Monaco Quali: LeClerc crashes, LeClerc on Pole
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc claimed a stunning shock pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix before crashing out. Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton could only qualify seventh.
Leclerc was 0.230s faster than Max Verstappen during the first runs of Q3 but suffered a heavy crash exiting the Swimming Pool on his final effort, bringing out a red flag that ended qualifying early.
Supreme Leclerc at Monaco
Leclerc’s 1m10.346s was enough for him to take a surprise home pole. This is Ferrari’s first pole since the 2019 Mexican Grand Prix. However, the Monegasque is worried about probable gearbox damage in his accident that might result in a grid drop.
Verstappen had been going quicker on his final flying lap and set the fastest overall first sector. However he had to abort his run due to the red flags for Leclerc’s crash.
Leclerc’s accident ruined everybody’s final laps with Valtteri Bottas ending up as P3, some 0.255s down.
World championship leader Hamilton endured an awful qualifying as he struggled for grip and balance in his Mercedes. This left him only seventh on the grid. He is behind Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, the McLaren of Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri in sixth.
Hamilton came into the weekend with a 14-point advantage over Verstappen in the championship. However he faces an uphill battle if he is to leave Monaco with his lead intact as overtaking is almost impossible around Monte Carlo’s tight and twisty streets.
Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel was eighth-fastest for Aston Martin. Sergio Perez’s Red Bull was disappointingly P9. Antonio Giovinazzi produced an excellent lap to claim Alfa Romeo’s first Q3 appearance of the season.
Esteban Ocon narrowly missed out on P10 for Sunday’s race as he ended up 11th-quickest for Alpine.
Absolute disappointment from Daniel Ricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo’s early-season struggles continued at Monaco with the Australian unable to join his McLaren teammate in Q3 on his way to 12th.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was next up and ahead of Kimi Raikkonen’s Alfa Romeo and George Russell, who progressed to Q2 for the fifth time this season in his Williams.
Yuki Tsunoda suffered a Q1 elimination for the second consecutive race as the AlphaTauri driver missed out advancing to Q2 by just 0.018s.
It was a torrid Saturday for two-time Monaco GP winner Fernando Alonso, who endured his worst qualifying result since returning to F1.
The 39-year-old Spaniard was only faster than Nicholas Latifi’s Williams and the Haas cars as he ended up a hugely disappointing 17th.
Haas rookie Nikita Mazepin was the slowest of the 19 runners after his teammate Mick Schumacher was unable to take part in qualifying following a heavy crash in final practice.
As a result, Schumacher will start Sunday’s race at the very back of the grid.
Monaco Quali Classfication: LeClerc on Pole and Max second.
