charles leclerc he wanted pole position at home and he achieved it thanks to a perfect lap in Monaco, although his direct rivals were unable to attack him in the final seconds, as the session ended early after an accident with Checo Pérez, whom Carlos Sainz has not been able to avoid. The champion and leader Max Verstappen he was blocked by both on his last attempt and got off the Red Bull cursing his luck. Coming out fourth in the Principality is almost equivalent to a ‘conviction’.
Last year Leclerc already got pole position here, but after setting his fastest lap he had an accident in the pool area. Ferrari did not detect problems with the car until Sunday, right on the installation lap, and the Monegasque driver was unable to start. That was the last episode of a catastrophic series of Leclerc in the Principality race, where he has never managed to cross the finish line. This Sunday (3:00 p.m.), he will try to change his destiny.
This year, with a winning car and after losing the lead in the World Championship (by only 6 points) in Barcelona to Max Verstappen, the Monegasque does not want to miss another opportunity to win a prestigious victory against his countrymen, family and friends. But the race is going to be a path of thorns. After three free practice sessions and a ‘heart attack’ classification, Leclerc It is clear that an intense battle awaits him. The equality between Ferrari and Red Bull promises strong emotions in a highly demanding circuit and in which the walls intimidate the most experienced of the drivers.Q1: Ferrari in frontLeclerc He started very focused and took the lead in the time table (1:12.569), with Sainz just 47 thousandths behind. A red flag for Tsunoda’s accident, without consequences, with 2:25 to go, interrupted the session and allowed the drivers to have one last lap thrown to try to secure their place in the next round, from which they finally have been left out Albon, Gasly, Stroll Latifi, and Zhou, with a cutoff time of 1:13.5, Bottas’ time. The Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull, plus Alonso and Gasly have saved a set of tires.
Q2: Alonso, to Q3 by the minimum
The sun rises in Monaco and the temperature begins to rise, which at the beginning of the session was 27º in the atmosphere and 50º on the asphalt. Verstappen opens the ‘fire’ with the best time but Sainz overtakes him and then Pérez, who returns to lead the standings as he did in free practice 3, after scoring his fastest lap in 1.12.059. Alonso squeezes the Alpine to climb to fifth provisional position, 6 tenths of Czech. A Verstappen continues to cost more than expected this weekend and Leclerc faces the final stretch with another perfect lap, which places him as the first to break the 1.12 barrier (1.11.864). Hamilton and Russell suffer the unspeakable with the Mercedes, risking it in every corner with a more extreme and uncontrollable W13. fall eliminated Tsunoda, Bottas, Magnussen, Ricciardo and Mick Schumacher, while Alonso narrowly saved access to Q3. Leclerc continues to command, ahead of Pérez, Sainz and Verstappen. The four undisputed favorites for the fight for pole.
Q3: ultimate chaos
The first reference of Leclerc (1.11.3) has allowed him to place himself on provisional pole, ahead of sainzto two tenths, with the two Red Bull of Perez and Verstappen in the same tenth. Alonso (1.12.2) is already fifth and best of the rest with a lap to the limit, caressing the guardrails. The track temperature drops to 46º and the sky becomes cloudy again. Nobody dares to make a clear forecast, although Leclerc seems to have a plus on his circuit. In his last and decisive attempt, the Monegasque raised the stakes, but when he came on the fastest lap, he saw how a red flag gave him his second pole position at home. Sergio Pérez had an accident and Sainz was unable to avoid the Mexican.
Leclerc takes pole in Monaco ✅
Incredible qualifying final with Checo Pérez going to the wall, Sainz couldn’t avoid him and Alonso also had an accident ?
What madness! ⚡️#MonacoDAZNF1 ?? pic.twitter.com/PaQygUyIMe
— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) May 28, 2022
The two blocked the track just as Verstappen approached, while at another point on the track Alonso, who will start seventh tomorrow, ran into the wall. A final image of chaos, typical of a ‘buzzer’ circuit like Monaco, which however does not tarnish a great performance by Leclerc.
Monaco GP. (QP)
1. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1’11″376
2. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) 1’11″601
3. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) 1’11″629
4. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1’11″666
5. Lando Norris (McLaren) 1’11″849
6. George Russell (Mercedes) 1’12″223
7. Fernando Alonso (Alpine) 1’12″247
8. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1’12″560
9. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) 1’12″732
10. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) 1’13″047
11. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) 1’12″797 (*Q2)
12. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) 1’12″909
13. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) 1’12″921
14. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) 1’12″964
15. Mick Schumacher (Haas) 1’13″081
16. Alexander Albon (Williams) 1’13″611 (*Q1)
17. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) 1’13″660
18. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) 1’13″678
19. Nicholas Latifi (Williams) 1’14″403
20. Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo) 1’15″606