After the three free practice sessions for the Monaco Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc emerged as the big favorite for these qualifications. The Monegasque set the best time in the final practice session earlier in the day. The Ferrari driver, twice home pole-sitter, shares this figure with Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo. Max Verstappen only has one pole position in the Principality, it was last season.
Q1 – Mercedes in force, Pérez and Alonso eliminated
After the first runs of this part of qualifying, it was the two Haas who monopolized the first positions, followed by the two McLarens and Yuki Tsunoda. Verstappen sets the sixth fastest time, while Leclerc takes eighth place. The track began to improve, with Verstappen taking control a few laps later before seeing Piastri set the fastest time in under 1’12. All the drivers improved and Leclerc, in the red zone, returned to ninth but seems to be in difficulty.
Eight minutes from time, the two Alpines moved up to fourth and sixth places. It was Pérez who found himself in great difficulty in 15th place. At the same time, the two Mercedes of Hamilton and Russell placed themselves behind Oscar Piastri, still holding the best time.
At the end of the session, it was first Magnussen who took control before seeing Leclerc then Russell set the best time. Oscar Piastri came to insert himself between the two Mercedes. While the two Alpines qualified once again in Q2, Pérez and Alonso stopped here for qualifying.
Eliminated in Q1: Alonso, Sargeant, Pérez, Bottas, Zhou
Q2 – Norris fastest, Pierre Gasly moves on to Q3
In this second part of qualifying, Lando Norris set the first benchmark time. The McLaren driver was directly beaten by Verstappen in 1’11″196. Leclerc came between the two drivers. A few seconds later, Carlos Sainz took the lead in 1’11″177. While Verstappen took the best time in 1’11″019, Ocon moved up to fourth position and Gasly to sixth.
Ninth with five minutes to go, Lewis Hamilton moved up to third, behind Sainz and Verstappen. Oscar Piastri then set the first time of the weekend in less than 1’11 (1’10″756), thus taking the lead in Q2. Leclerc returned to second place, just 69 thousandths behind the Australian As the track continued to improve, it was Norris who took the best time in 1’10″732, less than two minutes from the end. For the first time this season, Pierre Gasly qualified for Q3, accompanied by Tsunoda and Albon.
Eliminated in Q2: Ocon, Hulkenberg, Ricciardo, Stroll, Magnussen
Q3 – Third pole for Leclerc in Monaco
Lewis Hamilton is the first to set a fast lap in this final part of qualifying. However, the Briton was beaten by five tenths by Charles Leclerc who took the lead ahead of Piastri and Sainz in 1’10″418. It was then Verstappen who entered the battle by setting the third best time. After the first runs, Gasly is eighth, ahead of Tsunoda and Albon.
After improving his own mark by more than a tenth, Charles Leclerc took pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix, the third for the Monegasque at home. He will start in front of Piastri and Sainz. Verstappen is only sixth while Pierre Gasly will start from tenth place.
Monaco Grand Prix – Qualifying
Q1
Q2
Q3
