Red Bull's Max Verstappen has secured pole position for Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix in a thrilling qualifying session in Monte Carlo.
In Q1, Red Bull watched on helplessly as Sergio Perez - Verstappen's nearest rival in the title race - crashed out, leaving the Mexican at the back of the grid.
At one stage in Q3, it appeared that Verstappen would fail to take advantage, finding himself down in fourth place ahead of his final flying lap.
Verstappen was down by two tenths of a second heading into the final sector, yet he somehow made up the margin during the closing corners to edge out Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso by 0.084 seconds.
Take a bow, you two 👏
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 27, 2023
That was BONKERS 😆#MonacoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/Uoz3K3L7vk
Charles Leclerc, in his home race, had to settle for third in the Ferrari, while Alpine's Esteban Ocon was a sensational fourth fastest ahead of some stellar names.
Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr was fifth, marginally quicker than Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes with teammate George Russell behind Alpine's Pierre Gasly in eighth.
Yuki Tsunoda and Lando Norris - in the AlphaTauri and McLaren respectively - completed the top 10.
Darren Plant
