The Ferrari driver headed Q3 before the late red flag for Sergio Perez’s crash at Portier which led to Carlos Sainz running into the stricken Red Bull driver having been the first car on the scene before the red flag was shown.
With the majority of the Q3 contenders unable to complete their final qualifying laps, Leclerc secured pole in similar circumstances to 12 months ago at the principality, when his own crashed ended qualifying prematurely.
