Charles Leclerc in sublime form as he tops Q1, Q2 and Q3 to take home race pole; Carlos Sainz shunts into stricken Sergio Perez on last laps; Sainz on front row ahead of Red Bulls, George Russell beats Lewis Hamilton; Watch Monaco GP live on Sky Sports F1 on Sunday at 2pm
By Matt Morlidge in Moanco
Last Updated: 28/05/22 4:31pm
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc stormed to a home Monaco GP pole position after dominating qualifying, which ended in dramatic fashion as Sergio Perez crashed and Carlos Sainz shunted into him on their last laps.
Trying to match Leclerc’s superb lap at the start of Q3, Perez slid into the barriers at the Portier right-hander before Sainz, in the other Ferrari, then came round the corner and hit the stricken Red Bull.
The red flags essentially sealed Leclerc’s pole, although such was the Monegasque’s form it’s unlikely he would have been beaten anyway.
An untouchable and unflappable Leclerc topped Q1 and Q2, was three-tenths faster than his rivals on the first laps of Q3 and was even improving on his final lap before the bizarre stoppage.
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Yuki Tsunoda hits the barrier and gets a front left puncture that causes a red flag in qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix.
Sainz, despite hitting Perez, is set to join his team-mate on the front row. The Spaniard lamented the late yellow flags when coming round the corner at Portier, where he slammed on the brakes but couldn’t avoid the Red Bull.
Perez was still third as Max Verstappen struggled for pace throughout the all-important qualifying for F1’s showpiece race and will line up fourth, ahead of Lando Norris, who impressively beat both Mercedes.
George Russell seemed to extract the maximum of the W13 in sixth, outqualfiying team-mate Lewis Hamilton by two places and a notable 0.4s.
It was a gripping qualifying as drivers pushed the new-for-2022 cars to the limit around the famous Monte Carlo circuit for the first time, with Sebastian Vettel impressing in ninth and Daniel Ricciardo struggling again in 14th for McLaren.
The other major incident in the session came in Q1, as Yuki Tsunoda clipping the barriers led to a possibly hasty red flag from the stewards. That ultimately resulted in a shock Pierre Gasly exit, as his Q1 lap was stopped and he then didn’t have enough time to complete another after the resumption.
A cracker of a Monaco GP is in store, with cooler temperatures and the threat of rain for F1’s most famous event. The race is live on Sky Sports F1 at 2pm, with build-up from 12.30pm.
More to follow…