MONTE CARLO: Austr­alian Daniel Ricciardo seized the first pole position of his Formula One career at the Monaco Grand Prix on Saturday with world championship leader Nico Rosberg joining him on the front row for Mercedes.

“High time,” shouted the Red Bull driver over the team radio after being told the news.

The pole, in a time of one minute 13.622 seconds, was the team’s first since Sebastian Vettel at the Brazil Grand Prix in November 2013.

Triple world champion Lewis Hamilton qualified third, a remarkable recovery after his car suffered a fuel pressure problem at the start of the final session and had to be pushed back along the pitlane.

Ferrari’s Vettel will join the Briton on the second row for the season’s showcase race.

While Ricciardo celebrated, there was disappointment in the other half of the garage with 18-year-old Dutch driver Max Verstappen crashing in the opening session.

Published in Dawn, May 29th, 2016