On Sunday, Ferrari will have the front two as Red Bull will start #3 and #4.
MONTE CARLO, Monaco—Charles Leclerc dominated the entire qualifying session Saturday afternoon as the Monegasque recorded a 1:11:376 fastest lap for Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix. Qualifying ended 30 seconds sooner when second and third-place finishers, Carlos Sainz Jr. and Sergio Perez, collided with their Ferrari and Red Bull cars coming out of Portier before entering the tunnel.
Leclerc had come out earlier in the final session to take his best time of the entire week as the home fans cheered his success. However, just behind him were Sainz Jr. and Perez just before the entrance to the tunnel, where Perez himself got on the throttle too quickly and spun coming out of Portier. Sainz Jr. came soon around the corner, hoping to improve his time, but reacted too slowly and struck the Mexican’s car.
https://youtu.be/ww13NyNme6Y
With 30 seconds left, there was not enough time to clear the debris on the circuit and continue. Officials decided to end the session with Leclerc declared the pole position winner for Sunday’s race.
“There was a bit of traffic, and I had quite a bit of oversteer,” Lecler said afterward. “I struggled to put the tires in the right window in the last sector. But at the end, the rear was a bit loose, but the lap time came, and I improved quite a bit. I think I was four-tenths faster. The car felt amazing, and it’s great to have Carlos with me on the front row.”
Max Verstappen, the 2022 series leader, had problems all weekend and could never get into his rhythm with the top drivers, ending up fourth in his Red Bull.
But it was a difficult day for many drivers and teams. Williams’s Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi exited the first round, along with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu, and the biggest surprise–Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly–who typically makes it to the final session. Both Haas cars of Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher had their American entries leave the second session. They were joined by the second Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas and Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda. McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, who continued to have problems with his car, also exited.
ESPN will cover the race at 8:55 AM Eastern Time.
