Alexander Albon stormed to an impressive third consecutive pole position in qualifying ahead of this weekend's Monegasque round of the 2018 Formula 2 Championship.
With qualifying in Monaco being split into two groups, Albon completed his fastest qualifying run in Group A for DAMS, leading Russian Time's Artem Markelov in the first session by 0.107s after setting a 1m 21.727s lap.
In Group B, it was Nyck de Vries who set the fastest time for former series champions Prema Racing, although the McLaren junior driver failed to beat Albon's best time, only 0.010s adrift of the Thai driver, handing him a second-place starting spot for Friday's Feature Race.
With Albon and de Vries completing the front row, Markelov settled into third place in qualifying. Carlin's Sergio Sette Camara secured fourth after crashing in Sainte Devote in the closing seconds of Group B qualifying while there are fears that the former Red Bull man broke his hand in the accident.
Antonio Fuoco qualified in fifth for Charouz, ahead of Luca Ghiotto (Campos), Maximilian Gunther (Arden) and the Haas-backed Trident duo of Arjun Maini and Santino Ferrucci, as Ralph Boschung completed the top 10.
Outside of the top 10, it was a particularly difficult session for ART Grand Prix, with Jack Aitken 13th and George Russell only 18th, the latter heading into qualifying with limited experience off the back of an engine problem during practice.
Championship leader Lando Norris also had a poor qualifying session, and is set for only 18th on the grid after crashing in his Group A qualifying run, ruining any chances that he had of securing pole position and an additional four points.
