Pole at Monaco Goes to Antonelli: He Beat Verstappen and Hamilton

In Monte Carlo, three separate sessions (Q1, Q2, Q3) were staged in the qualifying laps starting at 16:00 local time on Saturday afternoon. Mercedes had settled at the top with Antonelli in the FP3 session held in the morning, breaking the Ferrari 1-2 rhythm caught on Friday. Antonelli set a lap of 1:12.720 in FP3; this performance was reflected in the qualifying laps and the young Italian, under the most appropriate conditions, wrote the pole position to his name.

The final moments of Q3 were breathtaking. After Antonelli's first attempt, Verstappen had taken position only 0.001 seconds behind — in the last few minutes both pilots' pole chance looked equal. Ferrari's Monaco local Charles Leclerc, however, made contact with the barriers during Q3 and could not lower his lap time in his last attempt; after this crash by Ferrari's home pilot, Antonelli guaranteed pole with his lap of 1:12.051 in his last attack. Hamilton had to settle for third place on behalf of Ferrari; the other Mercedes pilot George Russell was sixth.

With this pole position, Mercedes has reached a pole record of 6/6 in the 2026 season — the silver arrows did not give up the top spot in any qualifying session throughout the entire season. In the same season, Mercedes had also won all 5 races; Sunday's Monaco race will show whether 6 out of 6 will be made. Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur could not attend the qualifying laps due to health reasons; Deputy Team Principal Jerome D'Ambrosio served in his place.

In Q1, the two Aston Martin pilots Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, Cadillac's Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez and Haas' duo Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon were eliminated. On the McLaren side, it was announced that the FIA gave a penalty to the team after an incident involving Lando Norris. In the new qualifying format applied throughout the season, 6 pilots are eliminated instead of 5 at the end of Q1 and Q2; the duration of Q3 has also been increased from 12 minutes to 13 minutes. The Monaco Grand Prix will start on Sunday at 15:00 local time; while Mercedes continues its rhythm throughout the season, on Sunday Antonelli has the opportunity for the Monaco victory of his career in front of him.

Image: eurosport.com.tr