In a weekend where Charles Leclerc was seemingly quite dominant, Lando Norris has powered through to earn pole position in Monaco, a circuit where track position is incredibly important for race day, with a time of 1:09.954. Also on the front row, in second, is the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, after the Monegasque gave it his all during qualifying. Oscar Piastri is in third, 0.175s off his teammate. Below is the full qualifying report.
Q1 Report:
Q1 has ended just as Kimi Antonelli brushed the barrier on a turn before running into the wall. The Mercedes driver had just barely made it to the next qualifying session, however after the rookie’s mistake he won’t be taking part. Higher up on the grid, it’s looking to be a tense fight for pole between Verstappen, the McLarens, and home hero Charles Leclerc, who has been fastest in all three practice sessions and ended Q1 quickest. Behind the Monegasque, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are second and third respectively, with Verstappen behind them. Every driver was on the soft tire for this first qualifying session, however going into Q2 we do see some cars equipped with the mediums, so look out for those times.
The drivers eliminated are Gabriel Bortoleto, Ollie Bearman, who will have a ten-place grid penalty for a red flag violation, Pierre Gasly, Lance Stroll, who also has a penalty of one grid place after an incident with Leclerc in practice, and Franco Colapinto.
Q2 Report:
Q2 brought another disappointment for Mercedes, as George Russell lost power and came to a stop in the tunnel, prompting red flags as the marshals had to push his car to a safer stopping point. This means that now Mercedes has both cars out in Q2, at a track where grid position in qualifying is absolutely crucial. Meanwhile, Norris was the quickest car in the session ahead of Leclerc and Alex Albon, who was quite quick after ditching the mediums for the soft tires late in Q2. Oscar Piastri can’t seem to find as much pace as his teammate, as his final flying lap was disrupted after a slight incident that nearly ended up with him in the barriers. The medium tires don’t seem to be doing as much good as some thought, so most drivers will surely be on soft tires for Q3 and save those mediums for the mandatory two-stop race.
The drivers eliminated before Q3 was Carlos Sainz, Yuki Tsunoda, Nico Hulkenberg, George Russell, and Kimi Antonelli.
Q3 Report:
In Q3, the fight for pole initially seemed to be between the two McLarens, however once Charles Leclerc got running he was also solidly in the mix as well. Norris and Piastri both went out for their second run quite early in order to avoid running into any other cars, with Norris ending up the quicker McLaren on that occasion. Both drivers did stay out for a third hot lap as the track ramped up and Hamilton, Leclerc, and Verstappen all came out looking to set the quickest time. Leclerc completed a stunning lap to take provisional pole, a time Piastri couldn’t beat as he crossed the line. However, Norris was speeding through to set a blistering fast lap, at 1:09.954, which earned him his first pole position at Monaco.
Leclerc slotted into P2, with Oscar Piastri rounding out the top three, and Hamilton was alongside him in fourth. Max Verstappen couldn’t challenge for pole position today, he only finished fifth with fellow driver Isack Hadjar for Racing Bulls starting in sixth. Fernando Alonso, who reached Q3 for the second time in a row, is P7, with Esteban Ocon in his Haas managing to make it into eighth place. The second Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson also got his car into Q3, with ninth position, and Alex Albon will start tenth after he chose to run medium tires during the session.
