Hamilton will start ahead of the Red Bull of Verstappen and his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.
Hamilton set the early bar in Q1, lapping in 1m22.019s, two tenths clear of Verstappen. After a poor first run, Bottas went P1 by 0.003s on the same set of soft tyres at his second attempt with 1m22.016s.
Verstappen then took the top spot with a lap of 1m21.996s, 0.02s quicker than Bottas, but Hamilton responded on the very last lap of the session, producing 1m21.901s, to beat his title rival by 0.095s.
Falling at the first hurdle were Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo), Nicholas Latifi (Williams), Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) and the Haases of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.
The pole position hunters started this session using the medium tyre, with Hamilton setting the pace on 1m21.682s, three tenths up on Verstappen. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly got in between them, however, using soft tyres after getting through Q1 on mediums.
The second runs were taken with almost all of the runners on softs, apart from Sainz who didn’t improve but made it through to Q3 anyway. Gasly improved to 0.046s off Hamilton’s P1 time, and Fernando Alonso’s Alpine jumped up to an impressive third.
The big surprise here was Red Bull’s Sergio Perez failing to make Q3, despite switching to soft tyres and failing to dislodge Sainz by 0.105s – blaming it on the timing of the run.
Also knocked out at this point were Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Charles Leclerc (Ferrari, who reported he had “no idea” what was wrong), Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) and George Russell (Williams).
On the first run, Hamilton set the pace at 1m21.262s, 0.162s faster than Verstappen’s 1m21.424s and two tenths clear of Bottas’s 1m21.478s.
On the second run, Hamilton unleashed his 1m20.827s, taking pole by 0.455s ahead of Verstappen. Gasly – who was running directly behind Hamilton – then punctured his right-front tyre after smashing a kerb and breaking his front wing.
He ground to a halt before the finish line, causing an intermittent yellow flag in the final sector – causing some drivers to abort their runs. But some drivers, including Verstappen, improved their times.
Bottas will start third, ahead of Gasly, whose opening lap was good enough for fourth, Alonso, Norris, Sainz, Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri), Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin).
FIA conducts extra rear wing checks after Qatar F1 qualifying
Verstappen: Red Bull struggling more than normal
Back from the dead: The Olympian who beats brain damage to race for Hyundai
Former Dakar Rally service truck lives new life as RV rental
The inside story of F1’s newest race track
How F1 budget cap is reining in one-off developments
Horner: Red Bull happy for either Verstappen or Perez to win F1 title
Steiner: F1 can’t just open up budget cap for big teams
The longest-serving Red Bull driver revealing F1’s true brutality
The longest-serving Red Bull driver revealing F1’s true brutality
His day of days in Formula 1 came at Indianapolis in 2005, a day grand prix racing strives to forget. But Patrick Friesacher, the long-serving Red Bull lieutenant, remains active today driving a two-seater that provides ordinary people with a glimpse of an F1 car’s savage potential, including this writer…
The mistakes putting Ferrari’s bid to end its F1 title drought in jeopardy
OPINION: After taking an early lead in the 2022 Formula 1 title race, Ferrari and Charles Leclerc have together made a series of high-profile mistakes to give Red Bull an advantage after the opening seven races. Here’s why Ferrari cannot afford to make any more errors this season…
How Perez shaded Verstappen in Monaco and earned new F1 contract
OPINION: One week on from getting a ruthless Red Bull team orders call at Barcelona, Sergio Perez delivered the team’s sixth Monaco Grand Prix victory and earned a two-year contract extension. This success backs up discernible improvements the team has noticed in driver who is now his country’s most successful Formula 1 racer.
Monaco Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2022
Accuracy is more important than ever on a street circuit, and on Monte Carlo’s sodden streets, several drivers stepped up to produce superb performances in Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix. But on a track where overtaking is famously difficult, many were already resigned to a difficult afternoon by their qualifying performances
The six key F1 moments that meant Perez won Leclerc’s Monaco GP
After retiring from the lead in Spain with the failure of his turbo and MGU-H, Charles Leclerc looked set to bounce back in style in Monaco. He’d done the hard work in qualifying by securing the all-important pole position and led the wet early phases, but his Ferrari team made critical mistakes in tyre strategy that handed the race to Red Bull and Sergio Perez
Why 2022 could be Leclerc’s best chance to end his Monaco F1 curse
Charles Leclerc’s ill-fortune at his home Formula 1 race is well-established. But his single lap pace and over longer runs during Friday practice will leave the Ferrari driver upbeat that he can make up for his Barcelona disappointment by finally recording a finish and perhaps even banking 25 world championship points in Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix…
The inevitable consequence of the Liberty F1 popularity boom
Sell out crowds at Formula 1 races are the norm rather than the exception these days, as grand prix racing is enjoying a massive boom under Liberty Media. But the Spanish Grand Prix highlighted numerous issues some circuits may face as demand for F1 soars
The danger for Red Bull in its Barcelona F1 team orders choice
OPINION: Red Bull walked into a team orders saga on its way to taking a Spanish Grand Prix 1-2 last weekend, where it took the lead of the 2022 Formula 1 world championships for the first time. But its decisions have added an element of risk to later races.
