Kimi Antonelli wins an important qualifying session in Monaco from two champions to take the top grid spot at Formula 1’s most glamorous street circuit.
The championship leader driver set a lap time of one minute, 12.375 seconds, which was just 0.043 seconds quicker than Verstappen for his fourth pole in five Grands Prix while Ferrari struggled.
That was despite the Scuderia dominating Friday practice with a 1-2 result, but Saturday saw Mercedes recovering as Antonelli topped FP3.
Antonelli then took provisional pole with a time of one minute, 12.375 seconds on his first Q3 lap, putting him just 0.001 seconds ahead of Verstappen who had Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton 0.177 seconds behind in third.
Under pressure was Hamilton’s teammate Charles Leclerc, who aborted his opening lap after almost hitting the barriers at Massenet, so he quickly came out for a second lap.
The Ferrari driver backed off on that one too, so Leclerc went for a third push lap, where there was minimal traffic, and he managed to beat Antonelli’s initial time by only 0.024 seconds.
That was with one minute remaining though, as other were not finished and first to jump ahead was Verstappen with one minute, 12.094 seconds, just before Hamilton went 0.185 seconds slower.
Then came Antonelli with a time of one minute, 12.051 seconds to snatch pole from Verstappen and Hamilton, who will share the second row alongside Leclerc who hit the barriers in the final sector at the end.
Fifth went to Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar with one minute, 12.434 seconds, while it was another disappointing result for Antonelli’s teammate George Russell in sixth.
The Mercedes driver was 0.394 seconds off the pace ahead of an all-McLaren fourth row with Oscar Piastri seventh and Lando Norris eighth, while ninth went to Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson took tenth.
It was a close battle to reach Q3 as just two thousandths of a second separated Gasly in P11 and Alex Albon P12, who will share the sixth row with Williams teammate Carlos Sainz.
That marked only the second time that Williams had both cars reach Q2 this season after Miami, the second qualifying session in Miami also being topped by Verstappen.
In Monaco P13 went to Audi driver Nico Hulkenberg, who is set to be joined on the seventh row by Gasly’s teammate Franco Colapinto, while Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad took P15.
Although Gabriel Bortoleto progressed to Q2, he was unable to set a lap in the second appearance so he has claimed P16 for the grid following his crash at Nouvelle Chicane late in Q1.
The Audi driver was having a strong weekend up to then, but he clipped the inside barrier upon entry and caused a red flag with approximately two minutes left in the session.
That caused a chaotic end to Q1, topped by Leclerc, where Sainz managed to move his Williams out of the elimination zone and push Esteban Ocon into P17.
That was part of a shock double Q1 exit for Haas with Oliver Bearman in P19, but outside of that the usual suspects were eliminated early with Cadillac’s Sergio Perez splitting the Haas cars.
In P20 was his teammate Valtteri Bottas ahead of an all Aston Martin back row with Fernando Alonso in P21 and Lance Stroll taking P22.
So a thrilling end to qualifying with the Mercedes driver beating two legendary drivers to get pole position at Monaco. As overtaking is so tricky around this tight street circuit, winning pole is a major step in securing race victory.
Monaco Grand Prix, qualifying results:
1 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:12.051
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford 1:12.094
3 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:12.279
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:12.351
5 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford 1:12.434
6 George Russell Mercedes 1:12.445
7 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:12.624
8 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:12.765
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes 1:13.226
10 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford 1:13.412
11 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 1:13.787
12 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes 1:13.815
13 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 1:13.902
14 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes 1:13.995
15 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford 1:14.248
16 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi No time
17 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari 1:14.722
18 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari 1:14.747
19 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari 1:14.814
20 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari 1:15.283
21 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda 1:15.349
22 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda 1:16.061
Kimi Antonelli has clinched pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix in a thrilling conclusion to Qualifying, the Mercedes driver storming to the top of the timesheets ahead of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.
After Antonelli set the pace during the initial runs of Q3, the likes of Charles Leclerc and Verstappen subsequently toppled him as the session headed towards its close – but the Italian displaced Verstappen in P1 on a lap of 1m 12.051s, marking his maiden Monte Carlo pole.
Verstappen had to settle for second place in the Red Bull, his effort being only 0.043s adrift of Antonelli’s, while Hamilton was just over two tenths away for Ferrari in third.
It was an eventful Q3 for home favourite Leclerc, who aborted more than one run before briefly going fastest – and while he tried to retake P1 in the final moments, the Monegasque hit the wall and was left in fourth.
