F1 | Qualifying | Monaco GP | Norris nicks pole position from Leclerc - Motorsport

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Qualifying for the Monaco GP, perhaps F1’s most exciting non-race session. 20 Drivers, 3.3 kilometers of narrow streets lined with armco barriers, and one hour to determine the most important pole position of the season. Full report and results of the qualifying are below.

Q1

Both Alpine drivers started Q1 on the medium tyres, as they prove a bit more predictable in terms of performance. However, on paper the softs are the quickest, but are tricky to warm up. Thus the first times set are clearly banker laps to ensure a time is on the board in case a red flag occurs.

Reigning champion Max Verstappen is the latest to come out on the track, as Lance Stroll is on top of the sheets, followed by Ollie Bearman. Coincidentally both have a grid penalty to serve on Sunday as a result of incidents on Friday.

With a little over 10 minutes to go both Ferrari’s go to the top, with Charles Leclerc leading from Lewis Hamilton. Verstappen doesn’t seem to be too hindered by a late appearance, as he improves the best time into the 1:11’s.

Times keep coming in as Lando Norris improves to first, with Oscar Piastri sliding into second. Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto are currently at the rear end of the field, proving the soft tyres are the better choice. Gasly is also not helped by Stroll who impedes him coming into the Nouvelle Chicane.

Piastri goes to the top with a little over five minutes to go, as several drivers opt to get fresh rubber. And it proves to be necessary as multiple drivers go from the back to the front of the standings.

Verstappen is the first to take the flag, and improves to third, followed by Hamilton in fourth. Multiple people improved, but the session is halted as Andrea Kimi Antonell clips the inside of the Nouvelle Chichane and finds himself in the outside wall. This means Bortileto, Bearman, Gasly, Stroll and Colapinto are eliminated.

Knocked out of Q1

Gabriel Bortoleto
Ollie Bearman
Pierre Gasly
Lance Stroll
Franco Colapinto

Q2

Without the aforementioned five drivers and Antonelli, Q2 qualifying for the F1 Monaco GP started again with everyone queueing in the pitlane. This time around Ferrari has opted to start on the medium tyres.

Leclerc opens the battle for progression with a 1:11.314. Norris immediately improves on the soft tyres to a 1:10.959, closely followed by Verstappen. Russell in the meantime complains about a loss of power, and he comes to a halt inside the tunnel. The red flag is out, and the Briton attempts to restart the car, but it all is to no avail, meaning the Mercedes drivers will line up 14^th and 15^th provisionally.

After a small platoon of Monaco marshalls had pushed the car out of the way the session resumed. Ferrari now decided to go on the soft tyres, given there are only 10 minutes left to go.

Hamilton comes out guns blazing, but comes short compared to his team mate Leclerc. Ferrari is first and second though, until Norris improves Leclerc’s time by 0.011 seconds.

Tsunoda just manages to get into the top 10 at the moment, which doesn’t look to be safe at the moment. Team mate Verstappen goes to third after a sloppy second sector.

As the flag drops, Alex Albon and Isack Hadjar improve well into the top 10. Sainz and Tsunoda come up short, just as Hülkenberg. Piastri has an ultimate attempt to improve from sixth, and hits the wall coming out of La Rascasse doing so.

Knocked out of Q2

Carlos Sainz
Yuki Tsunoda
Nico Hülkenberg
George Russell
Andrea Kimi Antonelli

Q3

The battle for pole for the F1 Monaco GP continued with the final qualifying session, where the remaining 10 drivers slug it out in 10 minutes. Recent years have shown that it is important to set a good first time in Q3, as red flags fly often.

First one out is Albon, as Verstappen again waits until a bit later to go out. Piastri opens the battle for pole, but Norris quickly bests him. The Ferrari’s are next, but both Hamilton and Leclerc come up short. Verstappen was close in sector 1, but eventually only manages fourth.

Albon again tries it on the medium tyre, and he manages sixth place for the moment.

The final runs are opened by the McLarens, who go earlier than anyone else. Piastri makes a mighty improvement to 1:10.140, but Norris manages 110125 and nicks provisional pole from his team mate. Hamilton goes third, but hometown hero Leclerc goes to the front a little below a tenth of a second.

Verstappen makes a mistake in the second sector so has to settle for fifth. Piastri and Norris have time to respond to Leclerc’s provisional pole, and Norris manages to improve to a lap under 70 seconds, claiming his first pole position of the season.