Thanks to good or bad fortune, Daniel Ricciardo will start on the front row for the European Grand Prix. Ricciardo’s good fortune was bad for Lewis Hamilton, who crashed out during the qualifying session, leaving teammate and pole qualifier Nico Rosberg of Team Mercedes alone at the front.
Current world champion Hamilton had what could only be characterised as a wretched session culminating in a collision with the wall at turn six.
Hamilton now faces the prospect of starting from 10th position provided his team can fix the car in time whilst still adhering to the rules.
Red Bull’s Ricciardo will line up second, followed by Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari in third. Those two ran so closely that they had identical lap times, but Ricciardo got the second slot when he crossed the finish line in front of Vettel.
Force India driver Sergio Perez was fast enough to get to the front, but he sustained a five-place penalty for having a new gearbox installed in his car that he damaged in his Practice Three crash.
Ricciardo’s Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen was well back in Q3, finishing ninth, almost a full three-seconds behind Rosberg.
