CHARLES LECLERC has earned himself pole position ahead of TOMORROW’S race in what turned out to be a chaotic qualifying.
The Ferrari star took advantage of a dramatic crash involving Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen at the final turn of the circuit.
Whilst Lewis Hamilton had another poor day at the office as the seven-time world champions finished way down in eighth.
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Confident Sainz
Carlos Sainz is in buoyant mood after qualifying.
Both the Ferrari cars occupy pole and 2nd ahead of tomorrow’s Grand Prix.
“Let’s now try and finish the job tomorrow, we are in a great position,” he said.
“We will go for it!”
Unlucky for Hamilton
He was improving his time when the session was stopped. He would have qualified higher up the grid but was not allowed the opportunity to finish the lap.
Red Flag – A crash before the tunnel has caused chaos
Leclerc was on a flying lap and looking to improve his time but behind him, Perez spins at the entrance and goes into the barrier.
But he is then hit by Sainz, causing a blockage on the track and the session is red flagged.
But the flag was a bit late and other cars arrived at the scene at speed.
The upshot it that Leclerc takes pole, Sainz will start second. Perez in third, Verstappen in fourth.
Norris in fifth, Russell in sixth, Alonso in seventh and Hamilton way down in eighth.
Drivers are struggling to beat that time from Leclerc
It was an early run, but it could prove to be the deciding one here.
Leclerc takes provisional pole
A good first crack for the Ferrari man to take P1 for the time being while Sainz is just 0.225 seconds behind him.
Perez P3 and Verstappen P4.
Still eight minutes to go but this is set up perfectly for a grandstand finish.
Q3 is go – the battle for the top 10
Will Leclerc continue his excellent pace or will Perez or Verstappen pip him to pole?
Can Hamilton get inside the front two rows of the grid or even beat his teammate?
And what about Sainz? He’s had mixed form all season, but he is due a win and pole here would help those chances.
Ricciardo is out of Q2
The Aussie is under massive pressure to start delivering for McLaren – and this was another poor Saturday.
He scraped in to Q2 but has not made it into the top 10. He’s under contract until 2023 but there are already rumours about him being replaced at the team.
Schumacher, Magnussen, Bottas and Tsunoda are also knocked out.
Sainz picks Champions League winner
Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz took a moment away from the practice sessions to give his opinion on the Champions League final.
He said: “I don’t think Real needs to win because as a team, they’ve done a great season.
“But Real normally tends to win the finals because it’s Real, and they have a lot of experience. Especially these players that they have now, they’ve played a lot of finals together and they know what they need to do to win.
“I was tempted. But it is the typical thing – you go to Paris, you come back, obviously it is not ideal preparation but I still think you can do it but then everyone knows that you’ve been in Paris.
“If something goes wrong on Sunday, it’s because you went to Paris, so it’s the typical thing that you would never do as a racing driver but I still believe it would be doable.”
Leclerc has a moment in the pitlane
He might be the quickest man on track, but he had a mistake there as he missed the FIA’s spot-check at the weighbridge.
Spotting his mistake, he pulled over and needed to be pushed back up the pitlane by his Ferrari mechanics where he was able to comply with the rules for a weight check.
Mercedes off the pace
Both Hamilton and Russell are struggling to match the pace of the Ferrari and Red Bulls.
It could be touch and go here if they make it into Q3.
Hamilton radios the team saying “I told you guys, there rears [tyres] are not ready”.
Q2 gets the green light
The shootout for the top 10 is underway in Monaco. All eyes on whether the Mercedes duo can make it into the top 10.
McLaren’s Ricciardo could also come under pressure too.
Chelsea star seen in Monaco
Chelsea star Mason Mount was present at the FP3 in Monaco with the Red Bull team.
He was spotted having a chat with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
And the England star chose the right team to align with as Perez stormed to victory in the race.
But world champion Verstappen could only finish in fourth.
Q1 is done – Gasly eliminated
The Frenchman was caught out by the traffic in the pitlane following the red flag.
He pays the price for the suspicious call from the FIA.
Zhou, Latifi, Stroll and Albon are also knocked out at the first attempt.
Session has restarted
But what a mess in the pitlane. The majority of drivers are going to miss out on the chance to improve their lap times.
That spells bad news for Schumacher and Bottas, who were the last out.
Red Flag – Session stopped
Somewhat ludicrous as the race steward has stopped the session for what seems to be Tsunoda hitting a barrier.
That said, the AlphaTauri man was still able to carry on and has made it back to the pits.
Seems like an over reaction from the FIA in that instance, but safety first and all that…
Tight at the top
Not too much to separate the Ferraris and Red Bulls at the top but at the bottom, Ricciardo is under pressure. Norris too in danger.
Vettel in the danger zone
The four-time world champion is currently in 16th place in the the bottom five.
He could be eliminated here from qualifying at the first hurdle.
Qualifying for the Monaco GP is go
The battel for P1 has the green light and it is already a busy track. Ferrari are the last cars out but are both now joining the action.
Leclerc on Monaco as race destination
Charles Leclerc is adamant that F1 races should still be held in his native Monaco.
The Ferrari driver was pipped to victory at FP3 on Saturday by Sergio Perez.
But he insists Monaco is a good destination for races, saying: “F1 has some historic tracks like Silverstone and Monza – and Monaco too – and they should stay on the calendar.
It would be a bad move for both parties [to remove Monaco]. I have never known Monaco without F1 apart from COVID reasons in 2020, and F1 without Monaco for me is not F1.
Monaco is one of the best tracks out there, in terms of qualifying there are no places I enjoy as much as here, where the driver can make as much difference.”
Traffic hold up
There was a few traffic incidents in the practice session.
Max Verstappen being held up by Guanyu Zhou.
Sergio Perez blocked George Russell, and two incidents involving Carlos Sainz also caught the stewards’ attention.
Sainz’s issues involved Aston Martin drivers Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel.
Perez denies Leclerc a clean sweep
Ferrari ace Charles Leclerc was denied a clean sweep by Red Bull’s Sergio Perez in Saturday’s practice session.
Leclerc was the quickest in both practice sessions on Friday.
And he looked set to clinch his third win in a row before Perez pipped him right at the race’s climax.
Hamilton on title and retirement
Lewis Hamilton has admitted that it’s unlikely that he’ll win the F1 title this season.
But he vowed to carry on racing until he can no longer do so physically.
He said: “I probably won’t win the title, but I feel the same pleasure of competing as when I started. Why should I stop? Maybe one day I won’t be able to take the pressure anymore, I’ll be tired, but that day hasn’t come yet.”
FP3 is done – Perez tops the timesheets
The Mexican takes the top spot in the final session with a time of 1:12.476.
Leclerc is second quickest just 0.041s behind him and Sainz in third 0.370 behind the Red Bull man.
Verstappen is fourth, Gasly fifth, Norris sixth, Hamilton seventh, Magnussen eighth, Russell ninth and Alonso tenth.
Stroll hits the barriers
His Aston Martin is damaged but he is able to make it to the pits for a front wing change.
I know he’s the owner’s son, but he must surely have to start delivering soon, surely…
Vettel and Sainz have a near miss
The German is not happy by the Ferrari man’s driving. He delivers an expletive-laden message over the team’s radio.
The incident has been noted by the FIA and the Spanish driver could be in for a penalty.
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
