LIVE: Monaco GP Qualifying

By Peter Johnson

Charles Leclerc was fastest in all three Practice sessions at his home Grand Prix | Credit: Formula One

16:30 That's it for Qualifying in Monaco, then. We get underway at 14:00BST tomorrow to find out whether Lando Norris can convert Pole to victory, or if local boy Charles Leclerc can wrestle a second successive home victory from him. Remember the mandatory two stops which come into play for tomorrow's race, too, which adds an extra degree of unpredictability.

16:27 Pole sitter Lando Norris: "It's been a long time coming. I don't think you realise how good this feels after a few struggles in the last few months. Monaco is probably the hardest track to do it, up against the home town hero as well. When you get to Q3, it's down to who can risk a little bit more. I'm very happy."

16:24 Home favourite Charles Leclerc, who qualified second: "This was the best we could do. The lap was really good. The first lap was a bit of a shame because that gives you more confidence for the second run but I couldn't do that because I had traffic. We know we don't quite have the car to go for wins here. Starting second it will be difficult to go for first place. On paper it was going to be a difficult weekend for us. At the end of the day it's not that bad."

16:20 Remember Lewis Hamilton and Lance Stroll will both be investigated after the session for impeding Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly respectively in Q1.

16:19 Lando Norris has been criticised at times this season, by himself as much as anybody else, for his Qualifying performances. What a place to rediscover his form on a Saturday, as he becomes the first man ever to lap Monaco in fewer than 70 seconds.

16:18 The top 10 for tomorrow's Monaco Grand Prix: 1 Norris; 2 Leclerc; 3 Piastri; 4 Hamilton; 5 Verstappen; 6 Hadjar; 7 Alonso; 8 Ocon; 9 Lawson; 10 Albon

16:16 Piastri misses out by six hundredths, but here comes Lando Norris... he snatches Pole from the home hero by a tenth of a second!

16:16 Verstappen slots in behind Hamilton, but the two McLarens have gone again!

16:15 Lewis Hamilton goes third, but Charles Leclerc takes provisional Pole after a stunning middle sector!

16:14 Both Ferraris are in the mix, about a tenth down on Norris after the first sector.

16:13 It's Norris from Piastri on the front row as it stands, then, but the other eight challengers are now on track.

16:12 Piastri and Norris are both finding time, with Norris purple in sector one. Piastri strikes back with a stunning second sector and goes top with a 1:10.140. Lando Norris outdoes him by one one hundredth of a second!

16:11 The McLaren duo return to the track very early indeed for their final runs, with four minutes remaining as Norris starts his flying lap. They'll get a clear track, but will the track be at its best after they have finished?

16:10 A few caveats to the below order - Albon and Ocon's times were on mediums, while Hamilton's was on used softs. Hadjar is yet to post a time.

16:09 The order with six minutes remaining: 1 Norris; 2 Piastri; 3 Leclerc; 4 Verstappen; 5 Hamilton; 6 Albon; 7 Ocon; 8 Alonso; 9 Lawson; 10 Hadjar

16:08 Verstappen loses a couple of tenths to Piastri in the middle sector and lands in P4, but just two tenths off Pole.

16:07 Piastri lays down the gauntlet with a 1:10.5, as Norris pips him by half a tenth. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton sit third and fourth as Verstappen begins a flying lap.

16:06 Alex Albon and Esteban Ocon have gone against the grain and entered the fray on medium tyres. Piastri is setting the timing sheets alight.

16:05 Lewis Hamilton is on used soft tyres for his first run, having had to use a second set to navigate Q1 safely.

16:03 There doesn't appear to be any medium tyre shenanigans at the start of Q3. The drivers are starting to line up in the pit lane exclusively on soft tyres.

16:02 Well, this is it. Arguably the greatest spectacle of the Formula One season is upon us - the final Qualifying session in Monaco.

16:00 Both Racing Bulls drivers have made it through to Q3, reflecting the decent pace they showed throughout Practice. Esteban Ocon also snuck in in tenth for Haas.

15:57 Eliminated in Q2: 11 Sainz; 12 Tsunoda; 13 Hülkenberg; 14 Russell; 15 Antonelli

15:56 As predicted, the timing sheets barely stopped changing until the flag dropped. Norris, Leclerc, Albon, Piastri, Verstappen were your top five, but there several shock eliminations there.

