Charles Leclerc, the local favorite went to bag his fifth pole position of the season. Leclerc, the Monegasque driver earlier headed two free practice sessions and came a near second at the other. The Monaco Grand Prix 2022 Qualifying delivered some action and drama. Max for one was quite aggravated to find that he was blocked during one lap.
With the pole position, Leclerc became the first person in the turbo-hybrid era to win back-to-back poles at Monaco. Monaco Grand Prix 2022 Qualifying was indeed a revival of the 2021 qualifying. In 2021, a red flag caused by Leclerc in the last lap helped him becoming the pole position winner.
Also Read: Leclerc’s Curse at Monaco threatens Ferrari
Quarter One
The first quarter began with a red flag. It is quite hard to imagine Monaco without red flags. Tsunoda crashed onto a barrier by clipping himself at the Nouvelle Chicane. His red flag saw many of the drivers frustrated. Even as the Q1 restarted many found it difficult to regain and qualify higher. McLaren once fell into the bottom five and had to race in an exceptional miracle to come throughout. It was pure rage from several drivers at the end of Q1. Gasly who was the fifth fastest at FP3 has to put 16th as he couldn’t cross the line before the flag.
- 16th Alex Albon (Williams Racing)
- 17th Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri)
- 18th Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
- 19th Nicholas Latifi (Williams Racing)
- 20th Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)
Quarter Two
Sergio Perez took the provisional pole in the beginnng. Leclerc soon made it to the third. Mercedes did not have a nice first lap but recocvered with Russell and Hamilton making the top positions. Within a few minutes, the 24-year-old Monacan driver took the pole from Perez but missed the FIA Weighbridge. He was in for a major penalty but nothing is known as of now.
Daniel Ricciardo who suffered a major blow at the free practice session came through in the qualifying. Not satisfying but the Australian seems to have put some effort. Subsequently, He at the end of Q2 found himself sandwiched in middle of the Haas Drivers. Vettel was the final highlight. His brilliant final lap pushed Yuki Tsunoda out of the way and he pushed in
- 11th Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri)
- 12th Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)
- 13th Kevin Magnussen (Haas Racing)
- 14th Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
- 15th Mick Schumacher (Haas Racing)
Quarter Three
For the most of Quarter Three, Leclerc held onto his pole position. The key highlight happened on the final lap. Sergio Perez lost the rear of his car at Portier. Sainz who was unsighted crashed into the Mexican and Max and Ocon pulled up behind. Leclerc did the same last year and yet he earned the pole. However that miracle didn’t happen in 2022. On another note, at Mirabeau, Alonso crashed on himself.
- 1st Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
- 2nd Carlos Sainz Jr (Ferrari)
- 3rd Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing)
- 4th Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing)
- 5th Lando Norris (McLaren)
- 6th George Russell (Mercedes)
- 7th Fernando Alonso (Alpine Racing)
- 8th Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
- 9th Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin)
- 10th Esteban Ocon (Alpine Racing)
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