Russell was only sixth-fastest in Q3, behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz's Ferrari, the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez and his own Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton. But each of that quartet has penalties to serve following a raft of power unit and gearbox changes, and will drop positions on the grid. The full list of grid penalties can be viewed here.
On the final runs, Leclerc grabbed pole with 1m20.161s, 0.145s faster than Verstappen’s 1m20.906s, with Sainz third quickest on 1m20.429s. Perez was fourth fastest, ahead of the Mercedes of Hamilton and Russell.
Lando Norris was seventh, ahead of McLaren team-mate Daniel Ricciardo. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) and Fernando Alonso (Alpine) both had their lap times deleted for track limits.
Sainz will start from the back of the grid, where he will line up in 18th ahead of Hamilton and Tsunoda.
Verstappen has a five-place penalty, and Perez has 10-places, so Russell will start from the front row on Sunday. The McLarens will form row two, ahead of Gasly and Alonso.
Verstappen will start seventh, alongside debutant de Vries.
