Charles Leclerc has taken Ferrari’s first pole position in over a season after an intense qualifying which saw up to seven drivers fighting for the front of the grid.

How did each team perform?

Mercedes – The silver arrows have looked off the pace all weekend and qualifying was no different. Valtteri Bottas managed to salvage a P3 slot but Lewis Hamilton – the championship leader – found himself in a rather concerning P7.

Red Bull – Max Verstappen was certainly one of the favourites heading into qualifying and he certainly delivered, finishing a respectable P2. In fact, he was on a lap which should’ve promoted him to P1 but Charles Leclerc brought out the red flag, bringing that attempt to an abrupt end. Unfortunately for Perez, he still lacked the pace to compete with his teammate and finished a disappointing P9.

Ferrari – Ferrari were without doubt the standout performers of the session. Following a year of struggles, it was great to see the Italian team fighting for those top positions once again. Charles Leclerc brought home their first position in over a season and Carlos Sainz cam an impressive 4th.

McLaren – Once again the McLaren car looked competitive and able to compete at the top. Lando Norris certainly got everything he could out of the car and qualified in P5. The same could not be said for Ricciardo however for he found himself struggling once again and could only manage 12th place.

Alpine – This team has been off the pace all weekend and that indisputably reflected itself into the car’s qualifying performance. Fernando Alonso couldn’t even make it out of Q1 and Esteban Ocon could only muster up a P11.

Aston Martin – Aston Martin put in a respectable performance around the streets of Monaco, as Sebastian Vettel was able to climb his way up to P8 and his Canadian teammate also managed a decent performance of P13.

Alfa Romeo – The Ferrari powered car of Alfa Romeo looked the best we’ve seen it all season. Kimi Räikkönen managed P14 and Antonio Giovinazzi gave the team its first Q3 appearance of the season as he qualified in P10.

AlphaTauri – There was an obvious split between the two AlphaTauri cars in qualifying, with the more experienced Pierre Gasly finishing 6th whereas his rookie teammate, Yuki Tsunoda could only manage P16.

Williams – George Russel kept his impressive record of never being out qualified by a Williams Teammate going as he reached Q2 once again and put his car in P15. Nicholas Latifi qualified 18th.

Haas – Following a crash in FP3, Mick Schumacher was unable to compete in qualifying meaning it was all up to Nikita Mazepin. Unsurprisingly the Russian was unable to produce anything spectacular and he qualified last out of the on-track runners (P19).

After qualifying, we are all set for the race tomorrow. The two championship protagonists will start 5 place apart and due to the Monte Carlo circuit being near-impossible to overtake at, Max Verstappen has a great opportunity to demolish Hamilton’s lead at the top of the standings.