Red Bull driver Max Verstappen will start the Monaco Grand Prix from pole position after coming out on top in a breathless qualifying hour at the Monte Carlo circuit, pipping Aston Martin rival Fernando Alonso and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

In a pole shootout that did not feature Verstappen’s team mate, Sergio Perez, who crashed out of Q1, several drivers had spells at the top of the timesheets amid a sequence of laps that had fans on the edge of their seats.

With Alonso on provisional pole, it took a mighty effort of 1m 11.365s from Verstappen to secure P1, denying the Spaniard what would have been his first pole since the 2012 season by just under a tenth of a second.

Alonso nonetheless took a spot on the front row, followed by home favourite Leclerc and the Alpine of Esteban Ocon, who posted a stunning lap of his own to get the better of Carlos Sainz in the other Ferrari.