Nico Rosberg has taken pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix ahead of his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo.

Hamilton has won the past four races and leads the overall standings by three points from Rosberg, who won the season opener in Australia, where Hamilton retired with engine failure.

The Mercedes pair went out for one final lap Saturday with less than a minute remaining. Rosberg lost control coming out of the Mirabeau turn and slid down an escape road. A yellow flag came up, meaning that Hamilton could not improve on his time and Rosberg clinched his second pole of the season. Hamilton has the other four.

Four-time defending champion Sebastian Vettel of Germany finished fourth, while Fernando Alonso of Ferrari was fifth.