several of the top drivers. Hamilton was right on the cusp of missing the top 10 in the second qualifying session due to a bad lockup on his lap, but he did make it in his final run, taking his Mercedes from No. 10 to No. 2 in the second qualifying session. The Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo was 12th until the clock hit zero in the second session, but a great lap put him in fourth place.

Nico Hülkenberg, driving a Force India that has looked more competitive than ever in recent weeks, had a miscommunication with the crew in the garage — his last chance at putting himself in the top 10 was squandered when he was uncertain if he had enough fuel in the car to run another lap. He claimed his team didn’t tell him that he’d had enough, and his team claimed they did. He ended up in 12th position for the race.

Jenson Button was the lone surprise going out in the first qualifying session. He and McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso have been right on the cusp of the third qualifying session and the top 10 for much of the season. But Button went out in the first session and will start from 19th on the grid. Alonso was not close to the top 10 this time either, finishing in 14th place.

The Haas of Romain Grosjean came close to making it into the third qualifying session, but was just barely beaten by Felipe Massa of Williams and will have to start 11th on Sunday. Massa missed the flag near the end of the third qualifying session and was unable to set another lap. He qualified in sixth on the grid.

Below are the full results from qualifying, again noting that Perez will actually start in seventh due to his grid penalty, creating a top three of Rosberg, Ricciardo and Vettel: