Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo went into this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix publicly seeking redemption for the team error that cost him an almost certain win here two years ago. His journey is not yet over and Monaco can bite in the most unforgiving fashion but with an absolutely emphatic pole position the Australian has given himself every chance finally to banish the bad memories.

Ricciardo delivered pole, only the second of his career having started from the top spot in the ill-fated 2016 race, with an exemplary lap that topped a weekend where no one has been able to match him. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was in second and Lewis Hamilton, who leads the German by 17 points in the world championship, was in third.

Ricciardo’s first hot lap in Q3 was a full four-tenths clear of his rivals. It was a masterclass in Monaco and, although he could not improve on his second run, he did not need to. Vettel could only close the deficit to two-tenths, with Hamilton four-tenths back. He topped every session in practice and qualifying and in doing so set a new track record on six occasions.

While the Australian was pleased, he was aware there was work to be done. “The race is tomorrow and then we will celebrate,” he said. “There is still a lot of fire in this belly. I’ve done everything I can so far. Let’s finish the job tomorrow. I’m pumped.”

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After the session he was on the phone to Red Bull’s owner, Dietrich Mateschitz, who was doubtless as pleased at Ricciardo’s performance as he would have been disappointed at his team-mate Max Verstappen’s.

For a driver with such promise, Verstappen’s record at Monaco is poor. Having crashed three times across three visits, he once again put his Red Bull in the wall in final practice, an incident almost identical to his accident in qualifying in 2016. The team had to replace the gearbox but were unable to do so in time for qualifying and he will start from the back of the grid.

Verstappen has now been involved in incidents at all six races this season. He was defensive here but held his hands up to the error. “I got caught off guard by a slow car but that is no excuse,” he said. “I have to look to myself. I made the mistake myself.”

Hamilton, meanwhile, had warned of Red Bull’s threat and was not overly surprised Mercedes were outpaced. He and the team were happy they had extracted all they could from the car. “We did the best we could; the car wasn’t good enough,” he said. “I gave it everything I could but you can’t always get everything perfect. But the car is in one piece so we live to fight another day.”

The race is likely to be a one-stop and Vettel acknowledged he had to make the most of the run to Sainte Dévote. “I would to like to jump Daniel at the start,” he said. “It is nearly impossible to overtake. The plan is to do a good start and keep the pressure on to the end.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Up close with Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes. Photograph: Benoit Tessier/Reuters

Kimi Räikkönen was in fourth, with Valtteri Bottas in fifth. McLaren’s Fernando Alonso was in seventh place. The Force India’s of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Pérez were in sixth and ninth respectively, with the Renault of Carlos Sainz in eighth and the Toro Rosso of Pierre Gasly in tenth.

Romain Grosjean in the Haas was in 15th place but will take a three-place grid penalty after causing an accident at the last round in Spain. Renault’s Nico Hülkenberg was in 11th in front of the McLaren of Stoffel Vandoorne. Sergey Sirotkin in the Williams was in 13th, with Charles Leclerc’s Sauber in 14th.

Brendon Hartley in the Toro Rosso was in 16th with Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson in 17th. Williams’ Lance Stroll was in 18th, in front of the Haas of Kevin Magnussen.