Antonelli takes pole position in Monaco, Leclerc hits wall in final moments

Qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix saw a fast-paced battle for a front row start. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli claimed yet another pole position in Monaco, followed by Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. Monaco's own Charles Leclerc was unable to take pole position after hitting the wall in the final moments of the session.

Credit: Formula One

Back in the iconic Principality, 22 drivers battled it out on the Monégasque streets to start at the front of the grid tomorrow afternoon. Qualifying in Monaco is the most important part of the weekend. Due to the nature of the circuit being tight and twist, there are very few overtaking spots.

Victorious in Monaco in this afternoon’s qualifying was Antonelli, followed by Verstappen and Hamilton.

Here's how qualifying panned out in Monaco:

Q1

Most drivers were eager to get out onto the track when the lights went green in the pit lane. Pierre Gasly and Oliver Bearman were some of the first to bank laps around the track, with Gasly brushing the wall and affecting his time. The hometown hero Leclerc set the fastest lap of 1:14:141 as he looks to repeat his 2024 win tomorrow. The likes of Antonelli, Lando Norris and Hamilton were unable to top the sheet over Leclerc.

Isack Hadjar began to struggle following his crash in FP1, only going ninth fastest with 10 minutes to go, he still had the time to bring it back. Meanwhile, his teammate Max Verstappen was on a decent looking lap, but it was only fifth fastest for the former champion.

Leclerc set another benchmark of 1:13:399, looking really confident around the streets he knows so well.

Lewis Hamilton looked fast around the track too by managing to keep himself towards the top of the timesheet with Norris and Leclerc the ones to beat ahead of him. Antonelli had a flying lap, going fastest in the first sector and moving into second. It was short lived before Verstappen swooped in and moved ahead of him.

Russell also looked to be struggling compared to his previous strong weekends and at this point was sitting seventh.

Antonelli received a black and white flag after not following the race director's instructions. Too many times, Antonelli would be driving to slowly between his flying laps, causing him to receive a final warning.

A yellow flag turned red after Gabriel Bortoleto unfortunately crashed into the barriers at the chicane. The session was paused with two minutes and 11 seconds to go. The bottom six had a difficult but doable task to get out of the elimination zone when the session resumed. Carlos Sainz was one of the drivers able to get out of the elimination zone, moving through to Q2.

By the end of Q1, it was clear that Leclerc was the one to beat going forward, with his 1:13:399 being the quickest lap of them all.

Q1 eliminations

17. Esteban Ocon

18. Sergio Pérez

19. Oliver Bearman

20. Valtteri Bottas

21. Fernando Alonso

22. Lance Stroll

Q2

Despite crashing at the end of Q1, Bortoleto secured a spot in Q2, but was unable to get out onto the track due to the damage on the Audi.

At the beginning of Q2, Sainz was noted for an unsafe release as Verstappen had to slam on the breaks in the pit lane. Gasly is first to set a time on the leaderboard with 1:20:220, but Verstappen came in with the first competitive lap time of 1:13:205.

Leclerc then went back into the lead with a time of 1:12:128, as Hamilton made it a brief Ferrari 1-2 with a time of 1:13:091 but Piastri quickly moved up to second with an impressive lap. With nine minutes still to go, Antonelli was first to move ahead of Leclerc with 1:12:778.

It was a constantly chopping and changing order, with Verstappen and Norris moving into second and third respectively. Leclerc was back out on a flying lap to try and reclaim his space at the top of the timesheets, but only managed to slot into second place.

Russell continued to struggle around the streets of Monaco, the car didnt look to reliable as it was sliding around. He was sitting in eighth, but wasn't entirely safe for Q3 just yet.

Gasly managed to move out of the elimination zone and up into 10th, with Russell staying eighth.

Verstappen on a final flying lap managed to move up to the top of the board, setting a lap time of 1:12:499.

Both Williams drivers had their final chance to move out of the elimination zone with a few seconds to go, however they were both unable to move through to Q3.

Hadjar moved up into third after a great lap, as Lindblad was not able to go quick enough to have a spot in the top 10.

Q2 eliminations

11. Alex Albon

12. Carlos Sainz

13. Nico Hülkenberg

14. Franco Colapinto

15. Arvid Lindblad

16. Gabriel Bortoleto

Q3

First out onto the track in Q3 were the two McLarens, wasting no time for the final bit of track time ahead of tomorrow's Grand Prix.

Norris set the first benchmark of Q3, but a 1:12:375 for Antonelli gave him provisional pole in what was a fast paced Q3.

Similarly to Antonelli, Hamilton received a black and white flag for failing to follow the race director's instructions.

Leclerc went out for his flying lap with three minutes to go, but got caught in some traffic and aborted the attempt. However, the Monégasque quickly went for another flying lap as he was sat down in tenth, determined to start further up the grid.

He had a phenomenal lap and the streets of the Principality errupted as he moved into provisional pole position with a time of 1:12:351.

It was short lived for Leclerc as Verstappen reclaimed his pole position with a 1:12:094. Hamilton followed by joining Verstappen in the front row in second.

Antonelli and Russell also had some final attempts to start at the front of the grid tomorrow. Russell wasn't quick enough for pole, but the championship leader was and claimed pole position ahead of Verstappen with a time of 1:12:051.

Despite being on another flying lap, Leclerc's hopes for pole position died in the final moments after hitting the wall at Tabac. The driver settles for a fourth place start.

Monaco Grand Prix Starting Grid

1. Kimi Antonelli

2. Max Verstappen

3. Lewis Hamilton

4. Charles Leclerc

5. Isack Hadjar

6. George Russell

7. Oscar Piastri

8. Lando Norris

9. Pierre Gasly

10. Liam Lawson

11. Alex Albon

12. Carlos Sainz

13. Nico Hülkenberg

14. Franco Colapinto

15. Arvid Lindblad

16. Gabriel Bortoleto

17. Esteban Ocon

18. Sergio Pérez

19. Oliver Bearman

20. Valtteri Bottas

21. Fernando Alonso

22. Lance Stroll