Charles Leclerc sits second after the opening runs but now here comes Max Verstappen. The fight seems to be between these two cars this afternoon and the Red Bull man that jumps to the top of the timesheets on the softs. The Dutchman's time is a 1:11.920.

The Monte Carlo track is giving up more and more to the driver, enabling Lando Norris to put in a tasty middle sector and fly to the top of the leaderboard. First suddenly becomes ninth, though, as the likes of Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and his team-mate Oscar Piastri go faster.

Damon Hill
1996 world champion on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra in Monaco

For the drivers we expect to get through to Q3, their job is to get a good enough lap in and not overcook it because they feel confident they are going to be fighting for pole position.

The drivers at the back desperately want to get out of the drop zone and into Q2, the pressure is on them in the early part of qualifying.

Liam Lawson, Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc are currently in the top three places on the timesheets. But the markers are tumbling as Lance Stroll and Oliver Bearman go quicker than the trio. Stroll, on softs, leads the way.

The two Alpine drivers, Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly, are running the C5 medium tyre in Q1. Nico Hulkenberg goes top on the softs but is beaten by the Williams of Alex Albon. The Thai-Brit driver has clocked a 1:13.153 on the red rubber. The track is very busy...

Image source, Getty Images

Championship leader Oscar Piastri spoke to Sky Sports: "I think so, there's a lot of competition today but I think we've still got a good chance.

"I don't know if Lewis [Hamilton] has four wheels back on his car yet but Charles [Leclerc] will definitely be a challenge, he's been very quick all weekend.

"Max [Verstappen] came back to life today like normal and Lando [Norris] has been quick as well, so it's going to be an exciting session."

Franco Colapinto and Carlos Sainz were both under investigation for failure to comply with the red flags for Lewis Hamilton's crash, but the pair have escaped any penalties from the stewards.

However, Oliver Bearman is carrying a 10-place grid penalty for tomorrow's race and Lance Stroll a one-place drop.

Damon Hill
1996 world champion on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra in Monaco

This is the best part of the weekend and the best part of the year. Qualifying in Monaco is the final test of your abilities of your speed, precision and your ability to concentrate and deliver under pressure.

Lewis Hamilton is in the queue to get out. Well done, Ferrari.

Q1 is green.

Ian Fergusson
BBC weather forecaster

Air temperature is 21.2C and the track 41C. Light wind, mostly from the south.

It's dry at the Principality, with a few showers recently developing around 20-30km up to the north-north-west, over high ground.

FIA official risk of rain is 20%.

BBC Sounds

Harry Benjamin, Rosanna Tennant, Andrew Benson and 1996 F1 world champion Damon Hill are in position and ready to take us through the best Saturday on the calendar.

To follow along, click the 'listen live' tab at the top of the page, ask BBC Sounds to play Monaco Grand Prix qualifying via most smart speakers or scroll through the live radio dial at the top of BBC Sounds and tap on Sports Extra 2.

Harry Benjamin is here to give us a rundown on what to look out for at this year's Monaco Grand Prix.

Image source, Getty Images

Red Bull's Max Verstappen spoke to Sky Sports before qualifying: "First of all stay out of the barriers, but it's going to be very difficult and tight. All weekend I think Charles [Leclerc] has been really, really fast so he will be on it.

"From our side, we had a more positive FP3 again, a bit like FP1. Is it enough to fight for pole, I don't know.

"We need a bit of a magic lap which is of course always very tough around here but we will give it everything we have and try and qualify in the best possible position.

"I'm already quite happy with how our car has performed this weekend and it's been better than I expected it to be. I hope I can be in that fight."

Royalty has arrived at Ferrari as Prince Albert of Monaco pays a visit to the Scuderia before qualifying. Lewis Hamilton is shaking the hand of every mechanic, thanking his team for getting his car back into shape following his FP3 shunt. The other Prince of Monaco, Charles Leclerc, is suiting up in his special off-white and baby blue race suit.

Image source, Getty Images

This is the second run-out for the softest trio of tyres in the Pirelli range in a qualifying session where track position is key - and they caused quite a stir in Imola last week.

Aston Martin, who were carrying upgrades last week, used the C5 medium compound instead of the softer C6 rubber to gazump the likes of Ferrari and progress to the top 10 shootout. The yellow mediums then propelled Fernando Alonso to fifth place on his final run for Sunday's race - the team's best qualifying position of the season.

With the mandatory two-stop Monaco race in play tomorrow, and Max Verstappen getting his best one-lap time out of the mediums earlier on, what strategies will we see when it comes to the C5 and C6 compounds in today's qualifying?

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Monaco

Image source, Jon Nicholson

As you may know, Damon Hill is commentating again for 5 live this weekend. During final practice, Hill was chatting about Adrian Newey, who is attending his first race as Aston Martin managing technical partner.

Back at the height of his career, Hill had a photographer friend called Jon Nicholson follow him around to take photos that were used in books about his time at Williams. In the gap between practice and qualifying, Nicholson sent me one of those photos, which he said showed "Damon having a go at Adrian", in what looks like it might be the old pits at Monaco.

Here it is. I just showed it to Hill in the commentary box, he said: "It looks like I’m going to knock his head off."

Image source, Jon Nicholson

Image source, Jon Nicholson

Damon Hill
1996 world champion on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra in Monaco

[On Adrian Newey being at Monaco] You can't keep him away from the race track or a racing car, he's come down to Monaco and he's got a few ideas, he's talking to the engineers. He will benefit Aston Martin, he's got his magic wand and he's able to see stuff that other people miss.

Image source, Getty Images

F1 correspondent Andrew Benson sat down for an in-depth chat with design legend Adrian Newey this week as the 66-year-old joins Aston Martin at a grand prix weekend for the first time.

Newey, who has signed a five-year contract with the team, discusses the 2026 regulations, getting the chance to work with two-time world champion Fernando Alonso and how Aston Martin's quest to become a competitive team will be hampered because "some of our tools are weak".

Read the full story here

Damon Hill
1996 world champion on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra in Monaco

You need to save up your best shot and the biggest gamble for the last run because you could crash.

Confidence is everything and some drivers have a huge amount of confidence.

The drivers are getting comfortable and trying to get that feeling that they know the car is going to do, and then they can really start to take liberties with it.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Monaco

Ferrari say they have changed the nose, front wing and right front suspension.

The team added they've also replaced the entire rear end, including left and right hand suspension and gearbox as this is a quicker procedure than simply changing the damaged right rear suspension.

Image source, Getty Images