"It's very special, I'm incredibly happy. The weekend has gone well so far, the last lap before the red flag was really good", welcomed the child of the country who will start in front his teammate at Ferrari, the Spaniard Carlos Sainz, second.

A red flag indeed came to put a premature end to the last qualifying session, cut short after the crash against the safety barriers of the Mexican Sergio Pérez, struck in stride by Sainz at the entrance to the famous tunnel, a few moments from the end.

The race marshals wave a red flag after the crash against the safety barriers of the Mexican Sergio Perez, hit by the Spaniard Carlos Sainz, just after the passage of the Monegasque Charles Leclerc, author of the pole position, on May 28, 2022 at the Grand Monaco F1 Prize ANDREJ ISAKOVIC AFP

"It's quite damaged and what made it worse was the hit Carlos gave us, so we've got quite a bit of damage. But we'll see, I think it should be ok for tomorrow," Pérez explained. .

Third place in this 7th round of the season still goes to the Mexican, ahead of his teammate at Red Bull, the Dutchman Max Verstappen, currently leader of the championship.

Dutchman Max Verstappen, 4th in the qualifying session for the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix, on May 28, 2022 in Monte-Carlo SEBASTIEN BOZON AFP

"I don't think pole was in our reach today, Charles was strong, it's a shame because I think our two drivers could have improved a bit," admitted Red Bull boss Christian Horner. .

On the Monegasque track, which is not conducive to overtaking in the narrow streets, the positions on the grid are crucial, even if the rain could arrive at the start of the race on Sunday.

After six rounds (four won by Verstappen, two by Leclerc), the reigning world champion is barely six lengths ahead of the Monegasque in the drivers' standings.

Among the constructors, Red Bull are currently 26 points ahead of Ferrari, buoyed by their 44 points in the final round in Spain last week.

- Finally the right one?

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Before wanting to win at home tomorrow, the challenge for Leclerc will be above all to finish the race.

Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) took pole position in the Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix on May 28, 2022, ahead of his teammate, Spaniard Carlos Sainz ANDREJ ISAKOVIC AFP

So far, "his" circuit has never really smiled on him since at home, the Monegasque has always had to give up since 2017 after technical problems or clashes.

Like Pérez on Saturday afternoon, Leclerc, in the last seconds of qualifying in 2021, made a mistake and seriously damaged his car.

Just before the start the next day, during the warm-up laps, the ax fell: the Ferrari had its transmission shaft affected and the Monegasque was not going to be able to compete in his GP at home when he had taken pole.

"I hope I can finally finish this Grand Prix at home," he whispered before this weekend.

At the start of the race tomorrow at 3:00 p.m., Briton Lando Norris (McLaren) will start from the third row alongside his compatriot George Russell (Mercedes), 6th in qualifying.

Will follow the Spaniard Fernando Alonso (Alpine), 7th, the Briton Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 8th, the German Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin), 9th and the French Esteban Ocon (Alpine), 10th.

Earlier in qualifying, the first part (Q1) was interrupted a few minutes by a red flag after the Japanese Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) hit a safety barrier.

To the chagrin of his teammate, the Frenchman Pierre Gasly, in good shape since the start of the weekend, but who suffered the full brunt of the arrival of this flag.

He was unable to complete his last fast lap to join the second part of qualifying and will start Sunday from 17th position.

© 2022 AFP