Red Bull concede Leclerc untouchable in Monaco qualifying charge

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner felt Charles Leclerc was untouchable during qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver finished over two-tenths of a second faster than team-mate Carlos Sainz although no driver was able to finish a final attempt after Sergio Perez crashed at Portier.

Within moments, Sainz slid into the stranded Red Bull, causing a roadblock that ended the session as there were only 30 seconds remaining.

With Max Verstappen up on his previous best time, Horner was asked whether Perez's incident had taken away the championship leader's chance of pole position.

"No, I don't think that pole was on," Horner told Sky Sports F1. "Charles was mighty so congrats to him because we couldn't have done that time.

"I think both of the drivers could have actually improved a little. Max was significantly up so one of those things.

"Checo has been on it all weekend so P3 and P4, a little bit of weather around tomorrow. Disappointing not to get on the front row but we will fight from there."

The red flag at the end of the session marked the second season in a row that Verstappen was denied a tilt at pole by a stoppage after Leclerc crashed out at the exit of La Piscine last season.

On the frustration shown by the Dutchman when exiting the car, Horner explained: "Yeah, it is the second time.

"I don't think there is anything more frustrating than not finishing, being on a lap. You can see it is up and it is the second year in a row it has happened to him. It is unfortunate."

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