May 29

May 29 Charles Leclerc earns fifth pole position of the year in all-important Monaco qualifying

Charles Leclerc has secured pole position for the Monaco grand prix as Ferrari locked out the front row of the grid.

Charles Leclerc celebrates his pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix. *(Pirelli)*

It was the fifth pole of the season for Leclerc, earning the all-important starting spot in Monaco with a time of 1:11.367.

"I am very pleased with our overall performance so far this weekend," said Leclerc.

"I felt confident in the car and started pushing a bit more in Q3."

The opening part of qualifying saw a mad rush for track position as Yuki Tsunoda clipped the barriers and brought out a slightly premature red flag.

Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly, Lance Stroll, Nicholas Latifi and Guanyu Zhou were knocked out in Q1 with both McLarens, the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and the Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas all making it through in the tentative final moments.

Leclerc and Red Bull's Sergio Perez topped the time sheet in Q2, with Yuki Tsunoda, Valtteri Bottas, Kevin Magnussen, Daniel Ricciardo and Mick Schumacher eliminated in the second session.

The Australian could only manage fourteenth as his season-long woes continued in Monaco.

Charles Leclerc on track in Monaco. *(Pirelli)*

Charles Leclerc was fastest in the first runs in Q3, before the final runs were aborted after an unusual crash between Perez and Sainz at the entry to the tunnel.

Perez spun out on his own, with Sainz coming around the corner unsighted and collecting the Red Bull.

The session was red-flagged, guaranteeing Leclerc pole position at home, despite having to abort his final lap

"The first lap was good," said the Ferrari protagonist.

"I think that the second was one of the best laps I have ever done in qualifying."

"It was so much fun to drive and I was really on the limit."

"I had a lot of oversteer, so the rear was quite loose."

"Still, I knew that the lap was coming together nicely and that felt particularly good."

"It’s a shame that I couldn’t finish it, but this is Monaco and we know that the final attempt is always at risk of yellow or red flags."

Sainz completed the front row for Ferrari, with an all-Red Bull second row of Perez and Max Verstappen, who could only manage fourth.

The Grand Prix de Monaco gets underway at 11pm tonight (AEST) under threat of changing weather conditions.

"Whatever the conditions, we will start from the best place possible and will do everything to finish the weekend as smoothly as it has gone so far," said Leclerc.

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2022 Formula One World Championship - Monaco Qualifying