Verstappen snatches pole position from Alonso in thrilling Monaco GP qualifying session
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen will start the Monaco Grand Prix from pole position after coming out on top in a breathless qualifying hour at the Monte Carlo circuit, pipping Aston Martin rival Fernando Alonso and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
In a pole shootout that did not feature Verstappen’s team mate, Sergio Perez, who crashed out of Q1, several drivers enjoyed spells at the top of the timesheets amid a sequence of laps that had fans on the edge of their seats.
With Alonso on provisional pole, it took a mighty effort of 1m 11.365s from Verstappen to secure P1, denying the Spaniard what would have been his first pole since the 2012 season by just under a tenth of a second.
Alonso nonetheless took a spot on the front row, followed by home favourite Leclerc and the Alpine of Esteban Ocon, who posted a stunning lap of his own to get the better of Carlos Sainz in the other Ferrari.
Lewis Hamilton recovered from his accident in final practice and scruffy Q1 and Q2 phases to take sixth in the revised Mercedes W14, followed by the second Alpine of Pierre Gasly and team mate George Russell.
Yuki Tsunoda achieved his second Q3 appearance of the season en route to ninth position, with Lando Norris rounding out the top 10 places despite a meeting with the barriers in the Q2 segment.
While Norris progressed to Q3, Piastri just missed out in the other McLaren, taking 11th ahead of Nyck de Vries – who recorded the best qualifying result of his AlphaTauri stint to date in 12th – Williams’ Alexander Albon, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas.
Logan Sargeant lacked little more than half a tenth in his quest for Q2, with the American the first to miss the cut in 16th, followed by Kevin Magnussen – whose FP3 session was impacted by hydraulics trouble – and Nico Hulkenberg in a double Q1 exit for Haas.
Zhou Guanyu ended qualifying back in 19th, despite at one stage topping the timesheets during a busy opening phase, with Perez’s early accident exiting Sainte Devote leaving him at the foot of the order and facing a massive challenge to score points on Sunday.
