Ferrari pair on second row<\/p>\n
Ferrari have been strongly tipped as \u200c\u200crace favourites but had to be content with the second row on Sunday\u2019s grid, with Lewis Hamilton third quickest, 0.228 seconds slower, and local favourite Charles Leclerc, winner of the race in 2024, fourth.<\/p>\n
Leclerc had been on provisional pole with time running out in Q3 \u2013 the third and final session of qualifying \u2013 but clipped the wall on his final lap as he tried to wrestle it back, stopping his car at Rascasse.<\/p>\n
Ferrari dominated Friday\u2019s two practice sessions, with Hamilton and Leclerc first and second in both, although Antonelli was quickest in Saturday\u2019s final practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cCongrats to Kimi. Mega, mega job. Having your first pole here is so special,\u201d three-time Monaco champion Hamilton, who is yet to win a race for Ferrari, said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was tough for us. We were looking so strong in practice, and \u2060\u2060we barely changed anything, but the car was drastically different once we got to qualifying for some reason.\u201d<\/p>\n
Isack Hadjar, in \u2060\u2060the second Oracle Red Bull, bounced back from a nasty crash in Friday practice to qualify fifth, with Antonelli\u2019s teammate George Russell, who trails him by 43 points in the standings, a disappointing sixth.<\/p>\n
Reigning world champion and last year\u2019s Monaco winner Lando Norris will be on the fourth row alongside fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, with the team\u2019s hopes of victory in \u2060\u2060their 1,000th Grand Prix now looking slender.<\/p>\n
![\"MONTE-CARLO,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/getty_6a25009b94-1780809883.jpg\")
Antonelli, Verstappen and Hamilton after the qualifying round for Monaco GP [Rudy Carezzevoli\/Getty Images]\u2018The walls start coming closer\u2019<\/p>\n
Antonelli finished 18th and last at the Monaco Grand Prix 12 months ago, and he was expected to feel the pressure of leading the standings on his return.<\/p>\n
But he \u2060\u2060now has a golden chance to continue his dream start to the season by emulating Trulli, \u2060\u2060who converted his pole into a victory in his Renault in 2004.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this is one of the most intensive, if not the most intense, qualifying sessions of the year, and it takes a massive effort,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen it is about finding the last two tenths, it is not easy because the walls start coming closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I felt great this morning, and I am happy that we \u200c\u200ccould finish the job today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of the last 22 Monaco Grands Prix, only six have been won by a driver who did not start on pole, such is the extreme difficulty of overtaking on the narrow, twisty circuit that snakes round the stunning Mediterranean playground.<\/p>\n
The last three editions have all been won by the \u200c\u200ctop \u200c\u200cdriver in qualifying, but Hamilton did win from third on the grid in 2016, and with Verstappen showing great speed here this year, Antonelli will be taking nothing for granted.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you would have told me yesterday I would be on the front row, I would have taken it,\u201d Verstappen said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published On 7 Jun 20267 Jun 2026 Formula One racing sensation Kimi Antonelli made a mockery of suggestions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":720664,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,3456,578,576,577,3837,12716,457,82],"class_list":["post-720663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-europe","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-monaco","tag-motorsports","tag-sport","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=720663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/720664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=720663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=720663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=720663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}