Overview
- Saturday’s qualifying ended with Kimi Antonelli taking pole with a 1:12.051, edging Max Verstappen by 0.043 seconds in a tense final sequence.
- Charles Leclerc briefly held provisional pole before clipping the barriers on his final run and will start fourth while saying Ferrari’s brake lock‑up issues remain unresolved.
- Lewis Hamilton qualified third and Isack Hadjar fifth, while George Russell struggled for pace and will start sixth, leaving him further behind Antonelli in the title race.
- Q1 was disrupted when Gabriel Bortoleto crashed at the Nouvelle Chicane, damaged a suspension component, caused a red flag and subsequently set no time in Q2 to start 16th.
- Antonelli’s pole is his fourth in five races and it materially raises his chance of a fifth straight win at Monaco, a track where starting position usually decides the outcome.