Formula One championship leader Nico Rosberg claimed pole position for the European Grand Prix after his Mercedes teammate lewis Hamilton crashed out of qualifying in an error-strewn performance on Saturday.
Qualifying was red-flagged when Hamilton clipped his right front wheel on a wall near the Baku fortress in the twisty old-town section of the street circuit. The reigning world champion qualified 10th.
Force India's Sergio Perez was second but will take a five-place grid penalty for changing his gearbox after also hitting a wall at the end of pre-qualifying practice and severely damaging the rear of the car.
Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo qualified third ahead of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen in fourth and fifth but all will move up a spot due to Perez's demotion. Ricciardo and Vettel had the same time down to the thousandth of a second. Ricciardo was placed in front of Vettel as he finished the lap first.
Rosberg's pole and Hamilton's mistake again flipped the momentum in the title fight between the Mercedes drivers. Hamilton had won the past two races to slice the German's points lead from 43 points to nine, but Rosberg now has a golden opportunity to re-establish a buffer.
It was Rosberg's 25th pole position, moving him into outright 10th on the career list, breaking a tie with Nelson Piquet and his team director Niki lauda.
Perez had mixed emotions at the events of the day, describing his final flying lap as one of the best of his career and excited by the speed of the Force India on the 2.1-kilometer (1.3-mile) long main straight, but rueful at the grid penalty which his practice crash brought about.