F1 Monaco GP: Leclerc claims Monaco pole after Q3 crash, Hamilton seventh
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc claimed pole for Formula 1’s 2021 Monaco Grand Prix in bizarre circumstances as he crashed with seconds remaining in Q3, which prevented any of his rivals improving.


Leclerc had claimed provisional pole with a 1m10.346s lap after the opening runs in Q3, where the drivers were each taking several warm-up laps to get their tyres to the best operating temperatures.
He led Max Verstappen by 0.230s, with the Red Bull leading the pack around to start the final runs.
Verstappen had just set the session’s fastest time in the first sector when, ahead of him on the track and about to finish his final flying lap of the session, Leclerc clipped the inside wall at the second part of the Swimming Pool.
That broke the Ferrari’s right-front suspension and sent him into the barriers on the outside, with the red flags showing with just over 10-seconds remaining on the clock.
The session was not restarted, which meant Leclerc’s lap from early in Q3 stood as the pole time, with Valtteri Bottas ending up third behind Verstappen.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF21 crashes
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Carlos Sainz Jr took fourth in the second Ferrari, with Lando Norris fifth for McLaren – the Briton taking a contra-approach in Q3 by running in the middle of the segment and returning to the pits ahead of the final runs.
Pierre Gasly finished sixth with Lewis Hamilton only seventh for Mercedes.
The world champion struggled with oversteer throughout the session, never looking like he was set the threaten the top spots, and at one point late in Q3 appearing to clip the barrier at Portier.
Sebastian Vettel was eighth ahead of Sergio Perez and Antonio Giovinazzi, who gave Alfa Romeo its first Q3 appearance of 2021.
Esteban Ocon found a chunk of time on his final lap in Q2 but ended up 0.077s slower than Giovinazzi as the highest faller in the middle segment.
Behind him, Daniel Ricciardo, Lance Stroll and Kimi Raikkonen all found time on their last laps but were also knocked out.

Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren MCL35M, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A521
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
George Russell qualified 15th after continuing his record of progressing from Q1 at every event so far in 2021. He went faster again in Q2, but could not climb any higher.
In Q1, where all the field completed several laps to build up to speed – Verstappen and Norris had the joint lowest lap count, seven – all the fallers completed their best times in the opening segment on their final runs.
But those improvements where not enough for Yuki Tsunoda and Fernando Alonso, who became the surprise exits for AlphaTauri and Alpine respectively.
Behind them came Nicholas Latifi and Nikita Mazepin, with the latter’s team-mate, Mick Schumacher, set to start the race in last after his FP3 shunt at Casino Square.
The damage to the rear and left-hand side of Schumacher’s Haas chassis was so severe that he could not take part in qualifying, with the team continuing to evaluate just how much damage had been done ahead of the session starting.
Results
Cla | Driver | Chassis | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | |
Ferrari | 1'10.346 | |
2 | |
Red Bull | 1'10.576 | 0.230 |
3 | |
Mercedes | 1'10.601 | 0.255 |
4 | |
Ferrari | 1'10.611 | 0.265 |
5 | |
McLaren | 1'10.620 | 0.274 |
6 | |
AlphaTauri | 1'10.900 | 0.554 |
7 | |
Mercedes | 1'11.095 | 0.749 |
8 | |
Aston Martin | 1'11.419 | 1.073 |
9 | |
Red Bull | 1'11.573 | 1.227 |
10 | |
Alfa Romeo | 1'11.779 | 1.433 |
11 | |
Alpine | 1'11.486 | 1.140 |
12 | |
McLaren | 1'11.598 | 1.252 |
13 | |
Aston Martin | 1'11.600 | 1.254 |
14 | |
Alfa Romeo | 1'11.642 | 1.296 |
15 | |
Williams | 1'11.830 | 1.484 |
16 | |
AlphaTauri | 1'12.096 | 1.750 |
17 | |
Alpine | 1'12.205 | 1.859 |
18 | |
Williams | 1'12.366 | 2.020 |
19 | |
Haas | 1'12.958 | 2.612 |
20 | |
Haas | ||
View full results |
Related video

Schumacher ruled out of Monaco GP qualifying after practice crash
F1 Monaco Grand Prix qualifying results: Leclerc on pole

Latest news
Top 10 Brabham drivers ranked: Piquet, Lauda, Gurney and more
Its 30 years since the Brabham team started its last world championship grand prix. Time to pick out the best drivers of the once-great Formula 1 squad.
Why F1 2022 tech isn’t all about porpoising and sidepods
Once fears over identikit Formula 1 cars were allayed by visibly different approaches to sidepods and floors, other novel design features have cropped up around the rest of the car.
Bottas feels greater "human effect" on F1 car performance at Alfa Romeo
Valtteri Bottas feels he is able to have a greater "human effect" on the performance of his Alfa Romeo Formula 1 car compared to what he found at Mercedes.
Norris: Long-term McLaren F1 deal allows for better work-life balance
Lando Norris believes his long-term Formula 1 deal with McLaren has allowed him to strike a better work-life balance and relax more away from racing.
The 10 stories to watch out for across the rest of the 2022 F1 season
It’s 13 down, nine to go as the Formula 1 teams pause for breath in the summer break. But what can we expect to happen over the next three months from Belgium to Abu Dhabi? Here's the key storylines to keep an eye out for the rest of the 2022 season
The inconvenient truth about F1’s ‘American driver’ dream
OPINION: The Formula 1 grid's wait for a new American driver looks set to continue into 2023 as the few remaining places up for grabs - most notably at McLaren - look set to go elsewhere. This is despite the Woking outfit giving tests to IndyCar aces recently, showing that the Stateside single-seater series still has some way to go to being seen as a viable feeder option for F1
How a bad car creates the ultimate engineering challenge
While creating a car that is woefully off the pace is a nightmare scenario for any team, it inadvertently generates the test any engineering department would relish: to turn it into a winner. As Mercedes takes on that challenge in Formula 1 this season, McLaren’s former head of vehicle engineering reveals how the team pulled of the feat in 2009 with Lewis Hamilton
The under-fire F1 driver fighting for his future
Personable, articulate and devoid of the usual racing driver airs and graces, Nicholas Latifi is the last Formula 1 driver you’d expect to receive death threats, but such was the toxic legacy of his part in last year’s explosive season finale. And now, as ALEX KALINAUCKAS explains, he faces a battle to keep his place on the F1 grid…
The strange tyre travails faced by F1’s past heroes
Modern grand prix drivers like to think the tyres they work with are unusually difficult and temperamental. But, says MAURICE HAMILTON, their predecessors faced many of the same challenges – and some even stranger…
The returning fan car revolution that could suit F1
Gordon Murray's Brabham BT46B 'fan car' was Formula 1 engineering at perhaps its most outlandish. Now fan technology has been successfully utilised on the McMurtry Speirling at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, could it be adopted by grand prix racing once again?
Hamilton's first experience of turning silver into gold
The seven-time Formula 1 world champion has been lumbered with a duff car before the 2022 Mercedes. Back in 2009, McLaren’s alchemists transformed the disastrous MP4-24 into a winning car with Lewis Hamilton at the wheel. And now it’s happening again at his current team, but can the rate of progress be matched this year?
Why few could blame Leclerc for following the example of Hamilton’s exit bombshell
OPINION: Ferrari's numerous strategy blunders, as well as some of his own mistakes, have cost Charles Leclerc dearly in the 2022 Formula 1 title battle in the first half of the season. Though he is locked into a deal with Ferrari, few could blame Leclerc if he ultimately wanted to look elsewhere - just as Lewis Hamilton did with McLaren 10 years prior