Ricciardo takes Monaco FR3.5 pole

The Australian Tech 1 driver will start the grand prix curtain-raiser ahead of his championship adversary Mikhail Aleshin (Carlin).

Qualifying was split into two 25 minute sessions to alleviate traffic difficulties, the only time this season that this will occur. Ricciardo was drawn in the second group, which had the advantage of improving track conditions, and claimed pole on his final lap with a time of 1m26.230s.

"I managed to change onto new tyres and it took a couple of laps for me to adjust, then in the last two laps I knew I had some clear space on the track," said Ricciardo.

"The main thing was to put it all together, as that's when you could push, and I was much more comfortable on the second set. I got very close to a couple of important barriers, so I was using that extra little bit more room on the track and trying to maximise it where I could."

Having initially hustled a time one second clear of the opposition, courtesy of a wheel-locking and sideways display, spectacular debutant Alexander Rossi caused the second group's session to be red-flagged six minutes prior to the chequered flag following a heavy crash at Massenet.

Reigning Formula Renault Eurocup champion Albert Costa timed his tyre change to perfection, scrubbing in new tyres just before the red flag. The Epsilon Euskadi driver, who is still convalescing from a hand injury sustained in a pre-season testing accident, finished three tenths adrift of Ricciardo and will start tomorrow's 25 lap race in third.

"I am losing a lot of time in the Casino corner [Grand Hotel hairpin] as I have a lot of pain with my finger, and I will have to race with it strapped up," said Costa. "The car was perfect, though, and I am very confident for the race. I managed to change tyres just before the red flag - I completed two laps and then the red flag came out, so I think that I was lucky."

After promising much in practice, Comtec's Stefano Coletti was slightly disappointed to qualify only fourth fastest for his home race.

"I could have done better, but on the last lap I almost hit the wall twice," said the Monegasque. "I lost a lot of time in the Tabac corner. I braked too late, did the whole corner on half throttle, and was then too late on power. But if you want to be quick, I guess that you have to take risks."

Despite being stripped of his fastest time for causing the stoppage, GP3 race winner Rossi remained third fastest in Group B. The American will line up fifth, ahead of Motorland winner Sten Pentus (Fortec).

Rossi's ISR team-mate Filip Salaquarda will lead the fourth row, being joined by Red Bull Junior driver Brendon Hartley (Tech 1), who recorded the fastest lap in Monaco last year.

Qualifying Group A:

Pos  Driver             Team             Time       Gap
 1.  Mikhail Aleshin    Carlin           1m27.011s
 2.  Stefano Coletti    Comtec           1m27.317s  + 0.306s
 3.  Sten Pentus        Fortec           1m27.389s  + 0.378s
 4.  Brendon Hartley    Tech 1           1m27.450s  + 0.439s
 5.  Daniil Move        Junior Lotus     1m27.497s  + 0.486s
 6.  Nathanael Berthon  Draco            1m27.710s  + 0.699s
 7.  Anton Nebylitskiy  KMP              1m28.318s  + 1.307s
 8.  Walter Grubmuller  P1               1m28.442s  + 1.431s
 9.  Greg Mansell       Comtec           1m28.595s  + 1.584s
10.  Keisuke Kunimoto   Epsilon Euskadi  1m28.854s  + 1.843s
11.  Sergio Canamasas   FHV Interwetten  1m29.707s  + 2.696s
12.  Julian Leal        Draco            1m30.797s  + 3.786s

Qualifying Group B:

Pos  Driver             Team             Time       Gap
 1.  Daniel Ricciardo   Tech 1           1m26.230s
 2.  Albert Costa       Epsilon Euskadi  1m26.582s  + 0.352s
 3.  Alexander Rossi    ISR              1m26.921s  + 0.691s
 4.  Filip Salaquarda   ISR              1m27.477s  + 1.247s
 5.  Nelson Panciatici  Junior Lotus     1m27.528s  + 1.298s
 6.  Jon Lancaster      Fortec           1m27.573s  + 1.343s
 7.  Daniel Zampieri    Pons             1m27.658s  + 1.428s
 8.  Jake Rosenzweig    Carlin           1m27.691s  + 1.461s
 9.  Jan Charouz        P1               1m27.785s  + 1.555s
10.  Federico Leo       Pons             1m28.059s  + 1.829s
11.  Victor Garcia      KMP              1m28.387s  + 2.157s
12.  Bruno Mendez       FHV Interwetten  1m31.990s  + 5.760s

Starting order:

 1.  Ricciardo
 2.  Aleshin
 3.  Costa
 4.  Coletti
 5.  Rossi
 6.  Pentus
 7.  Salaquarda
 8.  Hartley
 9.  Panciatici
10.  Move
11.  Lancaster
12.  Berthon
13.  Zampieri
14.  Nebilitskiy
15.  Rosenzweig
16.  Grubmuller
17.  Charouz
18.  Mansell
19.  Leo
20.  Kunimoto
21.  Garcia
22.  Canamasas
23.  Mendez
24.  Leal