Sergio Perez is confident he will still be at Red Bull after this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix regardless of the result.

There has been a lot of speculation over the Mexican's future in recent weeks following a series of poor results at recent races, despite him signing a two-year extension with the team just last month.

Since coming fourth at the Miami Grand Prix in May, Perez's best finish has been seventh, both in Austria and Hungary, and he failed to advance beyond Q1 in four of the last six races.

His drop in form has allowed McLaren to close the gap to Red Bull in the constructors' championship to just 51 points.

With the four-week break soon approaching, both RB driver Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull's reserve driver Liam Lawson have been linked with Perez's seat.

However, the 34-year-old is certain he will still be competing alongside Max Verstappen when the season resumes.

"I am 100% sure," Perez said.

"Because I know basically what's in my contract and I know what the team trusts in me. And I know where is the main focus, which is on delivering on the track.

"It's no different to what it was in Hungary or [at the first race] in Bahrain or how it will be in Zandvoort or the rest of the year," Perez said.

"Every single weekend we've got to deliver the maximum, especially now that, with McLaren catching up in the constructors, it's really important to put everything together if we can achieve it.

"I'm not worried about it. Like I said, I know where I stand. That's not my concern. My only concern I have is to get my season back on track. The rest, I'm pretty chilled about."

Max Verstappen's 10-place grid penalty for Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix was confirmed as he took a new power unit in practice at Spa-Francorchamps on Friday.

Under Formula One's regulations, drivers are permitted to use a maximum of four internal combustion engines (ICEs) throughout the 2024 campaign.

Verstappen took his fifth new ICE of the year for Friday's first practice session, triggering the automatic penalty for Sunday's race. 

He proceeded to set the pace in first practice with a fastest lap of 1:43.372, going half a second faster than Oscar Piastri, who won the Hungarian Grand Prix last week.

The three-time world champion will also drop five places if he takes a new ICE at any other race this year. 

RB's Yuki Tsunoda, meanwhile, will start at the back of the grid in Belgium after taking a fifth ICE as well as additional engine parts.

With his penalty confirmed, Verstappen will now be desperate to perform in qualifying, having only taken pole at one of the last six races. 

He did, however, win the recent Spanish and Canadian Grands Prix when not starting at the front. His 29 race victories when not starting on pole are the fourth-most by any driver in F1 history.

The penalty does represent an almighty blow to Verstappen's hopes of avoiding a third straight race without winning, though. 

He last went more consecutive races without a victory in 2020, failing to win in 11 outings from Spain to Sakhir.   

Red Bull boss Christian Horner believes Gianpiero Lambiase's "childish" remark was not aimed at Max Verstappen during the pair's unhappy radio exchange at Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix.

Drivers' Championship leader Verstappen was forced to settle for fifth at the Hungaroring - his second-lowest finish of the season - Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris comprising a McLaren one-two.

The three-time world champion was involved in a collision with Lewis Hamilton on lap 63, after overshooting a corner on an attempted overtake.

It led Verstappen to vent his frustrations towards race engineer Lambiase, telling him over the team radio: "You gave me this s*** strategy. I'm trying to rescue what's left."

The Italian responded: "I am not even going to get into a radio fight with the other teams, Max. We'll let the stewards do their thing. It’s childish on the radio, childish."

It was a surprising exchange given the close-knit relationship shared between the pair, who have worked together for eight years.

However, Horner said Lambiase's comments were instead aimed at the radio traffic from rival teams hoping the stewards would penalise them.

"I don't think GP's [Lambiase] reference at that point was in reference to Max," he told reporters. "Others [were] obviously goading for penalties because obviously the stewards are listening to the radio as well.

"Max was frustrated, which you can understand. He has a very direct line of communication with his engineer. It's something that they’ll discuss between the two of them.

"They've been together for eight years and, yes, there are things we could have done better in the race today that we'll talk about as a team.

"I think everybody sees we need to find more performance, and everybody is working hard to do that and we'll have whatever discussions behind closed doors."

Verstappen, who still holds a 76-point lead over Norris at the Drivers' Championship summit, will head to next weekend's Belgian Grand Prix having not won any of his last three races; last going four without success during the 2020 season.

However, the Dutchman has won each of the last three races in Belgium, and could become only the third driver after Ayrton Senna and Jim Clark to win four in a row.

Max Verstappen raged at Red Bull's strategy after finishing fifth at the Hungarian Grand Prix, declaring the team are no longer able to rely on a pace advantage.

