Antonelli seizes brilliant pole in thrilling Monaco Qualifying ahead of Verstappen and Hamilton

Kimi Antonelli has clinched pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix in a thrilling conclusion to Qualifying, the Mercedes driver storming to the top of the timesheets ahead of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.

After Antonelli set the pace during the initial runs of Q3, the likes of Charles Leclerc and Verstappen subsequently toppled him as the session headed towards its close – but the Italian displaced Verstappen in P1 on a lap of 1m 12.051s, marking his maiden Monte Carlo pole.

Verstappen had to settle for second place in the Red Bull, his effort being only 0.043s adrift of Antonelli’s, while Hamilton was just over two tenths away for Ferrari in third.

It was an eventful Q3 for home favourite Leclerc, who aborted more than one run before briefly going fastest – and while he tried to retake P1 in the final moments, the Monegasque hit the wall and was left in fourth.

Isack Hadjar enjoyed a solid showing for Red Bull in P5, with George Russell sitting P6 in what appeared to be a tricky session for the Mercedes man. The McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris were seventh and eighth respectively, while Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson completed the top 10.

The Williams duo of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz again missed out on Q3, having to settle for P11 and P12 ahead of Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg and the Alpine of Franco Colapinto.

Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad placed in 15th, with Gabriel Bortoleto just behind in 16th. The Audi racer did not take part in Q2, however, after contact with the barriers in Q1 brought his day to an early end.

It was a disappointing conclusion to Qualifying for Haas as Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman both exited Q1 in P17 and P19 respectively, separated by the Cadillac of Sergio Perez.

Valtteri Bottas put the sister Cadillac in 20th place, while Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll brought up the rear for Aston Martin in 21st and 22nd.

AS IT HAPPENED

Q1 – Leclerc fastest while Bortoleto brings out red flags

While Ferrari had set the pace on Friday in Monaco, the Mercedes of Antonelli was the fastest on track during Saturday’s final practice hour – but who would come out on top in a crucial Qualifying around the streets of Monte Carlo?

With 22 cars set to be on track for the 18-minute Q1 segment, a busy start to the session was anticipated – meaning that a queue of cars had already formed through the pit lane in readiness for the light turning green at 1600 local time.

Everyone bar Verstappen had headed out for their initial laps during the opening moments – all sporting the soft tyres – before the Dutchman joined the action a few minutes later. Meanwhile his team mate Hadjar sounded unhappy over the radio, issuing a complaint about the “worst prep ever”.

As the first timed laps went on the board, Leclerc sat at the top of the timesheets via an effort of 1m 14.141s – just over one and a half tenths ahead of Norris and Antonelli – while Verstappen placed in fifth after navigating a hefty amount of traffic.

It did not take long for the times to tumble, with Leclerc improving further to dip into the 1m 13s. Just over halfway through the session, Russell found himself at risk in P17 at the other end of the spectrum, ahead of Colapinto, Alonso, Perez, Stroll and Bottas.

While Russell subsequently improved, the Briton could only move up to 10th amid replays showing him experiencing a bit of a moment on his lap. Leclerc, meanwhile, had gone even quicker at the top, working his way down to a 1m 13.293s, with Verstappen his closest challenger in second.

Another better effort for Russell had put him up to P7, while Antonelli was shown a black and white flag for failing to follow the Race Director’s instructions. But as the clock ticked down into the final minutes, a yellow flag was thrown – quickly followed by a red – when Bortoleto came to a halt at the Nouvelle chicane, the Audi driver having made contact with the barriers.

The session resumed with two minutes and 11 seconds left to go, meaning that the pressure was on for those at the bottom of the order – that being Perez, Bearman, Sainz, Bottas, Alonso and Stroll – as well as the names just ahead.

While the top six – along with Russell in eighth and Lawson in 12th – opted to stay in the garage, the rest of the field were back on track in an attempt to make a final improvement. Sainz was the star performer when it came to doing this, the Spaniard putting in a solid lap to haul himself up to P10.

