McLaren and Ferrari at full throttle
Hostilities got underway in Q1 on the streets of the Principality. Leclerc set the pace by starting with a faster time than Alex Albon, but not fast enough to prevent the others from catching up.
Piastri, for example, was ahead after his lap (1:12.439). But once again, with their engines at full power, the Ferraris responded immediately (Leclerc first, Lewis Hamilton second). Max Verstappen also made his presence felt with a superb second sector. Norris was also able to improve, as was Piastri.
Leclerc continued to attack to keep the fastest time, as Andrea Kimi Antonelli crashed at the end of the session, meaning he will start Sunday's race 15th.
Franco Colapinto, Lance Stroll, Pierre Gasly, Ollie Bearman and Gabriel Bortoleto were unable to reach Q2.
Bad luck for Russell, good luck for Norris
On the restart, Leclerc was still the fastest. However, he was overtaken by Norris. George Russell, for his part, saw his single-seater give out on him and his failure caused a red flag to be displayed with 10 minutes on the clock.
After the restart, Hamilton set the second fastest time, Leclerc the first (1:10.581). But that was without counting on Norris (1:10.570) as Verstappen finished the second part of qualifying in third (1:10.875).
Nico Hulkenberg, Yuki Tsunoda and Carlos Sainz were eliminated alongside the two stricken Mercedes drivers.
Norris takes pole ahead of Leclerc
The fight for pole was hotly contested with everything coming down to just a few thousandths of a second.
The cars were all competitive, one after the other, and with them, some great lap times. But at the end of the session, Norris took pole (1'09"954). Leclerc finished second and Piastri third.