Monaco Grand Prix – Qualifications: Verstappen on pole, Pérez at the back of the grid

The qualifications in Monaco are more important than anywhere else! The very narrow track makes overtaking almost impossible. The starting grid positions are therefore crucial. Although often unlucky in his home race, Charles Leclerc had shone in qualifying during the previous two seasons by securing the pole position. Who would follow the Monegasque in 2023?

Q1

The 20 single-seaters share this narrow track of only 3.3 km. It is therefore essential to manage the traffic well in order to complete a good lap, a task that is not so easy in this first part of the qualifications.

It didn’t take long before we saw the first red flag. While Max Verstappen had just set the first significant time in 1’13’748, it was his teammate, Sergio Pérez, who crashed his car into the barrier at Sainte Devote. It was a heavy impact that caused major damage to the car. The Mexican driver will start in last position on the starting grid.

This is the second consecutive time he has retired in qualifying at Monaco. Spinning out at the entrance of the tunnel during Q3 in 2022, Perez lost control of his car and crashed into the barriers.

The hostilities then resumed for ten minutes. In the 17th minute, one minute before the end, Carlos Sainz had a close call. The Ferrari driver eventually recorded the fourth fastest time. Also stuck in the red zone for a long time, Lewis Hamilton finally finished 7th.

Verstappen sets the fastest time in a very eventful session with a time of 1’13”386, ahead of Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon.

List of eliminated drivers: Sergio Pérez (20th); Zhou Guanyu (19th); Nico Hülkenberg (18th); Kevin Magnussen (17th); Logan Sargeant (16th)

Q2

As in Q1, it was Max Verstappen who was the fastest at the start of the second session. The Dutch driver clocked in at 1’12’038. He was closely followed by the Alpine cars and Fernando Alonso. Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, particularly efficient, respectively secured second and fourth place.

It was then Lando Norris who hit the chicane at the harbor, breaking the front left suspension of his car. A small mistake but with big consequences that forced the Briton to return to the pits to try to repair his car and thereby hope to get back out in Q3.

The two Ferraris are well placed. Charles Leclerc takes the second position while Carlos Sainz is seventh, 30 milliseconds behind Verstappen.

On the contrary, Lewis Hamilton seemed to be struggling. We could hear him complaining about his car several times. He finishes the session in 5th place.

List of eliminated: Bottas (15th), Stroll (14th), Alex Albon (13th), Nyck de Vries (12th), and Oscar Piastri (11th).

Q3

It’s Fernando Alonso who caused a sensation at the start of Q3 by setting the fastest time of the weekend in 1’11”706. The top of the leaderboard is then closely contested. Sainz and Leclerc, second and third, are less than a tenth of a second behind the Aston Martin driver.

Thanks to the remarkable work of his mechanics, Lando Norris was able to get back on track five minutes before the end. However, he will ultimately not be able to improve and will start in tenth place on Sunday.

Verstappen, who had set the first time of 1’12″102, which was slower than in Q2, ultimately regained the lead by improving his time to 1’11″654. A time that was subsequently beaten, surprisingly, by Esteban Ocon. An exceptional performance by the Frenchman who took the top spot in 1’11″553.

While the lap times kept falling, giving us several contenders for pole position, it’s ultimately Verstappen who will start in the lead tomorrow. He’s ahead of Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc.

Qualifications table