Leclerc triumphant at home with Monaco GP pole position

Charles Leclerc stormed to pole position after an impressive lap in Q3, leading teammate Carlos Sainz and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.

What could be Formula 1’s final trip to Monaco due to ongoing contract talks kicked-off on Friday with Red Bull and Ferrari equal on pace. Saturday’s FP3 only emphasised the close performance.

With the uncertainty of the race’s future looming over the weekend, its spectacle of Qualifying needed to bring the excitement expected of it to really show what it can deliver.

Although not being the most spectacular or chaotic session, Qualifying presented an interesting story with changing temperatures and an ever-changing track surface providing an element of uncertainty that bred excitement.

The day ended with Leclerc taking Pole Position after a spectacular lap, leading Sainz and Perez while championship leader Max Verstappen could only manage fourth.

Sainz and Perez came together after a spin for the Red Bull driver before the tunnel, with Sainz spinning into the side of the RB18. This led to the two blocking the track, with no cars able to pass the incident.

At the same time, Fernando Alonso found himself in the wall at Mirabeau. All of this led to the session being ended early, with home-hero Leclerc at the front of the pack.

Hotly-tipped Alfa Romeo fall short in Monte Carlo

Heading into the weekend, Alfa Romeo F1 Team’s strong pace in the final sector of Spain drew attention from pundits and fans alike, with Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu facing high expectations.

However, a late-Q1 red flag caused by Yuki Tsunoda’s close call with the Monaco barriers left Zhou as the slowest man of the day.

With the Chinese driver facing heavy traffic with just two minutes, he was unable to complete a lap and will start in P20 for tomorrow’s Grand Prix.

Meanwhile, Bottas was able to make it to Q2, but went no further due to a lack of pace in the middle part of the session. The Finn will start P12.

Ricciardo runs these streets no longer

When the Australian drove with Red Bull Racing, he placed a phrase on the bottom of his helmet that claimed “I run these streets”

However, in his last two appearances at the track, he has been far from the performance seen at his race-winning Monaco Grand Prix in 2018.

The start to his weekend was difficult enough after finding himself in the barriers during Friday practice, an incident that brought his FP2 to an early finish.

In Qualifying today, Daniel Ricciardo only managed 14th, while Lando Norris was able to fly to a slot in the top=ten shoot-out, eventually taking .

With mounting pressure on him, both internally and externally, this is not the results that he needs to be delivering at a track he is so well-known for performing at.

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