Norris secures pole, home favourite Leclerc surprises with front-row starting position

McLaren driver Lando Norris took pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix, fractionally beating home favourite Charles Leclerc in a nail-biting session in the Principality. F1Technical's senior writer Balazs Szabo reports on the thrilling qualifying session at the Monte Carlo.

The qualifying session saw Ferrari and McLaren battle it out for the top positions for Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix. Home hero Charles Leclerc set the benchmark in all three practice sessions, but McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri closed in on him come qualifying.

In the end, Norris snatched pole position, setting a 1m 09.954s to deny Leclerc, who had briefly held the top spot. Championship leader Piastri ended up third after a messy qualifying session for the Australian.

Lewis Hamilton has struggled for one-lap pace since the joined Ferrari at the start of the season, but the Briton displayed encouraging pace all through the qualifying session at Monte Carlo. The seven-time F1 champion looked mighty through the first two sectors on his final push lap, but he lost some time in the last segment of the track, ending up fourth on the grid.

Reigning champion Max Verstappen appeared to be very quick in final practice, but he was unable to keep up with the pace of the Ferraris and the McLarens. In the end, he took fifth on the grid for tomorrow's Monaco race.

Racing Bulls displayed encouraging pace in practice, and their drivers Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson delivered when it really mattered. The Frenchman set the sixth quickest time in Q3 while the New Zealander ended up three places behind.

Fernando Alonso delivered a masterful qualifying at Imola last weekend, and he could almost replicate that result with a brilliant seventh place on the grid for tomorrow's 78-lap race.

Haas Ferrari driver Esteban Ocon put in a brilliant effort to end up eighth on the grid while Williams driver Alexander Albon completed the top ten.

Having used Pirelli's mediums at the start of Q2, Carlos Sainz looked fairly competitive on the yellow-banded rubber. However, when he bolted on a set of softs for the closing stages of Q2, he was unable to find the grip and ended up only 11th on the grid.

Although Yuki Tsunoda posted promising sector times, he was unable to put a strong lap together, and finished down in P12.

Kick Sauber made it through to Q2 courtesy of Nico Hulkenberg, who secured P13 for the Monaco Grand Prix while his team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto narrowly missed the Q2 cut in the other Kick Sauber machine.

Mercedes endured a very difficult session at Monte Carlo. George Russell lost power and ground to a halt through the tunnel in Q2. Although he was eager to restart his car, he was unable to get going again, and will only line up 14th on the grid tomorrow.

His rookie team mate Andera Kimi Antonelli suffered a big moment in Q2. The Bologna-born driver made a crucial error of clipping the inside wall at the Nouvelle Chicane on his final lap in Q1, which saw him crash into the exit barriers.

Haas racer Ollie Bearman, who will serve a ten-place grid penalty for a red flag breach during Friday practice, ended up 17th quickest in qualifying, but he will start tomorrow's Monte Carlo race from the back of the grid.

Aston Martin's Lance Stroll set the 18th quickest time, but he will drop a position for his mistake that led to a crash with Ferrari driver Leclerc in FP1.

The Alpine pair Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto also fell at the first hurdle as they ended up 18th and 20th quickest, although they will move up the grid thank to the penalties for Bearman and Stroll.