In an exciting F1 qualifying session on Saturday that came down to the wire, points leader and two time World Champion Red Bull's Max Verstappen qualified on the pole for Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix at the Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo. The pole is Verstappen's 23rd of his career and his third of the season but only his first at the Circuit de Monaco.

"My final lap today wasn't ideal, I gave it everything I had and risked it all in the third sector, as I knew I was behind," said Verstappen. "I clipped a few barriers but I'm happy to be on pole here for the first time."

Aston Martin's Alonzo Fernando, who earlier in the week promised to be aggressive on Saturday, lived up to expectations, holding onto the provisional pole until the last sector of Verstappen's final lap where, with zero seconds left on the clock, Verstappen beat the spaniard and two time World Champion's lap time by 84-hundredths of a second.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc qualified P3 with his teammate, Carlos Sainz, qualifying P7. After the qualifying session ended it was announced that Leclerc will start his home Grand Prix from sixth on the grid after being handed a 3-place grid drop for impeding Lando Norris in Q3.

The Leclerc demotion moved Alpine's Esteban Ocon to the third position on the starting grid, the best starting position for the French born driver since joining the Enstone-Viry team in 2020. Ocon held the provisional pole position with three minutes left in the final qualifying session.

Ocon's teammate, Pierre Gasly, also made it into the final qualifying session and will start P7 for Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix.

"We are very pleased with today's Qualifying in Monaco with Esteban claiming a very impressive fourth position - third on the grid - with Charles' [Leclerc] penalty and Pierre in seventh," said Alan Permane, Alpine Sporting Director: "The car has looked strong all weekend - comfortably inside the top 10 - and today was all about good communication between drivers and engineers, clean execution from the team and staying composed amongst three very busy and intense sessions."

In a season where Red Bull has dominated the top two podium positions, Monaco may be an exception as Sergio Perez, last year's race winner, hit the barriers in Zandvoort with 11 minutes to go in Q1, severely damaging the rear of his RB19, and will start last on a track where passing is notoriously difficult.

"Going into the corner I just lost the rear end quite late, which caught me out and I had nowhere to go, I could not cut the corner or get out of the corner," said Perez.

"Unfortunately, that meant I ended up touching the wall and I cannot believe what I have done. This mistake is too difficult to digest right now, I don't know what to say, I am just sorry for my Team," added a dejected Perez, a native of Mexico.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton qualified sixth and teammate George Russell eighth for Sunday's Grand Prix. Mercedes reported that overnight set-up changes were evaluated in FP3, aimed at optimising the car for qualifying. Hamilton ended the qualifying session by bringing out a red flag with five minutes remaining after wedging the left front tire of his W14 into a barrier at Mirabeau.

AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda made it into Q3 for the second time this season and will start P9. McLaren's Lando Norris rounded out the top ten qualifier positions on Saturday.

Pos	Driver		Team		Time		Gap

1	Verstappen	Red Bull	1:11.365	104.597 mph
2	Alonso		Aston Martin	1:11.449	0.084
3	Leclerc		Ferrari		1:11.471	0.106
4	Ocon		Alpine		1:11.553	0.188
5	Sainz		Ferrari		1:11.630	0.265
6	Hamilton	Mercedes	1:11.725	0.360
7	Gasly		Alpine		1:11.933	0.568
8	Russell		Mercedes	1:11.964	0.599
9	Tsunoda		AlphaTauri	1:12.082	0.717
10	Norris		McLaren		1:12.254	0.889
11	Piastri		McLaren		1:12.395	
12	de Vries	AlphaTauri	1:12.428	
13	Albon		Williams	1:12.527	
14	Stroll		Aston Martin	1:12.623	
15	Bottas		Alfa Romeo	1:12.625	
16	Sargeant	Williams	1:13.113	
17	Magnussen	Haas		1:13.270	
18	Hulkenberg	Haas		1:13.279	
19	Zhou		Alfa Romeo	1:13.523	
20	Perez		Red Bull	1:13.850

Pos	Driver		Team		Time		Gap

1	Verstappen	Red Bull	1:12.776	102.570 mph
2	Perez		Red Bull	1:12.849	0.073
3	Stroll		Aston Martin	1:12.942	0.166
4	Sainz		Ferrari		1:13.261	0.485
5	Norris		McLaren		1:13.396	0.620
6	Gasly		Alpine		1:13.453	0.677
7	Leclerc		Ferrari		1:13.475	0.699
8	Hamilton	Mercedes	1:13.486	0.710
9	Ocon		Alpine		1:13.496	0.720
10	Bottas		Alfa Romeo	1:13.521	0.745
11	Russell		Mercedes	1:13.590	0.814
12	Magnussen	Haas		1:13.624	0.848
13	Hulkenberg	Haas		1:13.650	0.874
14	Alonso		Aston Martin	1:13.697	0.921
15	Tsunoda		AlphaTauri	1:13.738	0.962
16	Zhou		Alfa Romeo	1:13.772	0.996
17	Sargeant	Williams	1:13.851	1.075
18	Albon		Williams	1:13.930	1.154
19	Piastri		McLaren		1:13.998	1.222
20	de Vries	AlphaTauri	1:14.187	1.411