This dropped Ocon into the elimination zone in P17 – and with the rest of those in the drop zone unable to improve enough, the Frenchman was joined by Perez, Bearman, Bottas, Alonso and Stroll.

Knocked out: Ocon, Perez, Bearman, Bottas, Alonso, Stroll

Q2 – Verstappen storms to the top

There was already drama in the pit lane as Q2 got underway, with Williams noted for an unsafe release after Sainz was nearly sent out into the path of Verstappen. The stewards subsequently decided that no further investigation was necessary.

All of the remaining 15 cars were back on track, the exception being Bortoleto who was out of the session following his earlier crash. With everybody again running the soft tyre, Verstappen initially went quickest before Leclerc displaced the Dutchman on a lap of 1m 12.928s.

Norris then bettered that to slot into P1 – but the McLaren man did not stay there for long as Antonelli quickly moved ahead, the Mercedes racer’s effort of 1m 12.778s giving him an advantage of 0.141s from Norris. Elsewhere, Hulkenberg, Albon, Gasly, Lindblad and Colapinto were at risk as the order continued to evolve at the halfway mark.

While Verstappen had moved closer in P2 – sitting just 0.062s behind Antonelli – the Italian went even faster to extend his gap further. Meanwhile his team mate Russell did not look quite as comfortable, sitting in P8 some six tenths adrift of Antonelli.

A pit lane incident involving Albon and Lindblad had been noted by the stewards, while Hulkenberg would be investigated after the session for failing to follow the Race Director’s instructions. Back on the track, the German was on the bubble in P10 – before soon being pushed down into P11 by Lawson.

As the session entered its final two minutes, Gasly had escaped the danger zone by slotting into 10th – just as Verstappen shot to the top on a 1m 12.499s, with the other Red Bull of Hadjar an eye-catching third.

Russell could not improve on P8, but the Mercedes driver looked to be safe as those at the bottom struggled to move forward, putting Albon, Sainz, Hulkenberg, Colapinto, Lindblad and Bortoleto out of Q2.

Knocked out: Albon, Sainz, Hulkenberg, Colapinto, Lindblad, Bortoleto

Q3 – Antonelli snatches his maiden Monaco pole

Thirteen minutes went on the clock for Q3, the top-10 shootout that would see the Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull pairings joined by Gasly and Lawson. Norris was the last driver to claim pole in Monaco at last year’s event – but who would grab the crucial P1 slot this time around?

As the first timed laps went on the board, Antonelli was again the man to beat with a benchmark of 1m 12.375s – but Verstappen got astonishingly close, trailing the Italian by a mere 0.001s. Hamilton was 0.178s adrift of Antonelli in third, with Norris further back in fourth and Russell fifth.

Leclerc, meanwhile, did not get a representative time in, having aborted his previous effort which left him down in 10th. As such, the Monegasque opted to head out on track while the rest of the field remained in the garage prior to their final runs.

With his next lap also abandoned after running into traffic from those on their out-laps, Leclerc looked to be giving his all on his following effort and surged into provisional pole position with a 1m 12.351s – but could he hold onto what would be his fourth pole in Monaco?

Much to the disappointment of the local fans, the answer to that would prove to be no, with Verstappen snatching P1 – Hamilton nearly two tenths back in second – before Antonelli bettered them all to seal pole via a 1m 12.051s.

Hopes of Leclerc taking the position back on his final lap were dashed when the Ferrari driver hit the wall at Tabac, stopping his car on track at Rascasse as a result. This left him in fourth, ahead of Hadjar, Russell, Piastri, Norris, Gasly and Lawson.

Key quote

"It was one of those laps we call the magic lap," said Antonelli. "I was able to put [it] all together and it was such a close Qualifying with Max – I think in the first run of Q3 there was just one millisecond between us, but I knew the last lap was good and was just hoping that it would be enough. It was very close and I’m very happy with that. Massive thanks to the team because yesterday we struggled a little bit and today we were able to improve massively."

What’s next

The 2026 Monaco Grand Prix is set to begin at 1500 local time on Sunday. Head to the RACE HUB to find out how you can catch the action from Monte Carlo.