Charles Leclerc took his second consecutive pole position at Monaco on Saturday’s (May 28) Formula 1 qualifying session.
Leclerc and Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz swept the front row, followed by an all-Red Bull second row of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen.
“It is very special, I’m so incredibly happy, it’s been a very smooth weekend until now” Leclerc told Guido van der Garde.
“I knew the pace was in the car, I just had to do the job. And yeah, it went perfectly … the car felt amazing and it’s great to have Carlos with me on the front row.”
Leclerc and Sainz dominated the Q3 shootout, rarely less than two tenths ahead of the Red Bull duo.
Both Verstappen and Perez struggled to pull anything extra out of their hats through the final session, despite having been competitive throughout the day to that point. Their last chance to make a run for the front row was cut short with just over 30 seconds on the clock.
Following Leclerc through Portier (turn 8), Perez’s back end stepped out and planted his Red Bull firmly in the barriers on corner exit. With terminal damage, Perez was left stationary in the path of a fast approaching Sainz, who swung his left rear quarter into the front end of Perez, effectively blocking the track.
Next in line was Verstappen, who with nowhere to go was forced to come to a halt in turn 8, ending his last flying lap without closure. Given that less than a minute remained in the session, race control opted not to restart Q3 after clearing the incident, sealing the pole for Leclerc.
Lando Norris earned a respectable fifth-place start, followed by Geroge Russell. Both Russell and Lewis Hamilton struggled with handling, particularly rear tire temperatures, throughout all three sessions. Hamilton will line up in eighth place in Sunday.
Leclerc ended Q2 atop the time charts, with Perez less than a tenth of a second behind. Sainz ended the session in third with Verstappen not mounting any major challenges for the top…
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