2026 F1 Round 6, Monaco Grand Prix Qualifying: Antonelli Snatches Last-Gasp Pole, Verstappen Close Behind

Qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix, Round 6 of the 2026 F1 season, took place at the Monte Carlo street circuit on the evening of June 6, China Standard Time (UTC+8). Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) set a 1:12.051 to claim pole position by the narrow margin of 0.043 seconds.

The 19-year-old Italian, who leads the drivers’ championship, produced a “magic lap” on his final attempt to turn the tables. Under intense pressure, he put together a perfect lap to beat four-time world champion Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and secure his first Monaco pole.

Verstappen topped a session for the first time all weekend in Q2. On his first Q3 run, he held second at that point, just 0.001 seconds behind Antonelli, before briefly going fastest on his final attempt.

But Antonelli completed his flying lap shortly afterwards and displaced him, extinguishing Verstappen’s hopes of a first pole this season. This was Mercedes’ first Monaco pole since Hamilton qualified fastest in 2019.

“That’s what you call a magic lap, when you manage to put everything together,” an elated Antonelli said. “It was incredibly close with Max, just one thousandth of a second on the first Q3 run. We struggled a little yesterday, but made a huge improvement today. I’m really grateful to the team.”

Ferrari, who had swept the top two places in both practice sessions on the opening day and raised the tifosi’s hopes, ultimately had to settle for locking out the second row, missing out on the front row.

Lewis Hamilton finished third. Kim Kardashian also attended qualifying. Hamilton made a relatively slow start by placing fifth in Q1, but reduced his deficit to 0.228 seconds by the end of Q3.

Home favourite Charles Leclerc had a less impressive outing. Having been troubled by brake problems in FP3, he made a strong start by topping Q1, only to struggle in Q3. He abandoned his first flying lap after a moment at Massenet and did not set a valid lap time. A subsequent valid flying lap briefly put him at the top of the timesheets, but he hit the wall at Tabac on his final lap and then stopped his car at Rascasse. Leclerc ended up fourth.

Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) bounced back strongly from a practice crash to take fifth. While his teammate claimed pole, George Russell (Mercedes) struggled to sixth. The team reported that he had struggled to get the tyres working fully; Russell also said he lacked confidence in the available grip.

McLaren could not overcome the lack of pace that had dogged them throughout the weekend: Oscar Piastri was seventh and Lando Norris eighth. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) took ninth as the highest-placed midfield driver, with Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) immediately behind him.

Audi, who had placed both cars in the top 10 during the opening day’s practice and were expected to get both into Q3, endured a nightmare. Gabriel Bortoleto hit the inside barrier on the approach to the Nouvelle Chicane (Turns 10–11), damaging his left-front suspension and leaving his car stranded on the track. The red flag came out with 2 minutes 11 seconds remaining in Q1.

Although Bortoleto advanced to Q2, the damage to his car prevented him from taking any further part, leaving him 16th in qualifying. Teammate Nico Hülkenberg finished 13th as Audi failed to live up to expectations.

Racing Bulls, by contrast, made a leap forward. After insufficient steering lock had left them near the back in FP1, Lawson secured a place in Q3. Arvid Lindblad narrowly avoided Q1 elimination by 0.037 seconds, but could make no further progress in Q2 and finished 15th.

Carlos Sainz (Williams) was in the elimination zone with little time remaining in Q1, but an all-out lap lifted him to 10th and narrowly secured his passage through. He ultimately qualified 12th. Teammate Alexander Albon edged Sainz by 0.028 seconds to qualify 11th.

Sainz’s quick lap pushed Esteban Ocon down to 17th. Oliver Bearman failed to improve his time after the session resumed, leaving both Haas cars out in Q1: Ocon was 17th and Bearman 19th. Sergio Pérez (Cadillac), who had impressed throughout the Monaco weekend, finished 18th, with teammate Valtteri Bottas 20th.

Both Aston Martin-Hondas were rooted to the bottom of the order. Fernando Alonso was 21st, losing out to Bottas by 0.066 seconds, while Lance Stroll was once again well beaten by his teammate, finishing last and 0.712 seconds behind him.

The 78-lap race is scheduled to take place at the same circuit on the evening of June 7, China Standard Time (UTC+8).