Watch Sunday’s Formula 1 showpiece race at 2pm live only on Sky Sports F1 and Main Event, with build-up from 12.30pm; Charles Leclerc takes pole despite final-lap crash, Max Verstappen second but Lewis Hamilton a shock seventh; Lando Norris continues strong form with fifth for McLaren
Saturday 22 May 2021 20:43, UK
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc secured pole position for his home Monaco GP despite dramatically crashing on his final lap, in an accident which curtailed the last runs of qualifying and denied his closest rivals a chance to beat him.
But Lewis Hamilton, the world championship leader, was unusually not among those pole contenders and qualified seventh on the hardest F1 track on which to overtake.
Max Verstappen was second for Red Bull and now has a big chance to make inroads into his British rival's 14-point title lead in Sunday's race.
Valtteri Bottas comfortably outpaced team-mate Hamilton and took third on the grid for Mercedes, ahead of the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz.
Verstappen and Bottas were mid-way through quicker final laps when they had to abandon them as the red flags came out for Leclerc's heavy crash at the Swimming Pool chicane.
Aiming to improve on the lap that had given him provisional pole, Leclerc tagged the inside guardrail with his front-right tyre, breaking the car's suspension, clattering over the exit kerbs and into a second impact with the outside wall.
Although the red flags confirmed his pole, Leclerc soon admitted worry about whether the car damage would cause a gearbox change and resultant five-place grid penalty.
"It's a shame to finish in the wall, it doesn't feel the same," said Leclerc, whose pole time of 1:10.346 was achieved on his first lap of Q3. "But at the same time I'm incredibly happy about my first timed lap.
"It's a big surprise for everyone to be on pole for the race."
Ferrari said on Saturday evening that initial inspections showed that there was no major damage to the car's gearbox, with final checks on Sunday to determine if it will be raced.
Whether or not the Monegasque holds on to the coveted pole position, the big story of Monaco week has been Ferrari's sudden return to the front.
Gatecrashing Red Bull and Mercedes' hitherto exclusive duel in F1 2021, Ferrari's SF21 has been unexpectedly strong around the tortuous Monte Carlo streets.
Leclerc's pole is the Scuderia's first since 2019. They had qualified one second away from Hamilton two weeks ago in Spain on a more traditional track.
There were other standout Saturday performers too.
Lando Norris was a brilliant fifth for McLaren to continue his fine start to 2021, while AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly in sixth another driver to unexpectedly outqualify three-time Monaco victor Hamilton.
The seven-time world champion will share row four with old rival Sebastian Vettel, delivering his best result for Aston Martin with eighth.
Vettel outqualified the man he replaced, Sergio Perez, who was well off Verstappen's pace in the Red Bull in ninth.
On a difficult day for a number of former winners of F1's blue-riband event, McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo was knocked out in Q2 in 12th, while Fernando Alonso fared even worse and qualified 17th in a Q1 exit for Alpine.
Mick Schumacher did not take part in qualifying after crashing heavily in final practice earlier on Saturday, meaning the Haas rookie will start 20th and last for his maiden Monaco GP.
Monaco GP Qualifying: Top 10
1) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
2) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
3) Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes
4) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
5) Lando Norris, McLaren
6) Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri
7) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
8) Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin
9) Sergio Perez, Red Bull
10) Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo
Two weeks after delivering the landmark 100th pole of his stellar career, Hamilton was, by his standards, a bystander in the fight for the most crucial Saturday P1 of the whole season.
Finishing seventh in all three segments of qualifying, the Briton lapped half a second slower than Bottas alone in Q3. He will start five places behind Verstappen too.
"It didn't feel too bad on Thursday and we made some changes and it was pretty terrible today," said Hamilton to Sky F1. "We go back to the drawing board.
"From my point, I had such lack of grip out there, which then leads you to try to kind of over-drive and start pushing to get more from it. But to no end, it just doesn't improve.
"A difficult one. Obviously Valtteri was able to get something out of it but we've definitely had some problems today."
The omens are not good for a sensational race-day recovery for Hamilton, either.
Eighty-five per cent of all race wins in Monaco's history have come from the front three positions on the grid, with Oliver Panis (14th on the grid) in the astonishing 1996 wet race the only driver in the last 25 years to win from outside grid positions one, two and three.
Verstappen, meanwhile, is firmly in position to maintain his run of top-two race finishes so far this season as he goes in search of a maiden podium in the Principality.
Lights out for Formula 1's showpiece event for the 78 laps of the world-famous Monaco GP is at 2pm, live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event. Extensive build-up from the Principality begins at 12.30pm.
