Monaco Grand Prix: Leclerc takes majestic pole on home turf
Charles Leclerc put in a dominant display at home to take pole position for the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix, his sensational lap keeping team mate Carlos Sainz at bay by 0.225s on Saturday – a red flag stopping proceedings early…
This all-important qualifying session, given how essential a front-row start is at Monaco, saw Leclerc top Q1, Q2 and Q3 on the way to take Ferrari’s 12th pole position in the Principality with a sensational time of 1m 11.376s.
The Monegasque was on course to improve – but a red flag at the end of Q3 saw the field essentially set, Perez taking third with a gap of 0.253s to Leclerc, and Verstappen fourth by 0.290s.
The Q3 red flag was caused by Perez’s spin just before the tunnel section, Sainz then collecting Perez having seen the yellow flag too late.
Lando Norris rounded out the top five for McLaren, George Russell behind in P6 for Mercedes. Fernando Alonso (P7) and Lewis Hamilton (P8) share the fourth row, with Sebastian Vettel, ninth for Aston Martin, and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon rounding out the top 10.
Yuki Tsunoda caused a brief red flag in Q1 after clipping the barrier, but managed to emerge from the session. He ended up 11th on the provisional grid, ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas in P12. Neither Haas – Kevin Magnussen in P13 and Mick Schumacher P15 – could make it to Q3, with Daniel Ricciardo splitting them in 14th for McLaren.
Tsunoda’s brush with the barriers at the chicane and resultant red flag saw Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu miss out on a final chance to set a flying lap and qualify 20th. Neither Williams – Alex Albon in P16 by just 0.07s in Q1 and Nicholas Latifi in P19 – made it to Q2.
Between those Williams were AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly in 17th – another who was caught out by the red flag – and a frustrated Lance Stroll in 18th for Aston Martin.
