16:28

That's all from us. I'm going for a lay down.

Keep an eye on the site for reaction throughout and be sure to tune in for the race tomorrow.

Thanks for joining me. See ya!

16:24

Re-live our report of the session from Jonathan McEvoy, who is filing soon.

Tomorrow promises to be good. But probably not as dramatic.

16:22

Verstappen pipped Alonso by eight hundredths in the end with a 1:11:365 compared to his rival's 1:11:449.

Leclerc, who was disappointed after, clocked a 1:11:471, while Hamilton was down in sixth with 1:11:725.

Absolute chaos. What a qualifying.

16:20

1 VER

2 ALO

3 LEC

4 OCO

5 SAI

6 HAM

7 GAS

8 RUS

9 TSU

10 NOR

11 PIA

12 DEV

13 ALB

14 STR

15 BOT

16 SAR

17 MAG

18 HUL

19 ZHO

20 PER

16:16

16:11

16:10

THAT IS SENSATIONAL FROM FERANANDO ALONSO!

He's top by two hundredths! But Verstappen is coming.

16:10

16:08

16:08

16:07

Vestappen goes fastest! Five hundredths in it.

Hamilton, meanwhile, is going nicely... he goes third.

16:06

Russell goes fourth. And it looks like McLaren have got Norris ready to go!

Norris is now on his out lap.

16:03

Leclerc has gone ahead of Verstappen too, with five hundredths in it. And then Sainz goes three hundredths off Alonso!

Everyone has crossed bar Norris, with McLaren still working on his car.

16:02

Alonso puts in an 18.6 for the first second, as Verstappen clocks a 1:12.102 from his first lap. That won't be quick enough.

An it isn't. Alonso goes four tenths quicker!

15:59

15:56

'This car's hard to drive, mate,' Hamilton says on the radio.

He's not going to be competing for pole this afternoon.

15:52

Hamilton is up. He may escape again...

Yep. Fifth.

PIA, DEV, ALB, STR and BOT are out.

15:51

Norris hit the front left going in and looks to have done in his suspension which is why he couldn't turn.

The cars are now queueing. 'My tyres aren't ready,' says Hamilton. Chequered flag is out.

15:49

'There's something wrong with my right rear suspension,' Hamilton says on the radio.

Tsunoda goes seventh which will put Hamilton into the bottom five. And Lando Norris hits the barrier at Tabac... uh oh...

15:47

Nice lap from Russell as he goes third fastest.

Cars are starting to go into the pits now thinking their places are secure.

Hamilton is only tenth. He's struggling.

15:44

Mercedes, currently ninth and 11th, are changing their tyres.

Max Verstappen goes into the 1:11s now and he's looking very strong as per.

15:42

Talk is that Alpine are looking for a top six finish and Gasly and Ocon are currently second and fourth. Neat.

Hamilton is back into the elimination zone but he was told he'd be doing that lap on the same tyres. He'll now probably have a change.

Nine minutes to go and it'll all kick in soon.

15:40

Verstappen, Russell and Hamilton are all out early and the champion puts in a handy 1:12.0 but he can go quicker.

Leclerc and Sainz are closer, with Alonso now second fastest, two tenths down on Verstappen.

15:36

15:31

Everyone breathe. What a mental session.

A red flag, a favourite starting last and all sorts of competitors putting in good times. We love it.

15:30

Sainz and Hamilton are saved at the end. Sainz goes fourth and Hamilton seventh.

SAR, MAG, HUL, ZHO, PER are eliminated.

15:29

Russell goes third. He'll be safe.

Stroll then matches it. The chequered flag is out...

15:28

15:26

Tsunoda goes fastest with a 1:12.6. As you do.

Two minutes to go.

15:26

Hamilton gets another lap in but he can only manage 12th. He's going to have one more crack I think.

The bottom five right now are ZHO, SAR, PER, MAG and HUL.

Sainz at risk in 15th. Verstappen, Alonso and Leclerc top three.

15:21

15:21

Hamilton gets a lap in on used tyres as Albon goes quickest.

Hamilton goes seventh. Verstappen goes back to the top. Russell goes second. Bottas fourth. It's all changing now.

