Monaco Grand Prix – Qualifying: Leclerc smashing pole position!

The coup d’état of Charles Leclerc ! The Ferrari driver secured the pole position at his home in Monaco, by setting a best time of 1:10.346 on his first run. Leclerc’s eighth career pole, the first since the Mexican Grand Prix in October 2019!

Demanding as usual with traffic, the race against the clock took place on a dry track (33 degrees), under a cloudy sky (19 degrees in the air), with almost no wind.

Charles Leclerc was ahead of Max Verstappen (2nd) and Valtteri Bottas (3rd) in a surprising finish!

Q3: Leclerc finishes in pole position and in the rail.

Charles Leclerc went to grab the pole position (certainly of his dreams) on his first run in 1’10″346. Incredible outcome for the Monegasque, who crushed his Ferrari into the wall at the Swimming Pool chicane. A crash similar to Verstappen’s in 2018 during Free Practice 3. An accident and an unintentional red flag caused by the driver from the Principality, let’s immediately put an end to the controversy.

In the end, Leclerc prevented everyone from setting a time at the end of the session! Not satisfied with his tire temperatures this Thursday, Max Verstappen grabbed 2nd place. On his second attempt, the Dutchman still set the fastest time in the first sector!

Two runs to shine, and each with its own technique: if Verstappen achieved his best time on his first lap, the two Ferrari drivers were more patient. A warm-up lap and an attack lap: a winning tactic for Leclerc on the first run. But the Monegasque thus froze the classification unwittingly. Now, is the gearbox of Leclerc’s Ferrari damaged? That is the question of this Saturday afternoon.

In the ranking, it is Valtteri Bottas who brought back the 3rd place. Unusual trio, without Lewis Hamilton! In the second plan of the session, the leader of the overall ranking is relegated to 7th place.

In Monaco this Saturday, other outsiders shone: Carlos Sainz, Lando Norris, and Pierre Gasly, 4th, 5th, and 6th respectively. A very good session for our French driver, who will start ahead of Hamilton! The last positions in the top 10 are taken by Sebastian Vettel (8th), ahead of Sergio Perez (9th) and Antonio Giovinazzi (10th). .

Q2: Giovinazzi’s small feat

The mid-session match ended up being quite clear. 4 drivers eliminated 5 minutes before the end couldn’t fight back. Special mention to Antonio Giovinazzi, who secured his first Q3 appearance this season!

The Alfa Romeo driver edged out Daniel Ricciardo (12th) at the last moment. The Australian, poleman in 2018 and struggling on Thursday, conceded six tenths to Norris in Q2. “Dan the Man” was also overtaken on the final lap by Esteban Ocon (11th). The French driver will have the best spot on the grid this Sunday to choose his starting tires. A blow for Lance Stroll (13th), outpaced by three tenths by Vettel in Q3.

Beaten again by his Alfa Romeo teammate, **Kimi Räikkönen** only finished in **14th place**. No miracle for **George Russell (15th)**, who continues to carry Williams on his back.

At the top, the best time of Q3 was set by Leclerc (1:10.597), 53 hundredths ahead of Verstappen. On his first run, Sainz was the first to go under 1’11” for Ferrari (1:10.806). Important note: the 10 drivers qualified for Q3 used the soft tyres, with the red stripe.

Q1: A rookie and a veteran eliminated at the start

The first part of the qualifying was held with 19 drivers. One car was missing from the timing sheet: the Haas of Mick Schumacher (20th), damaged after the crash of the German driver at the exit of the Casino in FP3. It was therefore Nikita Mazepin (19th) who represented the American team in qualifying: the Russian finished far, very far from the others, last classified more than six tenths behind the driver ahead of him in the standings, the Williams of Nicholas Latifi (18th).

The fate of the two Haas quickly settled, there were still three places to be determined. Also making a mistake in FP3, Nicholas Latifi finished his session in 18th place.

In the red zone until the last 3 minutes, the two Alpine drivers rolled up their sleeves to avoid getting knocked out. But Fernando Alonso (17th) didn’t even manage to get into the top 15! A tough return for the two-time world champion in Monaco after his last participation in 2018. Ultimately, Ocon achieved a small feat by getting out of Q1, before failing in Q2.

“The best of the eliminated” in Q1, Yuki Tsunoda (16th) discovered Monaco in qualifying without making it past the first cut. Nevertheless, the Japanese driver finished in the same tenth as Vettel, who was the last qualifier for Q2.

The complete classification of the qualifications in Monaco: