Ricciardo inherits pole after Wickens penalty

Daniel Ricciardo will start World Series by Renault Race 2 at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza from pole position, with stewards deciding earlier in the afternoon to penalize Robert Wickens following an incident in the first race. The Canadian set the overall fastest time, but he will start from fifth on the grid after being hit with the four place drop.

Wickens was able to put aside any thoughts of the 4-place penalty and post a time of 1:36.870, the only effort of the afternoon to make it under the 1:37.000 barrier. Ricciardo was a little under two tenths shy of the Canadian on his effective pole lap, with fellow ex-British F3 Champion Jean-Eric Vergne a further 0.082 seconds adrift.

Behind Ricciardo and Vergne on the front row, Race 1 winner Kevin Korjus and Albert Costa will line-up in third and fourth respectively, while Robert Wickens will start from fifth after his grid drop. Arthur Pic set the sixth fastest time of the session, finishing marginally ahead of Alexander Rossi who enjoyed a much more positive result at the wheel of his Fortec machine.

Sergio Canamasas completed an effort quick enough for eighth, giving himself another strong opportunity to score points after retiring from the first race. Brazilian César Ramos was next up in the second of the Fortec cars, while Brendon Hartley ended his time on-track as the last man inside the top ten.

Qualifying Race 2

*Penalized to 5th starting position after unavoidable contact in Race 1