Qualifying Highlights | 2022 Monaco Grand Prix

George Russell will be next to cross the line. Goes third fastest for George Russell. Much, much better lap for him and the Mercedes. Two tenths off and we've red-flagged the session. The red flags are out, with no indication that we've got a car against the barriers or a driver that's had an accident. Yuki Tsunoda into the Nouvelle Chicane. And has he made contact with the barrier as he goes through and locks up? Good front left puncture having touched the barrier. Session's going to resume in three minutes time. As he's just on the way in, he might have made contact to get that puncture. Nicholas Latifi hasn't managed to get out of Q1 so far this season. Has a chance and, sadly for him, misses out. Only 18th fastest. Sebastian Vettel next to cross the line. Goes seventh fastest. Big improvement in his lap time. Fernando Alonso is next to cross the line. We're on board with the McLaren. Norris and Ricciardo trying to improve their position. Alonso goes eighth fastest. Norris goes into the top four with a brilliant final sector. Daniel Ricciardo is next and he goes into the top nine. Pushes Lewis Hamilton a bit closer to the drop zone. Mick Schumacher, Bottas and Albon down there as well. Lance Stroll is in the bottom five. Stays in the bottom five as Esteban Ocon goes fourth fastest overall. And Yuki Tsunoda goes into the top nine. Alex Albon is out of qualifying. Gasly out of qualifying too. And that was quite the finish to the first part of qualifying. Some brilliant laps going in for the likes of Ocon and for Norris. Albon, Gasly, Stroll, Latifi and Joe all lose out. Vettel and Bottas with best personal sectors for the first part of the lap. As Ocon goes sixth fastest. Pushes Kevin Magnussen out of qualifying. The Mercedes of Hamilton crosses the line. Goes seventh fastest. He's going to be okay for Q3 here and probably his teammate George Russell as well as we watch out for Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas. Yuki Tsunoda is at risk because he's currently tenth. Sebastian Vettel crosses the line. Gets his Aston Martin into the top ten. Decent lap from Sebastian Vettel. And around the final corner we come with Valtteri Bottas. Can't get himself into Q3 for the second time this season. Valtteri Bottas misses out. Good news if you're Fernando Alonso. Who was the driver at risk as Max Verstappen crosses the line to go fourth fastest. But a decent lap from Vettel right at the end there. But out in front, Declare and Perez. Separated by less than a tenth. Disappointment for Daniel Ricciardo, his former teammate at Red Bull. Now an Aston Martin. Sebastian Vettel has got into Q3 here. In early. Pick up the throttle and give it full beans. There's so much grip there. So much traction. And a weight bend. The burst of sunshine. And you know pretty quickly you're on the brakes. Go a little bit wide on the way in there. Just a tiny, tiny bit wide but carried good speed. Mind the right tyres against the barrier as you go through the left hander. And mind them again through the exit. The Ferrari settles so nicely. This is where Declare carries a lot of speed. Brake again in a straight line. All the shifting done. Apex late. And now you've got one corner to make and you've got to stay out of the barriers there. I don't think he's attacked the track quite like I've seen him at other times. But what's it going to yield time-wise? An 11.3. That's a cracking lap. That is half a second quicker than his best lap and the fastest lap during Q2. He has found more pace. Charles Leclerc, who this time last year took pole here, but managed to crash his Ferrari at the end of Q3, which led to him not starting the race. He's on provisional pole now by two tenths of a second of his teammate, Carlos Sainz. Lewis Hamilton on used tyres makes his way round in an unrepresentative time of a 1.24. Lando Norris also on used tyres in the 1.12s. We cross the line with Max Verstappen and he's nearly three tenths off the pace of the two Ferraris. Pole position currently occupied by Charles Leclerc, who took pole of course this time last year. And I dare say, an awful lot of fans here in Monaco this weekend would love to see him keep up the pace he's setting currently. And it's a rocket pace out in front. Again, takes the pavement into Portier now. And, well, it didn't look like 100% traction. Was that Red Bull sliding sideways? That was Perez. And Perez has stopped at Portier. And I think Perez has gone into the barriers. And Carlos Sainz on the scene as well has made contact. And that is the end of qualifying. And last year it was Charles Leclerc who hit the barriers and managed to grab pole. I'm out, man. Sorry. This year it's Sergio Perez who's hit the barriers and Charles Leclerc has grabbed pole. I dare say he would have grabbed pole anyway because, well, in the week that he announced he was becoming a Disney character, he has been light years ahead of the rest in this final part of qualifying. But that is a little bit of wreckage at Portier. Perez disappears through Mirabaud and, as I say, lost the rear sliding around that right-hander. And there's Sainz doing exactly the same thing. So we just saw it, didn't we, in the corner of our eye, the Red Bull at a funny angle as we had the shot cut and one of those pendulum spins and wait for it. Here's another one. Tomorrow could be a completely different day if the weather forecasters are right. And I hope you brought your rain jacket because the rain is forecast. Charles Leclerc then 12 months on from a pole position that he couldn't take up because his car was damaged in a crash against the barriers. Well, today sees someone else go into the barriers and he will be very, very happy with that pole, undoubtedly.