15:55 Carlos Sainz and Yuki Tsunoda are out!

15:54 Isack Hadjar is flying in the Racing Bulls and goes sixth, while Alex Albon puts his Williams third!

15:54 Alonso has said he can do all he can in Q2 and will return to the pits. He currently sits seventh, but there are lots of green and indeed purple sector times appearing.

15:53 All remaining 13 drivers are out on track - remember, neither Mercedes will have any further say.

15:52 Alonso did actually improve to seventh on the medium tyres, but both Williams have now switched to softs.

15:51 Bottom five with three minutes remaining: 11 Hadjar; 12 Hülkenberg; 13 Ocon; 14 Russell; 15 Antonelli

15:50 Yuki Tsunoda is the final man to post a lap time, but can only go tenth in his Red Bull.

15:49 Fernando Alonso abandoned the medium tyre experiment, with the Williams drivers the only two men to persist with the yellow-walled compound. They are both currently in the top ten as Lando Norris goes fastest.

15:48 Lewis Hamilton goes second behind Charles Leclerc as the Ferraris reassert some degree of control.

15:46 Oscar Piastri and Yuki Tsunoda are both currently in the bottom five, with neither having yet set a competitive time.

15:45 Charles Leclerc, meanwhile, has now opted for soft tyres, as has Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton.

15:44 Fernando Alonso will look to repeat the trickery he performed last week at Imola as he exits the garage with a set of medium tyres. Aston Martin successfully gambled on the theoretically slower compound in Q2 last weekend, with the Spaniard eventually qualifying fifth.

15:42 Lando Norris and Max Verstappen, both on the soft tyres, currently lead the way in Q2. Charles Leclerc and Alex Albon have set times currently good enough for third and fourth on medium tyres. Every remaining driver will almost certainly improve, though, so don't read too much into the times so far.

15:40 With a mandatory two pit stops in the race tomorrow, Mercedes may well be one of the teams who fancy doing something bold on strategy.

15:39 George Russell's Mercedes is finally pushed up a service road down at the Nouvelle Chicane, so the session should restart shortly. There are just over ten minutes remaining.

15:38 All the drivers who had designs on running pretty much non-stop for the whole of Q2 will need to have a bit of a rethink.

15:37 Russell lost power on the charge up to Massenet and free-wheeled the best part of half a lap to the tunnel, where he eventually stopped.

15:36 Russell described Mercedes' race weekend at Imola as "disastrous", so how on earth will he describe the team's Qualifying in Monaco? Both Silver Arrows will be eliminated in Q2 and will line up 14th and 15th at best tomorrow.

15:35 The session has been red flagged as Russell attempts to restart his car. The dash on his steering wheel has sprung back to life but it doesn't look like he's going anywhere.

15:34 George Russell has lost power in the tunnel and is out of Qualifying! Disaster for Mercedes!

15:33 Lewis Hamilton, George Russell and the two Williams drivers are also sporting the yellow-walled medium compound.

15:31 All 14 remaining drivers are straight out on track, as the medium tyres make an appearance on Charles Leclerc's Ferrari.

15:30 Q2 is now underway, with several drivers expected to be fuelled for the whole session. Expect the timing sheets for the opening majority of this session to be pretty meaningless, because we will likely see a significant increase in lap times.

15:28 Looks a likely further penalty for Stroll, whose offence against Gasly was almost identical to the offence he committed against Charles Leclerc in Practice 1, for which he was penalised. Gasly also failed to progress, which will be a mitigating circumstance. The Hamilton-Verstappen incident looks harder to call, but both comfortably progressed to Q2 anyway.

15:26 One more parish notice - the start of Q2 has been delayed while marshals repair the barriers at the chicane.

15:25 The stewards have also noted a moment between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, which will be investigated after the session. The world champion was on a flying lap and caught Hamilton going slowly at the top of the hill at Massenet.

15:23 There will be a few changes to the back of the grid tomorrow, with Stroll with a one-place penalty plus whatever the stewards decide to give him for impeding Gasly, while Oliver Bearman was hit with a ten-place grid penalty for overtaking Carlos Sainz under red flag conditions in Practice.

