Monaco GP: Leclerc and Piastri on front row as Verstappen falters

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc sealed pole position for his home race with Oscar Piastri second ahead of Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris, but Max Verstappen's run of eight consecutive pole pole positions ended with a tap on the wall. There were impressive second round performances from Williams' Alex Albon and Alpine's Pierre Gasly which saw them all make it through to Q3, ensuring them top ten starts for Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix. There were two big shocks at the end of the first round of qualifying when both Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez failed to make the cut. The Aston Martin will start from P16 while the red Bull will line up in P18 on Sunday. 2024 Monaco Grand Prix - Qualifying results If there's one weekend where qualifying matters above all elsethen it's Monaco, where the street circuit makes overtaking in the race all but impossible. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was clearly favourite for pole after topping final practice, but going into the first round there was heavy competition from Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri among others. Q1: Russell and Piastri on top as Alonso and Perez both miss the first cut There was no chance of rain this afternoon as the cars headed out on track under vivid blue Mediterranean skies and dazzling sunshine over the Circuit de Monaco. Mercedes were first out with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell straight onto the soft compound, but they didn't have the place to themselves for long before others followed them out. RB's Yuki Tsunoda made an early appearance at the top of the times with a lap of 1:13.087s then it was Hamilton followed by Verstappen who moved the goalposts to 1:12.790s. But this was clearly by no means the sort of lap we expect from Red Bull, as demonstrated by the Haas pair of Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen muscling past him in quick succession with McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri slipping into third and fourth. Russell found some time to go top ahead of Carlos Sainz, but Verstappen was quicker than both. Piastri went two tenths quicker than Verstappen as the Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll but in an early bid for P3 and P3. The times were certainly tumbling by the minute as the track conditions evolved, provided the drivers could find clear space and dodge the congestion. Leclerc had got out of sync, finally punching in a time of 1:11.653s for P1 ahead of Magnussen and Hulkenberg just as most drivers were back on pit lane. With less than five minutes to go, Alex Albon was on the bubble with Sergio Perez, Yuki Tsunoda, Logan Sargeant, Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu were in the drop zone, both Saubers having been in the wars in earlier practice sessions. That soon changed with Albon, Tsunoda and Sargeant all improving leaving Pierre Gasly, Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo in their place in the bottom five facing the cut with time for only one last run and a big queue forming at Rascasse. When the dust settled, Russell was top with 1:11.492s, eighth thousandths from Piastri with Hamilton ahead of the two Ferraris, while Gasly, Norris and Ricciardo had all found safety. But it was bad news for Alonso who just missed the cut in P16 ahead of Sargeant and utter disaster for Perez in 18th ahead of the two Saubers. Q2: Norris pips Verstappen as Gasly, Tsunoda and Albon make it to final round The remaining 15 cars headed back out for the second round with Hulkenberg and Ricciardo quick to get going. Having used just one set of softs in Q1, Verstappen took early control of the second round with 1:11.196s until Sainz pipped by by 0.019s, and Tsunoda starring again in P3. Verstappen continued to go faster, getting back to the top with a second flier of 1:11.019s. Hamilton and Russell were at the bottom fo the top ten, while those at risk of elimination were Stroll, Albon, Magnussen, Hulkenberg and Ricciardo. Russell then jumped to the top but was immediately pipped by Piastri's 1:10.756s and now it was the Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly being backed up, and Norris on the bubble - until he followed his team mate's example by bounding to the top just ahead of Piastri and the latest from Leclerc. Albon improved to eighth leaving Ocon and Gasly sitting uncomfortably astride either side of the cut line. A final flurry of flying laps resolved the situation: Norris' time of 1:10.732s held on to the top spot by 0.013s from Verstappen while Gasly pulled off something special to go fifth. Albon clung on to the final transfer spot in tenth leaving Ocon, Hulkenberg, Ricciardo and Magnussen packing up early. Q3: Leclerc fends off Piastri for pole as Verstappen taps out on final flyier Going into the top ten final shoot-out round, Verstappen, Leclerc, Sainz, Hamilton, Russell and Piastri all had two fresh sets of soft tyres to play with. Albon put in an early banker of 1:11.805s but this was soon swept aside by Hamilton and then it was Leclerc on top with a time of 1:10.418s despite complaining that something had moved on the pedals. Piastri came within 0.026s of matching the Ferrari, while Verstappen was only third quickest when he finally reported in putting him ahead of Sainz, Russell and Norris. Albon used a brief lull in the action to go seventh just 0.008s behingd Norris putting him ahead of Hamilton. The final seconds saw another storm of fliers but Leclerc has enough in hand to keep pole from Piastri with Sainz pipping Norris to third, while Verstappen's chances ended when he tapped the wall leaving him in sixth between Russell and Hamilton. Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter The post Monaco GP: Leclerc and Piastri on front row as Verstappen falters appeared first on F1i.com.