F1 Monaco GP: Kimi Antonelli takes sensational pole as George Russell struggles to sixth

Formula 1 championship leader Kimi Antonelli took a sensational pole for the Monaco Grand Prix after pipping Max Verstappen late on.

The Mercedes driver set a 1m12.375s, which was just 0.043s quicker than Verstappen for his fourth pole in five grands prix while Ferrari struggled. That was despite the Scuderia dominating Friday practice with a 1-2 in both outings, but Saturday saw championship leader Mercedes bounce back as Antonelli topped FP3.

The 19-year-old then took provisional pole with a 1m12.375s on his first Q3 lap, putting him just 0.001s ahead of Verstappen who had Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton 0.177s behind in third.

On the back foot was Hamilton’s team-mate Charles Leclerc, who aborted his opening tour after almost hitting the barriers at Massenet, so he quickly came out for a second lap.

The Monegasque backed off on that one too, so Leclerc went for a third push lap, where there was minimal traffic, and he managed to beat Antonelli’s initial time by only 0.024s.

That was with one minute remaining though, so others weren’t finished and first to jump ahead was Verstappen with a 1m12.094s, just before Hamilton went 0.185s slower.

Then came Antonelli with a 1m12.051s to take pole ahead of Verstappen and Hamilton, who will share the second row alongside Leclerc who hit the barriers in the final sector at the end.

Fifth went to Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Isack Hadjar with a 1m12.434s, while it was another disappointing day for Antonelli’s stablemate George Russell in sixth.

The Mercedes driver was 0.394s off the pace ahead of an all-McLaren fourth row with Oscar Piastri seventh and Lando Norris eighth, while ninth went to Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson took 10th.

It was a close scrap to reach Q3 as just two thousandths of a second separated Gasly in 10th and 11th-placed Alex Albon, who will share the sixth row with Williams team-mate Carlos Sainz.

That marked only the second time the Grove outfit had both cars reach Q2 this season after Miami, the second qualifying session in Florida also being topped by Verstappen.

In Monaco 13th went to Audi driver Nico Hulkenberg, who is set to be joined on the seventh row by Gasly’s team-mate Franco Colapinto, while Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad took 15th.

Although Gabriel Bortoleto progressed to Q2, he was unable to set a lap in the second outing so he has claimed 16th for Sunday’s grid following his crash at Nouvelle Chicane late in Q1.

Gabriel Bortoleto had issues in qualifying

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

The Audi driver was having a strong weekend up to then, but the sophomore clipped the inside barrier upon entry and caused a red flag with approximately two minutes left in the session.

That caused a chaotic end to Q1, topped by Leclerc, where Sainz managed to vault his Williams out of the elimination zone and push Esteban Ocon into 17th.

That was part of a shock double Q1 exit for Haas with Oliver Bearman in 19th, but outside of that the usual suspects were eliminated early with Cadillac’s Sergio Perez splitting the Haas cars.

In 20th was his team-mate Valtteri Bottas ahead of an all Aston Martin back row with Fernando Alonso in 21st and Lance Stroll occupying 22nd.

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– The Motorsport.com Team

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