Key events
That is my lot. Giles Richards’ report from Monte Carlo is here, and John Brewin will be your live guide to the race tomorrow. Have a good evening.
Updated at 11.56 EDT
How they finished
And here’s the full qualifying list:
1 Kimi Antonelli (It) Mercedes 1min 12.051secs
2 Max Verstappen (Neth) Red Bull 1:12.094
3 Lewis Hamilton (GB) Ferrari 1:12.279
4 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1:12.351
5 Isack Hadjar (Fr) Red Bull 1:12.434
6 George Russell (GB) Mercedes 1:12.445
7 Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren 1:12.624
8 Lando Norris (GB) McLaren 1:12.765
9 Pierre Gasly (Fr) Alpine 1:13.226
10 Liam Lawson (NZ) Racing Bulls 1:13.412
Q2 exits
11 Alexander Albon (Tha) Williams 1:13.787
12 Carlos Sainz (Sp) Williams 1:13.815
13 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Audi 1:13.902
14 Franco Colapinto (Arg) Alpine 1:13.995
15 Arvid Lindblad (GB) Racing Bulls 1:14.248
16 Gabriel Bortoleto (Bra) Audi 1:14.683
Q1 exits
17 Esteban Ocon (Fr) Haas 1:14.722
18 Sergio Perez (Mex) Cadillac 1:14.747
19 Oliver Bearman (GB) Haas 1:14.814
20 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Cadillac 1:15.283
21 Fernando Alonso (Sp) Aston Martin 1:15.349
22 Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin 1:16.061
Updated at 11.29 EDT
Leclerc didn’t lose much by hitting a wall this time, it seems. In 2021, he took pole position in Monaco but was unable to start the race.
Toto Wolff beaming with his son. “Kimi grande, grande!”
Kimi Antonelli celebrates pole position. Photograph: David Davies/PAShare
“Mega mega job,” Hamilton says of Antonelli. He says it is a privilege to still be out there and Jenson Button says he’s never seen a session like that, it was so close between four teams. Hamilton backs that up and thanks the guys back at the factory.
Verstappen almost smiles. Says he would have taken front row yesterday, and has a laugh about the walls. “I have two cars behind me that start quite well,” referencing the Ferraris. It has not gone to plan for Leclerc and Hamilton but Lewis is happy waving at the crowds.
He is really enjoying himself. He says it’s perhaps the most massive qualifying of the year.
“We call it a magic lap,” Antonelli says. Who can disagree?
To go back to the preamble:
double quotation markNothing you are about to see is likely to tell you anything about what is going to happen across the rest of the season, unless Antonelli overturns those Monaco Grand Prix odds.
Well there you go. The teenager did it again. Who can stop him?
Updated at 11.11 EDT
What a finish. Antonelli by 0.043 from Verstappen, then Hamilton, Leclerc, Hadjar, Russell, Piastri, Norris, Gasly, Lawson.
ShareAntonelli takes pole!
Leclerc hits a wall, suspension gone – and Antonelli takes pole.
Verstappen looks a threat and grabs it off Leclerc! Hamilton flying too and goes second!
So close. 0.025 covering the top three.
Leclerc fastest in the middle section! And provisional pole!
Less than three minutes to go.
Leclerc went out early to have more time to move up from 10th.
A good mix: Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren on places one to four. Russell at least fifth this time.
Charles Leclerc has to go back to the pits. The hometown boy will have one shot.
Hamilton four tenths quicker than Q2, goes top briefly, but Antonelli goes quickest, and Verstappen fractionally slower than the Mercedes!
Norris and Piastri doing 1:12s but Antonelli is flying.
Go for Q3. Lando Norris out in front.
Brown surprised by Russell but expects him to get it together in Q3. Anthony Davidson highlights a lack of trust going into some corners.
“An interesting finish” to Q2, observes Zak Brown.
Ferrari fourth and sixth. If you can make sense of this, email philip.cornwall@theguardian.com
ShareQ2 elimination list
As expected Albon, Sainz, Hulkenburg, Colapinto, Lindblad and Bortoleto going out.
And Verstappen goes fastest and Hadjar third, split by Antonelli. Excellent show from Red Bull.
Time almost up. Final laps. Albon, Sainz, Hulkenburg, Colapinto, Lindblad and Bortoleto going out.
We know the top eight who are going through, with Hadjar – in seventh – joining the big seven. Two places left up for grabs.
Gasly knocks Hulkenburg into the bottom six.
The drop zone is Sainz, Albon, Gasly, Lindblad, Colapinto and Bortoleto.
Leclerc can’t go better than fourth, Hamilton sixth. Are Ferrari sandbagging or struggling?
Updated at 10.42 EDT
Russell, again, the struggler of the big seven, almost a second down.
OK. Antonelli is fastest now. It is not anyone’s game but there are lot of contenders here.
Leclerc goes into the 1:12s, and then Norris pips him!
Verstappen hits the front, 1:13.2o5.
Only 14 cars out there. Brundle points out that here, with a short lap, life gets a lot easier when you have fewer cars on the track.
Is there any better sight in F1 than the hairpin?
Lewis Hamilton goes round the hairpin. Photograph: Robbie Hoad/Every Second Media/ShutterstockShare
And we are go for Q2, with some bleeping as Carlos Sainz gets an unsafe release as Max Verstappen goes past.
Updated at 10.33 EDT
Ollie Bearman bleeped his way back to the pits after missing out. The team console him that the red flag was just misfortune, but replays show he was struggling to control the car.
Hats off to Nico Hulkenberg, who made sixth, ahead of Piastri and Russell from the big seven.