Max Verstappen snatched pole position in a breathless Formula 1 qualifying session for the Monaco Grand Prix, dashed Fernando Alonso’s hopes after the session ended.
The Dutchman overcame a gap of two tenths to Alonso in the last sector and got the fastest time in the last second. His resulting time of 1:11.365 minutes consolidated his first pole position in qualifying at the Monte Carlo circuit.
Verstappen had set a fast lap at the start of practice with a time of 1m12.102s but the lap was immediately outclassed by Alonso who set the bar significantly higher with a time of 1m11.706s – and felt he had “pushed like an animal”. draw first blood.
The Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz couldn’t beat Alonso’s time but moved ahead of Verstappen in order as the Red Bull driver was forced to give up his first quid.
Verstappen had another rupture with his first set of tires and lagged behind Alonso in the early sectors but mastered the Rascasse and Antony Noghes corners to take the lead with a time of 1m11.654s.
Esteban Ocon surprisingly stormed to the top with a time of 1:11.553 minutes as the second lap started until Leclerc’s Ferrari passed him in 1:11.471.
Alonso then stormed to provisional pole with a time of 1m11.449s and got his Aston Martin mechanics raving, but all eyes were on Verstappen as he looked to end the session.
Verstappen was more than a tenth down in the first sector and his gap grew to over two tenths, but three tenths ahead of Alonso soured Aston Martin’s mood.
Leclerc’s lap was good enough to start alongside Ocon on the second row after the Alpine rider’s surprisingly strong effort was enough for fourth place.
Sainz joined Lewis Hamilton on the third row as the Mercedes driver pushed into Q3 while Gasly and Russell occupied the fourth row. Yuki Tsunoda and Lando Norris completed the top 10, the latter returning to the circuit after hitting the wall at Tabac in the second quarter.
The McLaren driver damaged the right side of his car and had to abandon the lap he was on. Still, his earlier round was enough to keep him on the right side of the elimination zone.
Norris also appeared to be hampered by Leclerc, preventing him from progressing beyond 10th place.
Hamilton was also on the brink of being stranded in the drop zone with time for another lap and although he reported his tires weren’t ready, the Brit’s improvisation was enough to take a place at the cost of one place in the top 10 to secure by Oscar Piastri.
Nyck de Vries was twelfth on the grid ahead of Alex Albon while Lance Stroll was paralyzed by confusion over his presence at the weighbridge. The Canadian missed his call to have the car weighed, urging Aston Martin mechanics to roll his car back so the FIA could take over his corner weights.
Valtteri Bottas will start the race 15th after being inside the top 10 after the initial push in Q2.
Sergio Perez was the biggest scalp in Q1 after his crash with the wall at Sainte Dévote which showed the red flag with 11 minutes to go.
The Mexican had too much pace in the first corner and this caused the rear of his Red Bull RB19 to skid. The momentum pushed him toward the exit wall, crashing his left rear wheel into the Tecpro barrier and causing severe damage to his rear suspension.
As the session resumed, Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton were under significant threat given the rapid development on track and remained in the relegation zone as the Q1 session headed towards the closing stages.
Sainz had abandoned laps while Hamilton suffered a slip on his penultimate flying lap at the Nouvelle Chicane and had to quickly regroup for one last try.
Under the pressure, both drivers delivered their performances and managed to break out of the bottom five at the expense of the Haas duo as Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg were eliminated in the early stages.
Logan Sargeant passed the two Haas cars while Perez, after his accident, started last alongside Zhou Guanyu.