Germany's Nico Rosberg took a controversial pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix on Saturday after an incident that denied an unhappy Mercedes teammate and championship leader Lewis Hamilton the chance to beat him.
Formula One stewards summoned Mercedes to a hearing afterwards but, after reviewing video evidence, decided no offence had been committed.
The German had locked-up on the way into Mirabeau during the key final seconds of qualifying and skidded down the escape road, bringing out yellow warning flags that forced other drivers to slow.
The excursion, with Rosberg then putting the car into reverse, came just as Hamilton — behind him on the track — was on his final quick lap.
Hamilton had to settle for second place on the grid for the season's showcase race.
Starting grid: 1st row: Nico Rosberg (Mercedes); Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes). 2nd: Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull); Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull).
3rd: Fernando Alonso (Ferrari); Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari). 4th: Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Ros so); Kevin Magnussen (McLaren).
5th: Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso); Sergio Perez (Force India). 6th: Nico Hulkenberg (Force India); Jenson Button (McLaren).
7th: Valtteri Bottas (Williams); Romain Grosjean (Lotus). 8th: Pastor Maldonado (Lotus); Felipe Massa (Williams).
9th: Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber); Adrian Sutil (Sauber). 10th: Jules Bianchi (Marussia); Max Chilton (Marussia). 11th: Kamui Kobayashi (Caterham); Marcus Ericsson (Caterham).