15:21 Eliminated in Q1: 16 Bortoleto; 17 Bearman; 18 Gasly; 19 Stroll; 20 Colapinto

15:20 Antonelli clipped the wall with his front left tyre as he turned into the chicane. Easily done, but a mistake that brings fatal consequences to his Qualifying hopes. He ends Q1 15th, but will not participate in Q2.

15:19 Kimi Antonelli is in the wall at the Nouvelle Chicane! That's ruined a number of drivers' laps as the clock ticks down to zero.

15:19 Hamilton improves to P4, as Lawson, Alonso and Bortoleto all jump out of the bottom five.

15:18 Bortoleto, Alonso, Bearman, Stroll and Colapinto are the five who most urgently need to improve. Hamilton goes purple in the second sector.

15:18 Lewis Hamilton is down in 13th and has time for one more flying lap. He really could do with finding a few more tenths.

15:16 The track is continuing to ramp up, with all 20 cars on track to try to experience the best of the conditions. Fernando Alonso, third fastest moments ago, is now 17th.

15:16 The Alpines have emerged on soft tyres, with Gasly jumping to 12th. Franco Colapinto remains 20th and slowest.

15:15 Charles Leclerc sets a purple first sector, looking to dislodge the two McLarens. Leclerc completes his lap, and does indeed jump from third to first.

15:13 The bottom five with just over four minutes remaining: 16 Stroll; 17 Lawson; 18 Hadjar; 19 Colapinto; 20 Gasly

15:12 Lance Stroll, who I mentioned already has a one-place grid penalty for colliding with Charles Leclerc in FP1, may well be in hot water again as he obstructs Pierre Gasly at the Nouvelle Chicane. That could well be another penalty for the Canadian.

15:10 I mentioned the potentially tough decision that teams are facing regarding the soft and medium tyres a moment ago. Everybody except the two Alpines is out on soft tyres currently, with Gasly and Colapinto's medium-clad cars both sitting in the bottom five.

15:09 All 20 drivers are now on track and they're all pounding round, delivering lap after lap. Tyre degradation is low here in Monaco so the teams are fuelling their drivers for several runs on one set of tyres.

15:08 The two Ferraris now lead the way, with Leclerc two tenths ahead of Hamilton, who does not appear to have lost a shred of confidence.

15:07 Lance Stroll, who has a one-place grid penalty following a collision with Charles Leclerc in FP1, has a brief foray to the top of the time sheets, but Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris now occupy the top two places.

15:06 Pirelli have brought the three softest compounds in their range to Monaco, in much the same way as Imola last week, which means the return of the new C6 compound. Again in similar fashion to last weekend, several teams are undecided as to whether the soft or medium compound is a better qualifying tyre.

15:05 Leclerc is the early pace setter, with a 1:13.0 nudging him ahead of Alex Albon's Williams.

15:04 It's been a busy couple of hours on the other side of the Ferrari garage after Lewis Hamilton hit the wall at Massenet in the closing stages of FP3, coincidentally in much the same way as Fernando Alonso did in his debut season for the Scuderia in 2010. Hamilton's engineers have successfully completed the rebuild and Hamilton is out on track, but will his confidence have taken a knock?

15:02 Charles Leclerc has definitely been the story of the weekend so far, just as he was 12 months ago with his iconic victory in the Principality. He looks well-placed to claim his fourth Monaco Pole position, having been fastest on Saturday in 2021, 2022 and 2024. Leclerc failed to make the start of the race in 2021, however, which was the only occasion in the last 20 Monaco Grands Prix when the Pole sitter has not made the podium.

15:00 Just to give you an idea of just how important Qualifying is in Monaco, here are a few numbers for you. 60 of the 70 Monaco Grands Prix before this weekend were won by a driver starting in the top three positions, while the last driver to win from outside the top three was Olivier Panis in 1996. In each of the last two seasons, the top three in Qualifying have gone on to finish the race in the same order that they started.

14:57 Home hero Charles Leclerc, who of course won here so heroically last year, has had a blinder of a weekend so far, topping all three Practice sessions. If he can follow up on that form over the next hour, a second home victory tomorrow will be within reach.

14:55 It's that time of year again - the most important Qualifying session on the Formula One calendar. Always one of the highlights of the season, in a few moments' time all twenty drivers will take to the streets of Monte Carlo to slog it out for Pole position.