15:19

Sainz has been told to swap with Leclerc with the Spaniard in front on the way out but the home man isn't too bothered.

Everyone is out bar the McLarens and the Haas. And Perez...

15:17

15:11

Red Bull aren't happen as Perez's car is lifted away, allowing everyone a close look at their floor.

A bit of tidying up and well be back underway so. That's one big hitter lost.

15:09

Perez has taken way too much speed into that corner. He's fine, but that's rough, and the car will need a lot of treatment, probably including a new gearbox.

He's out of qualifying but could start as high as 15th, I guess.

15:08

Perez is stranded in the middle of the track near the pit lane and he's been in the wall. There's a lot of damage there, with the side pods and wing looking rough.

Somehow Norris, Piastri and Zhou are top three right now with the track changing rapidly. Hamilton, notably, is down in 16th with the session red flagged.

15:06

15:05

There's been a lot of talk about the soft tyres for this race, with it expected that drivers will only be able to secure one flying lap on the set.

Lewis Hamilton is the first big hitter to get his lap in, with Russell and Verstappen not far behind.

1:14.433 for Hamilton, 1:14:331 for Russell, Verstappen goes quickest early on with a 1:13:784.

15:00

Right then, the countdown has started in Q1.

18 minutes on the clock and the cars head out.

14:55

Five minutes until qualifying then and Hamilton will be taking part. The screens have been up outside his garage and the Mercedes looks as good as new.

The helmets are on. The track is going to be incredibly crowded but the times on what is the shortest grid on the track are what are important.

14:51

Mail Sport broke earlier this week that Lewis Hamilton has been in talks to join Ferrari next year.

We'll see if it happens, but his team-mate and friend, George Russell, has said he doesn't care either way. Fair enough.

More below.

14:46

A bit more on that Leclerc story.

You have to admire the confidence.

14:42

Mercedes have abandoned their original plans and changed a lot on their car for this race, including the side pods and the floor.

They may not be competitive today, but could be in Barcelona and especially next year.

14:36

Charles Leclerc. A curious case.

Arguably pound for pound the fastest driver on the grid, he often ends up in the wall. He's seventh in the championship and has finished DNF, seventh, DNF, third, seventh so far this term.

He's just said on Sky that he's willing to risk it all to try and be successful. If he can secure pole today he'll have secured his third Monaco pole in a row.

Carlos Sainz has said Red Bull are better, but the drivers will do the talking on the track.

14:30

They're running through some of the Monaco stats on Sky and it's quite sensational.

Of 68 race at Monaco, 58 have been won by a driver on the front row. But only two of the last seven have come from the pole sitter.

It's not a track for overtaking but it's a classic. And it's so tense, with the room for error minimal, as Lewis Hamilton learnt this morning.

14:22

Lewis Hamilton has been a doubt for qualifying after crashing his Mercedes in the final five minutes of practice for the Monaco Grand Prix.

The former world champion lost control through the Mirabeau corner, bringing out a red flag that ended the session prematurely.

The seven-time world champion was unhurt but his car suffered front suspension damage.

More as we get it. Full story below.

14:16

We're three practice sessions down in Monaco and Verstappen topped the standings in FP2 and FP3.

Hamilton was the biggest shock from FP1 yesterday, putting a good time of 1:14:035 as he went third fastest behind Alonso and Sainz.

It was then business as usual with Verstappen leading the way in the last two sessions, ahead of home favourite Leclerc in FP2 and Perez in FP3.

His fastest time so far this weekend has been 1:12:462.

Let's have a quick look then at the diver's standings as we go into qualifying today.

1 VER 119

2 PER 105

3 ALO 75

4 HAM 56

5 SAI 44

6 RUS 40

7 LEC 34

So defending world champion Max Verstappen leads the standings after five races, but it's far from a runaway lead with team-mate Sergio Perez hot on his tail.

The chasing pack are a bit further behind, but never rule out Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton or the Ferraris.

14:05

Good afternoon to one and all and welcome to Mail Sport's live coverage of qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix.

No sprint this weekend so it's a straight shootout. Several drivers, in theory, are in contention.

We'll be underway soon. Should be a good one!