All weekend the signs have been pointing towards one man for pole position – the home favourite, the man who so unluckily lost his championship lead last weekend, Charles Leclerc. In that frantic final hour before qualifying, Red Bull found a setup that brought them into the fight with Scuderia Ferrari on the streets of Monte Carlo and it was Sergio Perez – not world champion Max Verstappen – who got the most out of it, beating Charles and four tenths faster than his team-mate.
It must be said that the Ferrari still looks the most comfortable around this track, but Sergio Perez – who only got his first pole of his long career earlier in the 2022 Formula 1 season – had little to lose and a lot to gain in what was the most important shootout of the current F1 campaign given the difficulty in overtaking at this track.
A huge qualifying session was therefore under way in Monaco as drivers were ready to push the limits of this incredible track. An 18-minute first segment and as always the five slowest drivers were knocked out of qualifying at the end of it. Charles Leclerc was on top of the timesheet as he got under the 1:13s and puts in a 1:12.939 flying lap, with Max Verstappen just behind him and Sergio Perez in third. Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo both improve into the top-10, as Alex Albon (Williams), Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri), Lance Stroll (Aston-Martin), Nicholas Latifi (Williams) and Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo) were out in Q1.
There was a fair bit of fruity language across Team Radio after the first five drivers exit qualifying. Lance Stroll and Zhou Guanyu both let their frustrations out. Pierre Gasly will be particularly disappointed having reached Q3 on all three starts previously, and he goes out in Q1 in Monaco for the first time.
The top 15 drivers made their way through to Q2, and it was a Ferrari one-two in Q1 with Charles leading Carlos. In Q2 we were into the 1:11s for the first time this weekend as that man Charles Leclerc posts a 1:11.8, a tenth ahead of Sergio Perez who therefore improved on his personal best. And it was Charles Leclerc who led the way in Q2, setting a frighteningly quick 1:11.864, as the Ferrari vs Red Bull battle continued. Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri), Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) and Mick Schumacher (Haas) were out in Q2.
It was a cracking first lap from Charles Leclerc, a 1:11.3, half a second quicker than anything he’s managed so far, as Carlos Sainz, Perez and Verstappen were all three tenths down! There was no improvement for Max Verstappen on his flying lap and he stays in 4th, +0.290s off Leclerc, while Sergio Perez lost the rear and slid into the wall, prompting a yellow flag. Carlos didn’t see the flag and goes into the side of the Red Bull! Quite the dramatic end to Q3! He was improving on his last lap anyway but that crash seals pole position for Charles Leclerc at the Monaco GP!!
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