Leclerc on pole in Monaco as Perez and Sainz crash

Red flag costs Leclerc's rivals in qualifying at Monaco

GP MONACO F1/2022 - VENERDI’ 27/05/2022 credit: @Scuderia Ferrari Press Office

Charles Leclerc will start his home race from pole position after two of his closest rivals crashed in the final moments of qualifying at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Sergio Perez looked to be one of the contenders for pole, but the Red Bull spun ahead of the tunnel and collided with the barrier.

Carlos Sainz was immediately behind the Mexican on track, and went into the side of his car, resulting in the session being red flagged 30 seconds early, and not restarted.

The crash meant Max Verstappen couldn’t complete his final flying lap, while Fernando Alonso also had an off on a different part of the track, resulting in damage to his Alpine in Q3.

There was also an odd red flag when Yuki Tsunoda had a light brush with the barrier with just over two minutes remaining, leaving him with a puncture but little other damage, and he was able to get the car back to the pitlane without leaving debris on the track.

The restart saw a big queue form as drivers rushed to get out of the pitlane, but those who found themselves towards the rear of the field didn’t get chance to put a final flying lap in, including Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and Guanyu Zhou – all of whom were eliminated in Q1.

Provisional qualifying result:

1 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

2. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

3. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

4. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

5. Lando Norris (McLaren)

6. George Russell (Mercedes)

7. Fernando Alonso (Alpine)

8. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

9. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin)

10. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

11. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)

12. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)

13. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)

14. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)

15. Mick Schumacher (Haas)

16. Alex Albon (Williams)

17. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri)

18. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

19. Nicholas Latifi (Williams)

20. Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo)

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