Monaco Qualifying Reaction
Image: F1 Media
Around most tracks on the Formula One calendar, drivers say the race is won on Sunday, not Saturday. Although the principal of that saying is correct, the same can’t often be said for Monaco.
Although it hasn’t happened in recent years, the driver who qualifies on pole at Monaco usually goes on to win the race. In fact, the Monaco Grand Prix has been won an astonishing 48 times from pole and, interestingly 22 times from third or lower, including last year’s winner Sergio Perez.
We had an extremely tense end to what is often regarded as one of the most demanding tracks in Formula One history. Here’s what happened in the most exciting qualifying we’ve had in many years.
Q1
The first qualifying session was quite stressful for many drivers and teams. With over ten minutes to go, Sergio Perez went into Turn 1 too deep and smashed his Red Bull into the barrier, which saw an early exit for the Mexican driver. Perez’s crash brought out a red flag which stopped all activity and allowed drivers to catch their breath on what was a really warm day.
After everything had been cleared up, action resumed and Verstappen immediately put a very quick lap in which put the Dutchman comfortably into first. Thanks to track evolution and differing tyre temperatures, quick laps from Tsunoda and Albon meant they finished Q1 in second and third respectively. The final few minutes of Q1 weren’t enjoyed by Mercedes and Ferrari as Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz found themselves in the knockout zone with just minutes to spare. Hamilton put in a decent lap and graduated to P7 and Sainz finished in P4 - an unnecessarily stressful end to Q1.
The drivers eliminated from Q1 were:
P16 - Sargeant
P17 - Magnussen
P18 - Hulkenberg
P19 - Zhou
P20 - Perez
Q2
In a fairly relaxed second qualifying session, Verstappen topped the sheets yet again and Hamilton was yet again at risk of being eliminated from Q2 as he couldn’t get a clear lap in.
All seemed to be business as usual until Lando Norris tapped his front right coming out of the Tabac corner and risked damaging his suspension but thankfully the McLaren was fine. Norris managed to get into Q3 by the skin of his teeth by just 18 milliseconds, beating his teammate, Oscar Piastri, yet again.
The drivers knocked out of Q2 were:
P11 - Piastri
P12 - De Vries
P13 - Albon
P14 - Stroll
P15 - Bottas.
Q3
Many would say Q3 was the best qualifying session we’ve had in a very long time. In just ten minutes, we saw all ten drivers put in amazing performances. But early on, a Verstappen pole was almost certain. However, in the first round of flying laps, Fernando Alonso, who aims to win on Sunday, put his Aston Martin into P1 and shocked everyone with his pace. Both Ferrari drivers also showed speed as they went into P2 and P3, ahead of Verstappen.
In the second run, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon wowed viewers as he took his car to P1 with just three minutes remaining. Leclerc denied Ocon of any chances at pole as he subsequently beat his time and was set for a provisional pole. Alonso, with more than a decade since his last pole, tasted victory after he put his Aston Martin just 0.022 seconds ahead of hometown hero Leclerc.
It seemed to be that Alonso was set to line up on pole for Sunday’s race but Verstappen persevered to deny the Spaniard of his 23rd pole in F1. By the first sector, Verstappen had improved on his laptime but didn’t set a purple sector, the same with the second sector, where he was two-tenths down. Verstappen managed to claw back the difference and put his Red Bull at the tip of the leaderboard, with just 84 milliseconds separating the Dutchman and Alonso.
Charles Leclerc’s Monaco curse continued as he was given a three-place grid penalty for impeding Lando Norris during the final Q3 phase, promoting Esteban Ocon to an impressive starting position in P3. A statement from the stewards explained: “Norris was on a fast lap and caught Leclerc in the middle of the tunnel and was clearly impeded. In fact, the stewards observed that Leclerc reacted in a sensible way to a blue flag displayed by the marshals, but at this point, it was too late.”
Verstappen might be lining up on pole for Sunday’s race but Fernando Alonso will definitely try to make the most of Aston Martin’s slow-speed advantage. With Perez and Stroll out of position, watch for creative strategies from Red Bull and Aston Martin to see if they can influence the outcome of the race. The one thing about Monaco to remember is that track position is key.
Final qualifying results
Here’s how the drivers will line up for the Monaco Grand Prix:
1 - Max Verstappen (NED)
2 - Fernando Alonso (ESP)
3 - Charles Leclerc (MCO) (+3, aggr. 6th)
4 - Esteban Ocon (FRA)
5 - Carlos Sainz (ESP)
6 - Lewis Hamilton (GBR)
7 - Pierre Gasly (FRA)
8 - George Russell (GBR)
9 - Yuki Tsunoda (JPN)
10 - Lando Norris (GBR)
11 - Oscar Piastri (AUS)
12 - Nyck De Vries (NED)
13 - Alexander Albon (THA)
14 - Lance Stroll (CAN)
15 - Valtteri Bottas (FIN)
16 - Logan Sargeant (USA)
17 - Kevin Magnussen (DNK)
18 - Nico Hulkenberg (GER)
19 - Zhou Guanyu (CHN)
20 - Sergio Perez (MEX)
