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Antonelli continued to raise the bar in the second season of his career and it was as impressive as ever.
A Monaco pole is a statement performance for any driver and one of Formula 1’s biggest prizes. To deliver in this fashion, at the age of 19, underlines his potential as the most likely world champion in this year’s first phase.
He and Verstappen were separated by just 0.001 seconds after their first run in the final session and Antonelli said he produced a “magic lap” to beat the Dutchman.
After missing his first lap with a lock-up at Mirabeau, Leclerc went out early for the final run and he put himself on top at his first attempt.
Verstappen then beat that mark by 0.257 seconds to take the top spot, only for Antonelli to displace him.
Leclerc wasn’t finished – he timed himself for one final lap as the last driver on the track. But he overshot the limit and slid wide on Tabak’s approach, his right rear wheel scraping against the wall and breaking his rear suspension.
Antonelli said: “I managed to put everything together. It was such a close qualifying session. The last lap was good.”
Verstappen said he was surprised to be competing for pole position.
“If you had told me yesterday I’d be in the front row, I would have taken it,” he said. “So going into qualifying and getting up there was very positive. Very happy with how qualifying went. I’m happy to be on the front row.”
The Ferrari was fastest in both the first and second sessions on Friday, but Hamilton said the car felt different as qualifying began.
“We looked great in practice and then the car was completely different in qualifying,” Hamilton said, “so we’ll have to see. But I gave it my all. What a privilege to be one of the 22 drivers. I loved every second of it.”
Russell struggled for grip throughout the session and never looked likely to fight for pole, and he was 0.394s behind his team-mate.
He admits to being confused as to why he has lost performance in recent races.
“The start of the year was easy,” Russell said. “Every lap I did in practice, qualifying, it was P1 or worse P2 – every session, Q1, Q2, Q3.
“The last three races, it was nowhere, not even Canada, it was a real fight to get a decent lap and then I nailed it at the end of those two sessions.
“It was pulling something special out of the hat and a bit of luck to do it at the right time, but that’s where I’m at right now.”
