F1 Monaco GP: Charles Leclerc takes pole as Perez crashes
28th May 2022Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc managed to secure pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix as Red Bull’s Sergio Perez crashed out late on in Q3.
Q1
Prior to the pit exit light going green, the Haas of Kevin Magnussen lined up at the front of the queue. Naturally, the Danish driver was the first one to set his lap time with a 1:17. This was soon beaten by his teammate and McLaren’s Lando Norris, the latter on top with a 1:15.800.
It wasn’t long before the front runners quickly jumped to the top of the timing sheets. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen climbed to P1 with a 1:14.295 lap, 0.074 seconds ahead of his teammate, Perez.
As a result of track evolution, Perez managed to climb back up to the top of the times with a 1:13.292. This time was quickly matched by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz who put in an identical time to the Mexican Red Bull driver.
Despite complaining he is out of sequence with everyone else, Leclerc topped the timing board with a 1:12.569, 0.047 seconds quicker than Sainz who was second.
As Mercedes’ George Russell secured the third fastest lap, the red flag was quickly brought out. It was seemingly brought out by Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda as he made contact with the armco barrier into the Nouvelle Chicane.
As there was only two minutes and 25 seconds left on the clock when the session resumed, there was a queue of traffic as the cars slowly exited the pit lane.
Eliminated:
20. Guanyu Zhou, Alfa Romeo
19. Nicholas Latifi, Williams
18. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
17. Pierre Gasly, Alpha Tauri
16. Alexander Albon, Williams
Q2
In a similar fashion to Q1, there was a large queue to return to the track which was headed by Verstappen. Naturally, the defending world champion set the first time. However, this time was soon beaten by the likes of Perez, Sainz and Leclerc who went P1, P2 and P3 respectively.
After they backed out of their laps, both Lewis Hamilton and Russell finally managed to put in representative laps to place themselves P7 and P8 respectively.
As Leclerc went into the pit lane, ahead of his second set of runs in Q2, he missed his call to the FIA weighbridge. The home hero was pushed back to the FIA’s location.
Eliminated:
15. Mick Schumacher, Haas
14. Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren
13. Kevin Magnussen, Haas
12. Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo
11. Yuki Tsunoda, Alpha Tauri
Q3
As per usual, there was a build up of traffic as the cars waited for the green light to signal the final third of qualifying, led by Leclerc. Naturally, the Monegasque was the first driver to set a timed lap and a cracking lap it was: a 1:11.376.
In the first runs of Q3, no one was able to beat the home hero’s time as Leclerc time. The Ferrari driver sat on top of the timing boards ahead of Sainz, Perez and Verstappen respectively.
Leclerc managed to keep hold of pole position as Perez crashed out in Portier, turn eight. The Mexican driver slipped as he bolted his car around turn eight, at the bottom of the hill of the Grand Hotel hairpin, and found himself in the barrier.
As Perez became stranded down in Portier, Sainz was on a hot lap and reportedly didn’t notice any yellow flags and slid into the side of the Mexican Red Bull. An expensive car park followed suit as the cars were blocked from being able to advance further down the track.
Top 10:
10. Esteban Ocon, Alpine
9. Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin
8. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
7. Fernando Alonso, Alpine
6. George Russell, Mercedes
5. Lando Norris, McLaren
4. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
3. Sergio Perez, Red Bull
2. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
1. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
That’s it for the article: F1 Monaco GP: Charles Leclerc takes pole as Perez crashes! With three reprimands to his name, what do you think the stewards will do with Carlos Sainz’s crash into Perez? Let us know in the comments!
Read more Formula One here!
- F1 Monaco GP: Sergio Perez pips Leclerc in final practice
- F1 Monaco GP: Charles Leclerc tops second practice
- F1 Monaco Practice 1: Charles Leclerc goes top in hometown
- Lando Norris makes P8 finish despite illness
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