Isack Hadjar enjoyed a solid showing for Red Bull in P5, with George Russell sitting P6 in what appeared to be a tricky session for the Mercedes man. The McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris were seventh and eighth respectively, while Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson completed the top 10.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/antonelli-seizes-brilliant-pole-in-thrilling-monaco-qualifying-ahead-of-verstappen-and-hamilton.7lWc3kpARKr1Qnle1f8X3P
Mercedes race engineer Peter Bonnington has lauded his driver Kimi Antonelli’s stunning Monaco Grand Prix pole position.
Following a thrilling qualifying session around the unforgiving streets of Monte Carlo, Antonelli secured pole position, further justifying Mercedes’ bold decision to promote him at such a young age.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Bonnington, affectionately known as “Bono”, offered insight into the rapid development of the current championship leader.
“I’m sure he’ll come back and say there was another tenth or two in there – he always does! – but [the lap] was pretty good,” Bonnington said. “I didn’t think it was on. Just looking at the time delta, I thought, ‘It’s going to be close, but it’s not going to happen.’
“But then the last couple of corners, yeah, came good.”
Bonnington noted the importance of giving the 19-year-old the freedom to enjoy racing the car and not get too stressed about the championship fight.
“Well, it’s just always chipping away, and we try not to focus on the goal; you always focus on the process,” he added. “And just make sure he keeps his head down, working on the right things.
“Giving him the freedom to do what he enjoys, giving him the freedom to enjoy driving the car. And that’s a really big thing. And not stressing too much. Let’s just enjoy the journey, and we’ll just get on with it, but let’s not get carried away with ourselves. Let’s just focus on climbing each mountain at a time.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/peter-bonnington-opens-up-on-kimi-antonellis-rapid-mercedes-rise-after-monaco-gp-pole-position/10827595/
Kimi Antonelli could not hide his delight after building on a sensational start to the 2026 season with a hard-earned pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix.
Antonelli ended the first day of running in Monte Carlo fifth on the timesheets, half a second off the pace set by Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, and behind Mercedes team mate George Russell.
However, the Italian teenager made a clear step forward by topping Saturday’s third and final practice session, before doubling down on that performance in Qualifying – where he grabbed pole with a stunning final lap of Q3.
Antonelli will start Sunday’s Grand Prix just ahead of Red Bull rival Max Verstappen, Ferrari pair Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, Isack Hadjar in the second Red Bull, and Russell.
“It was one of those laps we call the magic lap – I was able to put [it] all together,” said Antonelli, having scored Mercedes’ first pole in Monaco since Hamilton back in 2019.
“It was such a close Qualifying with Max. I think in the first run of Q3 there was just one millisecond between us, but I knew the last lap was good, and was just hoping that it would be enough. It was very close and I’m very happy with that.
“Massive thanks to the team, because yesterday we struggled a little bit, and today we were able to improve massively.”
Asked if his lap felt like an out of body experience, as hero Ayrton Senna once described, Antonelli continued: “I think it’s one of the most intense, if not the most intense, Qualifying of the year, and it takes a massive effort.
“Also in practice, because you keep just trying to get close to the limit. When it’s about finding the last two-tenths, it’s not easy, because the walls start to come closer.
“It’s not easy to gain the confidence, but I have to be honest, I felt great this morning, and I’m happy that we could finish the job today.”
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/antonelli-overjoyed-with-magic-monaco-pole-as-he-thanks-mercedes-for-making-massive-overnight-gains.7F7AIfJ3e9HyRM5HDLtQjQ
George Russell was left bewildered by his pace deficit to Formula 1 title rival and team-mate Kimi Antonelli who took pole for the Monaco Grand Prix.
The 19-year-old set a 1m12.051s to beat runner-up Max Verstappen by just 0.043s to the top spot, while Russell struggled down in sixth, three tenths off the pace in another blow to his title hopes.
Russell is 43 points behind leader Antonelli despite being the heavy favourite pre-season, which he backed up by winning the Melbourne opener from pole in a Mercedes 1-2.
But all four grands prix since have been won by Antonelli, who looks set to make it five considering how few overtaking opportunities there are around Monaco.
“I don’t really know what’s going on to be honest,” said Russell. “It’s clearly something with my driving that’s not helping the car at the moment.
“But that was there at the start of the year as well and every lap I did it was… If I look at Melbourne and at least China until I have my issues, it was P1 every single session.
“Every lap I did was good. The last three races have just been nowhere. Even Canada, I was nowhere until the last lap of Q3 in both sessions. So I don’t have an answer for that.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/george-russell-bemused-by-pace-deficit-to-f1-title-rival-kimi-antonelli/10827609/