As pole sitter and race victor, and with the fastest race lap to boot, Daniel Ricciardo (ISR) was the undisputed prince of Monaco this weekend. The Australian reserve driver with the Red Bull Racing F1 Team, succeeded in becoming the first driver to win twice here in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series. It also shoves him up to 5th place in the championship rankings. Robert Wickens (Carlin), second ahead of Brendon Hartley (Gravity-Charouz), boost his position too, putting him just one point off the leader, teammate Jean-Eric Vergne (Carlin). A few hours before the F1 Grand Prix de Monaco, it was Formula Renault 3.5 Series' privilege once again to kick off one of the most famous days on the motorsport calendar. With the stands already packed and the grid full of famous faces from the Formula 1 world, Daniel Ricciardo lined up in pole position ahead of Brendon Hartley, Robert Wickens and Alexander Rossi (Fortec Motorsport). Ricciardo got a great start and Hartley didn't. So it was Robert Wickens who bagged second in Sainte-Dévote. The Australian driver pushed hard during the first few laps, but Wickens and Hartley stayed in touch. The three men pulled away from the peloton, led by Albert Costa and Alexander Rossi (Fortec Motorsport). Gradually the pattern of the race took shape, with Ricciardo ahead of the two chasers, Wickens and Hartley, while Albert Costa worked to contain Alexander Rossi, himself threatened by Kevin Korjus (Tech 1 Racing), back in 6th. A little further back, Nelson Panciatici (KMP Racing), in 7th, led a third compact group comprised of Jan Charouz (Gravity-Charouz), Anton Nebilitskiy (KMP Racing), Arthur Pic (Tech 1 Racing), Jake Rosenzweig (Mofaz Racing) and Jean-Eric Vergne. Positions changed in that group after a coming together between 8th and 9th placed Charouz and Nebilitskiy, at the Fairmont hairpin. The two cars had to pull out and the safety car made its entry. At the restart, Ricciardo kept the lead and made every effort to widen the gap, when there was another incident at Mirabeau where Stéphane Richelmi (International Draco Racing), Andre Negrao (International Draco Racing) and Jake Rosensweig all hit the barriers. A lap later, Alexander Rossi lost control of his car at Massenet, after coming together with Oliver Webb (Pons Racing), himself in trouble after a shunt. Rossi's 5th place was devolved to Kevin Korjus and the safety car came out again. Ricciardo dealt with the restart perfectly and continued to lead ahead of Robert Wickens and Brendon Hartley under the checkered flag. Meanwhile behind the podium trio, the last lap was marked by a clash between Sergio Canamasas (BVM Target) and Cesar Ramos (Fortec Motorsport), as Albert Costa battled hard to defend his 4th place against Kevin Korjus, Nelson Panciatici, Arthur Pic, Jean-Eric Vergne and Adrien Tambay (Pons Racing). Ultimately however, the Spanish driver got a 10 second penalty for jumping the start, so he finished 9th. Jean-Eric Vergne also got himself a ten second penalty for cutting the first corner at the start. That put him back to 12th position and he leaves Monaco out of the points. That means his teammate Robert Wickens is now very hot on his heals in the championship stakes. Quotes  Daniel Ricciardo: "Last year, it felt like the race wasn't going to end! This year, I stayed very concentrated to the finish and I kept up a good pace throughout. I'm really pleased with this second win here. Some people thought that running with Toro Rosso here this weekend would maybe put me off. But how could I turn down the opportunity to drive in F1 at Monaco... Anyway, I more than proved it was definitely a good idea ..."  Robert Wickens: "Overtaking is almost impossible here, we all know that. My only chance was if Daniel made some mistake, which never happened. We pushed very hard, much quicker than in qualifying. For me it's a good result for the championship, because Jean-Eric didn't score. The rest of the season is very open."  Brendon Hartley: "It's a great reward for Gravity-Charouz to get this first podium here. I started on the dirty side of the track, which explains my bad start. We were all three on the same pace, but I had brake problems throughout the race. We're still ramping up."