Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took F1 Monaco GP pole after crashing out, from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas.
Q1:
The first part in F1 Monaco GP qualifying started without Haas’ Mick Schumacher, whose late crash in FP3 damaged the car beyond repair for qualifying. Most of the drivers in the first part were fueled up more for multiple laps on the improving circuit.
Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas headed the way with a 1m10.938s lap – the only one in the 1m10s – from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (1m11.113s) and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen (1m11.124s) in the Top 3, with Lewis Hamilton only seventh.
The drop zone already had Schumacher and he was joined by AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, who did not have a good run in 16th with a 1m12.096s, as he headed Alpine’s Fernando Alonso (1m12.205s), Williams’ Nicholas Latifi (1m12.366s) and Haas’ Nikita Mazepin (1m12.958s).
Q2:
The second part in F1 Monaco GP qualifying saw everyone on the soft compound, which is to be used to start the grand prix on Sunday. It was Leclerc on the top with a 1m10.597s lap as he led Verstappen (1m10.650s) and Bottas (1m10.695s) in the Top 3.
As mentioned above, no one tried the medium compound, which meant, everyone in the Top 10 would be starting on the soft tyres. Missing out was Alpine’s Esteban Ocon (1m11.486s) in 11th by just the 0.077s as Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi made it in.
Behind Ocon was McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo (1m11.598s), with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll (1m11.600s) in 13th, from Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen (1m11.642s) and Williams’ George Russell (1m11.830s).
Q3:
The first Q3 run in F1 Monaco GP qualifying had Leclerc with provisional pole, having set a 1m10.346s, from Verstappen and Bottas, where Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was only seventh due to a lock-up in the final corner, while Sergio Perez was ninth.
It was an anti-climax to F1 Monaco GP qualifying as Ferrari’s Leclerc binned it at the Swimming Pool section after a brush with the barrier, but his first lap was enough to keep him on pole from Verstappen (1m10.576s) and Bottas (1m10.601s).
The Dutchman had a purple S1 but couldn’t complete it, as Carlos Sainz (1m10.611s) was fourth with McLaren’s Lando Norris (1m10.620s) fifth from AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly (1m10.900s) and Hamilton (1m11.095s).
The Top 10 was then rounded out by Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel (1m11.419s) in eighth, Perez (1m11.573s) ninth and Alfa Romeo’s Giovinazzi (1m11.779s).
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UPDATE: After initial checks on Saturday and subsequent one on Sunday, Ferrari noted no trouble with Leclerc’s gearbox. Therefore, the Monegasque, will keep his pole position and the order will remain the same as after the qualifying.
“Following further in depth checks this morning, no apparent defects were found on Charles Leclerc’s gearbox, therefore the Monegasque driver will start today’s race from pole position, as per the qualifying result,” stated Ferrari.
