Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix, the seventh round of the 2022 F1 World Championship, after an incident-packed qualifying session.
Leclerc will start ahead of Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez – who both crashed out of Q3 together – after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top 10 shootout of Q3.
Monaco Grand Prix qualifying results: Leclerc on pole from Sainz
What happened in Monaco Grand Prix Q1?
Leclerc set the early bar at 12.939s, with Verstappen getting to within 0.054s of it. Leclerc then extended his advantage with a 1m12.569s, with Sainz 0.047s down.
Russell jumped to third, ahead of the Red Bulls and behind the Ferraris, just before the session was red flagged with 2m25s on the clock as Yuki Tsunoda clipped the wall at the Nouvelle Chicane.
At the restart, Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Lando Norris (McLaren) jumped up to fourth and fifth respectively.
Falling at the first hurdle were Alex Albon (Williams), Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Nicholas Latifi (Williams) and Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo), who didn’t get to the flag in time to start a final run.
Monaco Grand Prix Q1 results: Leclerc fastest from Sainz
What happened in Monaco Grand Prix Q2?
Verstappen set the bar at 1m12.551s, quickly beaten for the P1 spot by Sainz and then Perez.
Leclerc stayed out for a second push lap and reset the bar at 1m11.864s, with Perez getting to within 0.09s, with Sainz third and Verstappen fourth.
Knocked out at this point were, Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri), Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) and Mick Schumacher (Haas).
Monaco Grand Prix Q2 results: Leclerc fastest from Perez
What happened in Monaco Grand Prix Q3?
On the first runs, Leclerc produced 1m11.376s out of the gate, 0.225s quicker than Sainz, with Perez and Verstappen both close behind the Spaniard.
On the final runs, Leclerc looked set to improve when Perez spun at Portier and was collected by Sainz, bringing out the red flags. Meanwhile, Alonso slid into the barrier at Mirabeau.
Perez will start third, ahead of Verstappen, Norris, Russell, Alonso, Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) and Esteban Ocon (Alpine).
