The Monégasque driver swooped ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen at the last time of asking to clinch first place for the third year in a row in the capital.

Dutchman Verstappen had to settle for second as he came in 0.188 off the pace while his team-mate Sergio Pérez rounded out the top three in 1:40.495.

The result marked Leclerc's 19^th pole position and the 25-year-old stamped his authority on the track which he holds the lap record for, set in 2019, to continue his love affair with street circuits.

Despite the blistering performance, he has played down his chances of victory in Sunday's (April 30) main event.

"For sure, I'm surprised - we came into the weekend thinking that it would be a great weekend if we were in front of Aston Martin and Mercedes in qualifying," Leclerc said.

"And at the end, we are on pole, so it's a good surprise.

"We must not forget that our car is probably behind the Red Bull, so it's going to be difficult to keep the lead."

Leclerc's Ferrari team-mate was best of the rest as he took fourth place.

The remarkable speed of the top three was made evident by the Spaniard's time which was 0.813 slower than the leader.

Mexico's Pérez described Leclerc's effort as a "tremendous lap" in what will be a relief for Ferrari and Leclerc who have suffered a lacklustre start to the season.

The Italian outfit sit fourth in the Constructors' Championship with 26 points, while Red Bull are already beginning to run away with it on 123.

Leclerc's best result in the opening three races was seventh in Saudi Arabia which was bookended by two retirements.

Japanese AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda provided an upset as he snuck into eighth place, by far their best performance of the season.

Tsunoda's team-mate Nyck de Vries fared much worse as he crashed out early on in the first qualifying session.

The Dutchman's car locked up and he was sent coasting head first into the wall which completely folded the nose of his car.

Qualifying was then suspended as marshals tried to clear his vehicle off the track.

Following the lengthy break, it was minutes before the red flag was waved again as Frenchman Pierre Gasly then scraped the side of his car up against the wall which was enough to write it off for the session.

It was a difficult day for the Alpine man who saw his engine catch fire in the earlier practice session.

Tomorrow's action sees the first sprint race of the season take place.

It is preceded by the Sprint Shootout which will decide the starting order for the short format event.

The shootout is a new innovation that was confirmed by the F1 Commission on Tuesday (April 25) and replaces the second practice session.