Verstappen recorded his joint second-worst finish of the year at the Hungaroring as Oscar Piastri led Lando Norris in a McLaren one-two.

The three-time world champion's race was defined by a collision with old rival Lewis Hamilton, coming into contact with the Mercedes on lap 63 when he overshot a corner on an attempted overtake.

Verstappen vented his frustrations over team radio, telling race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase: "You gave me this s*** strategy. I'm trying to rescue what's left."

Speaking to Sky Sports after the race, the Dutchman refused to apologise for those comments as he said: "I don't think we need to apologise. 

"I just think we need to do a better job. I don't know why people think you cannot be vocal on a radio. This is a sport. If some people don't like that, then stay home."

Verstappen, who also dropped below Charles Leclerc late on, continued: "I'm not happy.

"On a day when we're lacking pace compared to McLaren, you hope we do the right things with strategy, which was not the case.

"You can't rely on a little pace advantage. Maybe last year when the car was quite a lot faster than everyone else, but in the position we are in now, we can't do that.

"Naturally that frustrates me because I want things to be done better. I'm realistic.

"Today we couldn't have beaten the McLarens, but a P3 was on the cards if we were on it a bit more."

Max Verstappen believes Red Bull are currently playing catch-up to McLaren, who sealed a lock-out in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix on Saturday.

Lando Norris clinched his third career pole at the Hungaroring, beating team-mate Oscar Piastri by 0.022 seconds with Verstappen 0.046 back in third.

Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, meanwhile, crashed out in Q1 and will start the race 16th on the grid, casting further doubt on his future with the team.

Red Bull started the 2024 season with three one-twos in the first four races, while Verstappen came out on top on seven of his first 10 outings.

However, they have seen their sizeable advantage whittled down, with both McLaren and Mercedes pushing hard in recent races.

Speaking after Saturday's final qualifying session, Verstappen said: "I tried, the whole weekend we have been a little bit behind, and I think that was also the case in qualifying.

"I tried to make it as close as possible but unfortunately just not enough, a bit difficult to pinpoint why. I would have liked a bit more grip but it's not there at the moment."

Verstappen finished second at the British Grand Prix last time out, having been fifth in Austria one week earlier – the first time he has failed to win at two straight races all year.

"I love competition but I like being on top of the competition," the three-time world champion added. 

"At the moment, I feel like we are chasing and having a few more difficult weekends, I don't back out of a fight but it's just a tricky situation I guess.

"The last few races, especially the McLaren has been really good in the race, even compared to qualifying. 

"Today was a lot colder than expected I guess with the clouds and the rain, tomorrow is going to be quite a different day and I just hope that will help us."

Red Bull's internal issues may hit their Formula One team down the line, so says McLaren chief Zak Brown.

While Max Verstappen remains in control of the drivers' championship, and Red Bull lead the constructors' standings, their 2024 season has been far from ideal to date.

Red Bull remain in pole on the track, but there have been issues off it as team boss Christian Horner's future appears uncertain, while lead designer Adrian Newey is leaving.

Even if they are not caught this season, McLaren chief executive Brown feels the issues will eventually catch up with Red Bull if they do not find a resolution.

And while Red Bull have scored points in each of the last 55 races, with Verstappen having seven wins this season, it was Mercedes who triumphed at the Austrian Grand Prix and Silverstone in the past two races, leaving Horner's outfit short of momentum.

Ahead of this week's Hungarian Grand Prix, Brown said: "I think the turmoil will have more of a mid to longer-term impact.

"Adrian Newey... this car was done last year, what they are racing now was done when everything was fine.

"It's more 2026 when you've got a new engine coming, what's going on with the driver front? That's where you potentially are going to see the lack of stability that appears to be there maybe come through a little bit.

"Winning holds things together and as that becomes more of a challenge for them, that's where you might see some more fractures in various relationships inside that camp."

Brown's McLaren are enjoying a fine campaign. Lando Norris, with one race win under his belt and many other near misses, sits second to Verstappen in the standings, while the team are third in the constructors' championship, just seven points behind Ferrari.

Indeed, six drivers have already tasted victory in 2024, which is the most in a single F1 season since 2012 (eight).

And Brown feels next season will be an even more intriguing battle.

"I think next year could be an epic season, right? You could have four teams fighting for the championship," he said.

"It would be naive to rule out someone who's not in the top four right now, because we do see how quickly things can change.

