Formula 1 world championship leader Kimi Antonelli snatched Monaco Grand Prix pole position away from Max Verstappen as Ferrari‘s challenge fell short in qualifying.
Rivals had tipped Ferrari as favourite in the build-up and it lived up to that status on Friday, before a more muted start to Saturday in practice and the early qualifying segments as Mercedes driver Antonelli hit his stride.
When Charles Leclerc had to abandon his first Q3 lap having slid into Massenet, the pole fight looked like it was down to Antonelli versus Verstappen – who were just 0.001 seconds apart after their first runs.
But Leclerc went out early for what would now be his sole pole shot and temporarily snatched provisional pole by 0.024s.
He couldn’t stay there – first Verstappen put Red Bull back to the top with a time 0.257s ahead of the Ferrari, then Antonelli pipped Verstappen by just 0.043s with what proved to be an unbeatable time.
Leclerc tapped the barrier at Tabac on his final effort to fight back and ended up only fourth behind Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
George Russell had no answer to Mercedes team-mate and title rival Antonelli. He was 0.394s slower than the sister car and starts only sixth, behind Isack Hadjar’s Red Bull and ahead of the off-the-pace McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
Pierre Gasly’s Alpine and Liam Lawson’s Racing Bulls complete the top 10.
Audi’s practice pace made it look like a very strong Q3 contender but its qualifying session went awry early when Gabriel Bortoleto broke his suspension against the barrier turning into the chicane.
His stranded car prompted a late-Q1 red flag and a two-minute scramble in which Carlos Sainz somehow hurled his Williams from the drop zone to the edge of the top 10.
That pushed Esteban Ocon out and meant both Haas drivers were eliminated in the first session, with Ollie Bearman only 19th behind Sergio Perez’s Cadillac after his final-practice crash.
Completing Audi’s underwhelming day, Nico Hulkenberg only qualified 13th behind the two Williams and could not understand why the car had faded so much since practice.
Monaco GP qualifying times
1 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) 1m12.051s
2 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1m12.094s
3 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) 1m12.279s
4 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1m12.351s
5 Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) 1m12.434s
6 George Russell (Mercedes) 1m12.445s
7 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 1m12.624s
8 Lando Norris (McLaren) 1m12.765s
9 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) 1m13.226s
10 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) 1m13.412s
11 Alex Albon (Williams) 1m13.787s
12 Carlos Sainz (Williams) 1m13.815s
13 Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) 1m13.902s
14 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) 1m13.995s
15 Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) 1m14.248s
16 Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) no time
17 Esteban Ocon (Haas) 1m14.722s
18 Sergio Perez (Cadillac) 1m14.747s
19 Ollie Bearman (Haas) 1m14.814s
20 Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) 1m15.283s
21 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) 1m15.349s
22 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) 1m16.061s
