Charles Leclerc takes pole in Monaco for the third time in his career, breaking Verstappen’s streak of 8 consecutive pole positions.
Q1
The tightest track on the entire calendar was showing to provide some issues early on with all 20 cars on the grid, with there being a couple of incidents of impeding that are to be assessed after qualifying by the stewards. Sainz had appeared to be somewhat impeded by Alex Albon going into Casino Square, whilst Ricciardo would be impacted by both Valtteri Bottas and Logan Sargeant at the same time.
Performing well at Monaco requires a lot of bravery and confidence, so it was no surprise to see drivers set lap continuously over the 18 minute session. It would not have been much of a surprise either to see the times start off relatively slowly, impacted somewhat by the high track temperature at the start of the session, though these times tumbled rapidly as we reached the end of Q1.
Sergio Perez’s qualifying woes appear to be rearing their head once again as they had done last season. Following on from a Q2 exit in Imola last time out, Perez would struggle to find any pace around the streets of Monte Carlo. He would be eliminated in Q1 at this track for the second year running, although last year was due to him crashing, whilst this year he was simply not quick enough. With how difficult it is to pass around Monaco, his race may already be over before its begun.
Other drivers who had been struggling for speed all weekend so far has been the two Kick Sauber drivers, with the team looking to be far and away the slowest on the grid. It was no surprise therefore to see both Bottas and Zhou Guanyu occupy the back row of the grid.
Furthermore, Fernando Alonso appears to still be stuggling to get to grips with the new Aston Martin upgrades. Whilst he was last on the grid in Imola, he was up to 16th here, which still meant he was out in Q1, all the while his teammate was able to get through to the next session.
ELIMINATED
16. Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin +0.132
17. Logan Sargeant – Williams +0.133
18. Sergio Perez – Red Bull +0.173
19. Valtteri Bottas – Kick Sauber +0.625
20. Zhou Guanyu – Kick Sauber +1.141
Q2
Alex Albon had been knocked out in Q2 in every qualifying session so far this season, but on a track where driver ability can help a car overperform its standing, he was able to make it through to Q3 for the first time, though only just.
Whilst there were less cars on the grid, impeding was still something of an issue. Esteban Ocon had been very clearly blocked by Nico Hulkenberg, and whilst the Alpine driver would go on to improve, he was still knocked out in Q2, 11th place and less than a tenth seperating him and ALbon in 10th. This was whilst his teammate Gasly was able to put his Alpine in 5th.
ELIMINATED
11. Esteban Ocon – Alpine +0.069
12. Nico Hulkenberg – Haas +0.183
13. Daniel Ricciardo – RB +0.225
14. Lance Stroll – Aston Martin +0.306
15. Kevin Magnussen – Haas +0.468
Q3
Charles Leclerc had set the early fastest time, being the first person all weekend to dip down into a time of 1:10.4, though despite having such a quick lap, he might have felt a little threatened by Piastri being less than half a tenth behind.
Verstappen was third place provisionally, though with everyone still to set one more lap, with some having set their bankers on used sets, it was quite a toss up as to who would start from first for tomorrow’s grand prix.
Alex Albon would go out when there no other cars out on track, not wanting to risk a red flag disrupting his session. This would put him to 7th initially, though he would eventually fall to 9th.
The Mercedes cars would be the next to set a final time, and despite being strong in the first sector, both Hamilton and Russell would fall away towards the end of the lap, and would not ultimately challenge for pole.
Leclerc would then go on to improve on his time by over a tenth, whilst Piastri behind was unable to get as close, but was still able to bag a front row start. Sainz would be unable to disrupt proceedings and crossed the line in 3rd, whilst Norris would go 4th with his only run on fresh tyres.
Then there was Verstappen, who had managed to snatch pole position away from Alonso following an incredible sector 3 in last year’s Monaco qualifying session. However, he would become a non factor very quickly, as he reported that he’d hit the wall on his lap, and would quickly abandon any attempt to improve his standings. He will be starting tomorrow’s race in 6th.
Leclerc’s pole position is his third around Monaco, giving him another strong chance to win the race, though he has yet to achieve the feat. It is also Ferrari’s 250th pole position in F1, and also stopped Max Verstappen from scoring a record 9th consecutive pole position.
Qualifying results
1. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari 1:10.270
2. Oscar Piastri– McLaren +0.154
3. Carlos Sainz – Ferrari +0.248
4. Lando Norris – McLaren +0.272
5. George Russell – Mercedes +0.273
6. Max Verstappen – Red Bull +0.297
7. Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes +0.351
8. Yuki Tsunoda – Alpha Tauri +0.588
9. Alex Albon – Williams +0.678
10. Pierre Gasly – Alpine +1.041