"Everyone has very similar technology, so there's no reason why others can't do what we've done the last year."

This weekend's race will be the 39th edition of the Hungarian Grand Prix in F1. Since its appearance on the calendar in 1986, it is one of only four races that have been held each year without interruption, along with the British Grand Prix, Italian Grand Prix and Spanish Grand Prix.

DRIVERS TO WATCH

Max Verstappen - Red Bull

Verstappen has won the last two editions of this race, and the Dutchman is aiming to become only the second driver in F1 history to win three in a row at the Hungarian Grand Prix, after Lewis Hamilton between 2018 and 2020.

But the three-time reigning champion comes into the event after finishing fifth and second in his last two outings. He has not gone three successive races without a win since 2021 and on that occasion all three victories went to Mercedes, who have won the last two races.

Is that a bad omen for Red Bull?

Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes

Hamilton celebrated his first victory since 2021 as he triumphed for Mercedes at Silverstone last time out.

The Hungarian Grand Prix has always been one of his favourite races and no driver has won it more times (eight), had more pole positions (nine), reached more podiums (11) and scored more points (271) than Hamilton at the circuit.

There is also a landmark in the offing.

Hamilton has been on the podium 199 times in his F1 career (49 with McLaren and 150 with Mercedes). His next top-three finish will see him become the first driver to finish on the podium 200 times. 

And even if Hamilton does not get a front-row placing in qualifying, do not rule him out. The last three Hungarian Grand Prix winners have not started from pole position. If this trend is repeated in 2024, it will be the second time that the winner has not started from pole position in four consecutive editions at the Hungaroring (four between 2008 and 2011).

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Drivers

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 255
2. Lando Norris (McLaren) - 171
3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) - 150
4. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) - 146
5. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) - 124

Constructors

1. Red Bull - 373
2. Ferrari - 302
3. McLaren - 295
4. Mercedes - 221
5. Aston Martin - 68

Max Verstappen was relieved to finish second at the British Grand Prix after fearing he might slide as low as fifth or sixth on a difficult weekend for Red Bull.

An emotional Lewis Hamilton claimed his first win since 2021, triumphing at Silverstone for a record-extending ninth time, after team-mate George Russell was forced to retire from pole.

Hamilton fought off a late challenge from old rival Verstappen to take the spoils, with the reigning world champion having struggled for pace in wet conditions.

After starting 2024 with seven wins in 10 races, Verstappen has won just two of the last five with both Mercedes and McLaren upping the pressure on Red Bull.

After Sunday's race, however, his main emotion was relief. 

"We just didn't have the pace today," Verstappen told reporters in parc ferme. "I was just steadily dropping back when it mattered in the beginning, so it didn't look great. 

"At some point I was really thinking, 'Are we going to finish fifth, sixth?' But we made the right calls, I think it was the right lap every time.

"At the end, the call from the team to be on the hard tyre instead of the soft was definitely helping me out.

"We finished second today, so it could've been a lot worse, but we're making the right calls – we're still onto the podium and I'm of course very happy with that."

Verstappen's team-mate Sergio Perez finished 17th as his miserable run of form continued – he has now failed to make the top six at six straight races.

It was also a difficult day for the two Ferraris, with Carlos Sainz coming in fifth and Charles Leclerc struggling with worn tyres in heavy rain as he finished 14th. 

Leclerc has one fifth-place finish in his last four outings, also retiring in Canada and toiling to an 11th-placed finish in Austria last week.

"It was clearly the wrong strategy. I'll look into it. Obviously, with the message I got and the information I had in the car, I felt like it was the right one," he said of his tyre selection. 

"This period is very hard. I don't really have the words to explain it, but it's been four races that it's been worse than a nightmare. I hope we can come back soon."

Red Bull chief Christian Horner has no expectations of Max Verstappen changing his aggressive tactics after the contentious collision with McLaren's Lando Norris.

The pair were battling for the lead at last weekend's Austrian Grand Prix before crashing seven laps from the finish line.

Reigning Formula One champion Verstappen was deemed responsible and hit with a 10-second time penalty, though recovered to finish fifth as Norris was forced out of the race in a blow to his championship hopes.

That drama allowed Mercedes' George Russell to triumph but Horner does not expect Verstappen to hold back next time, even suggesting Norris must learn to adapt.

"I understand they've spoken already, I don't think there is any issue," Horner told Sky Sports News ahead of this weekend's British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

"Certainly, from Max's side, he's not going to change. There's an element, I think, of Lando learning how to race Max and they're discovering that.

"Inevitably, there is going to be more close racing between the two of them as the cars look so close over the forthcoming races.

"Max is a hard racer – he's probably one of the hardest racers on the circuit and everybody knows that if you're going to race against Max, he's going to give as good as he gets."

Many pinpointed the blame at the hands of Verstappen, who has pushed the limits close in recent F1 seasons.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella was among those to fiercely criticise the Dutchman, yet Horner believes the scrutiny is unjustified.

"He raced incredibly hard in 2021, he's a tough racer, and he hasn't really been racing anyone for two years because he's been out front so much," Horner said.

"The conflict between the two of them has been building over two, three, four races where they've been racing each other closely and hard, and at some point that was always going to spill over – and it did at Turn 3.

"He was punished in 2021 if he did something wrong just as Lewis [Hamilton], who he was racing so hard that year, was for things he did wrong.

"I think it's wrong and unfair to label a driver like that and I'm sure in the heat of the moment it was frustrating for Andrea, but that's just tough racing.

"He worked with Michael Schumacher [at Ferrari] for so many years – he of all people should know that."

Red Bull enjoyed a strong start to their home grand prix as Max Verstappen clinched victory in the sprint race on Saturday.

No driver has won more the Austrian Grand Prix on more occasions than Verstappen (four), and the reigning Formula One world champion looks well placed to push on for a fifth victory after holding off McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Norris, who is second behind Verstappen in the drivers' championship, battled hard in the early laps before dropping off the pace and eventually finishing behind team-mate Piastri, while Mercedes' George Russell came in fifth.

Verstappen's win saw him move 71 points clear of Norris in the drivers' standings ahead of qualifying for Sunday's main event.

The Dutchman briefly relinquished the lead to Norris on lap five at Spielberg, but expertly regained it a turn later.

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz finished fifth, with Lewis Hamilton rounding out the top six.

Data Debrief: Verstappen the king of the sprint

This marked the 15th sprint race since its introduction in F1. No driver has more wins (10), more pole positions (eight), more fastest laps (eight), more podiums (14) and more points (97) than Verstappen in the format.

The Red Bull driver is right at home in Austria, where he has achieved the most podium finishes (six) and the most fastest laps (four), and has the chance to single-handedly take the most pole positions at the event (four) should he top qualifying.

Top 10

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

3. Lando Norris (McLaren)

4. George Russell (Mercedes)

5. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

6. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

7. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

8. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

9. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)

10. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

Red Bull will be on home soil at this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix, but Lando Norris is positive about his chances of putting more pressure on world champion Max Verstappen.

Norris has managed six podium finishes and one race victory this season, his maiden F1 win coming in Miami last month.

With 150 points, the McLaren driver now sits second in the drivers' championship standings for the first time in his career, 69 points back of Verstappen.

While Verstappen approaches this weekend – which features the third sprint race of the year – with back-to-back victories in Canada and Spain under his belt, Norris believes McLaren have every chance of pushing him close again.

"We're on a roll and we're doing well," Norris said this week. "I need to tidy up a few little bits and pieces and we'll be on top. I am confident.

"Every weekend we go into now, the car is performing extremely well and we're always there, or thereabouts, within a couple of tenths."

Five of the last six races have seen Verstappen and Norris finish in the top two positions, and the McLaren driver has 10 runner-up finishes since the team introduced transformative upgrades to their car at last year's edition of the Austrian Grand Prix.

With Red Bull heading home after seeing their huge lead over their rivals chipped away in recent weeks, Verstappen expects plenty of thrills and spills.

"It is another sprint race this weekend, which always ends up being a hectic and busy weekend for us," Verstappen said. 

"It is really important to nail the set-up of the car straight away and analyse how best we build and improve on our previous races, especially as qualifying is always close here. 

"The track lends itself to a lot of overtaking so I'm sure it will be an exciting race. 

"The team performed well here last year so hopefully, we can do the fans proud this weekend and bring it home with another win."

This weekend's sprint will be the 15th since the format's introduction, and no driver has more wins (nine), pole positions (seven), fastest laps (seven), podium finishes (13) or points (89) in the sprints than Verstappen.

The Dutchman's four wins in the main race in Spielberg are also an F1 record.

DRIVERS TO WATCH

Lando Norris –  McLaren

After two years of near-total dominance, Verstappen finally has a consistent challenger in Norris, who has finished inside the top four at each of his last six races, as many as in his previous 15.

He has already led for a career-high 58 total laps throughout the 2024 season, while his next podium finish will see him match John Watson and go joint-13th in the all-time charts for British drivers, with 20.

Verstappen has not been on pole for any of the last three races, with Norris unable to capitalise when starting at the front of the grid in Barcelona last week. He will be desperate to go one better here.

Sergio Perez – Red Bull

While Verstappen's latest battle with Norris will capture the headlines, Red Bull's home race is also a big one for the Dutchman's team-mate Perez, who is enduring a difficult year.

Perez has finished outside the top five at each of his last four races (two eighth-place places and two retirements). He could find himself outside the top five on five straight outings for the first time since 2021, when he had a miserable five-race run between races in Austria and the Netherlands.

The Mexican, who got a two-year contract extension from the team earlier this month after much speculation regarding his future, needs to be far more consistent, starting here.

With Ferrari 60 points behind Red Bull in the constructors' championship standings and eating away at that advantage, Christian Horner will be desperate to see Verstappen get some support. 

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Drivers

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 219 points
2. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 150 
3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 148
4. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) – 116
5. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) – 111

Constructors

1. Red Bull – 330
2. Ferrari – 270
3. McLaren – 237
4. Mercedes – 151
5. Aston Martin – 58

Lando Norris has "emerged from the pack" to represent the main threat to Red Bull, says the team's principal Christian Horner. 

Alongside reigning champion Max Verstappen, Norris has finished in the top two positions at five of the last six races, including Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.

The McLaren driver has also finished in the top four in each of his last six races, as many times as in his previous 15. 

He has led for a career-high 58 laps this season and his next podium finish will see him match John Watson for 13th place in the charts for all British drivers, with 20.

Looking back on last week's race in Barcelona, Horner acknowledged Verstappen – who triumphed by 2.219 seconds – was fortunate to make a strong start count.

"If Lando had track position it would have been difficult to beat him," Horner told Sky Sports News.

"It was so close between the two of them and they were 18 seconds ahead of the rest. I would say Lando has emerged from the pack as the most consistent challenger.

"We've had four pole winners in the last four races. It's very, very tight.

"But Lando I would say, he seems to have worked out these tyres, McLaren have done a great job as well, and they're going to push us hard for the rest of the year."

Red Bull are on home turf this weekend at the Austrian Grand Prix, for the third sprint race weekend of the season.

"On such a short lap, it's going to be so tight and we expect McLaren and Lando to be fast again," Horner added.

"Ferrari and Mercedes? Who knows. If you look at the gap to those guys after the race it was pretty similar to last year. The one who has stepped up is Lando."

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are confident they can claim victory from the clutches of Lando Norris ahead of Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix. 

The pair, who have won the previous eight Spanish Grands Prix between them (three for Verstappen and five for Hamilton), start second and third on the grid in Barcelona. 

The seven-time world champion out-qualified team-mate George Russell for only the second time this season as the Mercedes drivers took third and fourth, underlining their re-emergence as contenders close to the front after a series of car developments. 

“I’m really happy, thank you everyone I’m super happy to be here in the top three," Hamilton said. "It’s been a difficult year and a huge amount of work from everyone back at the factory, and finally we are starting to see those incremental steps moving closer to the guys ahead.

“I didn’t expect us to be fighting for pole necessarily, but there were bits there where I thought maybe we will be close and so to be there I’m just grateful.”

On the team making steps forward, he added: “We’ve made huge steps forward and it’s really just down to every single individual back at the factory who is pushing and designing and making the new parts that we get to bring as early as possible to these races.

"Slowly the car is crafting into a racing machine that we can hopefully fight the guys at the front.

“George did a great job today so hopefully tomorrow we can apply pressure to the two cars ahead.” 

Red Bull's Verstappen will start on the front row, but in second place after being pipped by Norris to claim his second career pole. 

The Dutchman appeared out of reach when he improved his own time, which was already fastest, by more than 0.2 seconds on his final run, only for Norris to cross the line moments later to beat Verstappen by 0.02 seconds. 

However, Verstappen is confident of claiming a seventh victory of the season to grow his lead over Leclerc at the top of the driver's championship. 

"I think in qualifying it was all coming together a bit nicer," Verstappen said. "We have been trying to find the balance because the practice sessions have been difficult.

"So I was quite happy in qualifying - I even got a nice little tow from Checo to Turn One to really extract everything we could. But unfortunately, it was just not enough. That is how it goes sometimes and overall we can still be very happy with this performance in qualifying and definitely all to play for tomorrow.

"Even throughout qualifying, the wind started to pick up a little bit, maybe that made it a bit more difficult for us. Overall, a good performance again in qualifying.

"They are never easy qualis because you're always in a battle with yourself. of course now, there's more teams. And when it's that close for pole position, it's always great."

Lando Norris celebrated "pretty much the perfect lap" after he claimed pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix ahead of Max Verstappen.

McLaren's Norris set the best time of 1:11.383 in Barcelona on Saturday, which had started dismally for the team when their hospitality facilities had to be evacuated due to a fire.

Norris, who was 0.2 seconds quicker than Verstappen, showed no sign of distraction though, and with all staff having been safely ushered from any danger, it was a day to celebrate for the team, whose second driver Oscar Piastri rounded out the top 10 despite failing to set a time in Q3.

"It was pretty much a perfect lap, when you are on a good lap and getting excited but the whole thing went perfectly in the end," he said.

"It was close but super happy, it was my best pole position, I've not had many. We've been close all weekend but really this was about a perfect lap and that is what I did today.

"It's not just this weekend, we've been quick the last two months, and since Miami we've been very strong.

"We probably missed out on pole by not doing a perfect lap but today was the perfect lap."

It was also a good day for Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton, who qualified in third, one place ahead of team-mate George Russell.

Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz placed fifth and sixth respectively.

Top 10

1. Lando Norris (McLaren) 

2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

3. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

4. George Russell (Mercedes)

5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

6. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

7. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

8. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

9. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

10. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

Charles Leclerc ensured pole position for this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix, while Max Verstappen could only manage sixth place after crashing into a wall during qualifying.

Leclerc beat Oscar Piastri by 0.154 seconds for his third pole in the last four races in Monaco, where Ferrari have excelled on the narrow track layout, high kerbs and slow-speed corners.

Verstappen was seeking history by surpassing Ayrton Senna for an eighth successive pole in Qualifying, while maintaining his perfect record at the start of the season.

However, the runaway Drivers' Championship leader hit the wall at Sainte Devote on his final lap, and had to settle for sixth on a track where overtaking is regarded as the most difficult on the calendar.

Leclerc now hopes he and Ferrari can now convert their position at the head of the grid into victory, having failed to do so in each of the last two years.

"It was nice. The feeling after a qualifying lap is always very special here," he said. "[I am] really, really happy about the lap, the excitement is so high, but it feels really good.

"But now, I know more often than not, qualifying is not everything. As much as it counts, we need to put everything together on the Sunday. In past years, we did not manage to do it, but we are a stronger team now, and I am sure we can achieve the target."

His Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz was third, though he faces an investigation for impeding Williams' Alex Albon in the first session, ahead of Lando Norris and George Russell.

Lando Norris believes McLaren can open up the F1 title fight when they head to Monaco for Sunday’s Grand Prix.

The 24-year-old finished in the top two of the previous three grand prix, claiming his maiden victory in Miami.

He threatened to finish ahead of Max Verstappen for a second time at Imola last Sunday with a late charge, but finished within one second of the Red Bull driver.

Looking back at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Norris said while he is sure he could have done things differently, he sticks by his choices.

"I did everything I believed was right at the time," Norris told Sky Sports.

"When it's so close you always think 'What really could I have done that little bit differently,' but you always could have done something a little bit better or a little bit differently. I'm sure Max could have reviewed things and said the same thing.

"But nice to know it wasn't an easy one for him. It's about time someone put him under pressure, and he felt a bit of nerves again because I'm sure he hasn't felt it for a while.

"I don't want to be overconfident - that's never been me - but we want to come into races now and be confident in racing against the Red Bull, racing against Ferrari because we are in the mix with them."

Before the race at Imola, Norris said he believed McLaren were not quite ready to challenge Red Bull for the title this year.

The Briton currently sits fourth in the standings, 60 points behind Verstappen, but he now thinks they can count themselves in the running this year.

"We're a third of the way through so we have a very long way to go, so I think many, many things can happen," he added.

"But also, Monaco is a place where anything can happen. So, I would never say 'no' anymore.

"I've got fed up of myself kind of underestimating what we can achieve as a team. So, we're going to come in, we're positive, we've had a very good run of results - second, first, second - and there's no reason why we shouldn't be able to continue that here in Monaco.

"It's not known to be our best track but, at the same time, anything can happen."