Monaco Grand Prix: F1 Qualifying Results

Qualifying in Monaco saw traffic jams and inspired driving translate into a dominant pole position lap.

Charles Leclerc started qualifying as the benchmark to beat on Monaco’s famous streets. The Monegasque was fasted in all three practice sessions on home ground, with teammate Carlos Sainz doing his best to mount a challenge.

Red Bull once again looked vulnerable, with Max Verstappen seemingly unhappy with the balance of his RB20 after hitting the wall on Friday. The team hoped to find a solution to a twitchy car, as it did in Imola. Final practice showed progress, but Red Bull looked to be struggling going into the most important qualifying session of the year.

Behind Ferrari, the picture going into qualifying was much more distorted. McLaren and Mercedes showed flashes of pace but were ultimately unable to match Leclerc’s pace. The pressure was on Leclerc to deliver as Q1 got underway to end Red Bull’s run of eight consecutive pole positions.

Q1

A queue formed at the end of the pit lane as the pit lane lights turned green, with George Russell’s Mercedes leading, followed by teammate Lewis Hamilton. The Ferraris were missing from this train of cars, and the Scuderia opted for a different strategy of finding a gap in the narrow streets of Monaco.

The track needed more time to warm up, multiple drivers take the P1 slot in the opening minutes, including both Haas’s, Nico Hulkenberg, leading teammate, Kevin Magnussen. This lasted for only a few minutes, as Russell jumped to the top for Mercedes before Verstappen and Piastri all took turns leading at the top.

With ten minutes to go, Leclerc needed a banker lap to get out of the bottom five, jumping up to P9. Sergio Perez was the second big name in a precarious position, down in P18. His next flying lap only took him to P14.

As the fuel from the long runs began to wear off, the drivers started to find more grip on the streets of Monte-Carlo. With five minutes left, Leclerc and Perez needed to find more pace to get to safety. Leclerc’s effort took him to P1, just over a tenth clear of Kevin Magnussen, who jumped to P2 once again. Perez’s effort was only good enough for P14.

In the lower order, both Saubers were rooted in the bottom two positions, joined by Pierre Gasly, Norris, and Daniel Ricciardo. All set off in the closing seconds of the session.

A massive traffic jam made the final laps of those in the danger zone more difficult. Norris got caught out but could still set a lap, moving to P9.

Alonso’s final lap time was not good enough to counter track evolution, and he ended the session in a disappointing P16. Logan Sargeant’s struggles continued, and he qualified P17, a polar contrast to his teammate, who ended the session P4.

Perez’s terrible day ended with P18. The Mexican called his RB20’s performance “a joke” on the radio as he struggled with understeer and oversteer on his final lap. Behind him, the two Saubers’ poor run of form showed no sign of abating as they completed the rear of the grid.

Eliminated

Fernando Alonso

Logan Sargeant

Sergio Perez

Valtteri Bottas

Zhou Guanyu

"What a joke" ?

Sergio Perez reacts to being out in Q1 ? pic.twitter.com/v7o8OqhQpv

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) May 25, 2024

Q2

Having learned their lesson in Q1, Ferrari placed their cars in the queue for the pit lane ahead of Q2 getting underway. With 15 cars now left, the traffic situation alleviated slightly, allowing for more gaps between the cars.

Norris, Leclerc and Verstappen were all closely matched on their first runs, with Verstappen having the advantage. Leclerc followed next, with Norris slowest of the three but still nearly four-tenths faster than his frantic Q1 effort. However, Sainz took the initiative, jumping to the top of the times, clear of Verstappen by just 0.019s.

Further down the order, Mercedes’ Q1 pace seemingly disappeared, as they ended their first runs in P8 and P9, on the fringes of the elimination zone. Alex Albon’s second effort saw him stay in P11, followed by the Haas of Hulkenberg, Ricciardo, and Gasly.

Given the tight margins separating the field, no one felt safe. Both the Alpine’s had pace as the track began to ramp up, and the top ten needed to push to secure a Q3 appearance.

Hamilton moved to P3 on his first attempt at new tyres. Piastri suddenly jumped to P1 with a fast lap hitting the wall in doing so. Russell also found pace, moving to P2.

Moving to the final few minutes, the remaining Aston Martin of Lance Stroll, Albon, both Haas’s and Ricciardo needed to find something special to get to Q3. Albon’s first effort was rewarded with P8, Williams rewarded with the team’s first Q3 appearance of 2024.

Stroll pushed hard on his first lap, catching his car in Portier as the rear stepped out before heading into the tunnel. Losing three-tenths, he stayed in P13. Hamilton locked up on his final effort, but he was safe.

Gasly jumped to P5, eliminating his teammate with a stunning lap. Hulkenberg was next, but his lap time left him P12 and unable to improve. Ricciardo struggled to warm up his tyres, with Stroll behind in P14 and Magnussen completing the Q2 eliminations.

Eliminated

Ocon

Hulkenberg

Ricciardo

Stroll

Magnussen

Daniel Ricciardo reacts to his Q2 exit ? pic.twitter.com/yoYbrlPT6E

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) May 25, 2024

Q3

As the most crucial session of the weekend got underway, Carlos Sainz was at the front of the pit lane queue on new soft tyres. He backed off from his first lap, opting to find an area of track free of traffic.

Instead it was Hamilton who took the first lap of Q3, with a 1:10.975. Leclerc complained of something loose in his pedals, but this did not stop the home hero from jumping to P1.

Piastri slotted into P2, 0.026 behind, followed by Sainz. All eyes then turned to Max Verstappen, who began to light up the sector times. But, as was the case all weekend, he lost time in the final sector. Behind, Russell, Norris, Hamilton, Gasly, Tsunoda, and Albon completed the top ten after the first runs.

Albon took advantage of an empty track as the field pitted ahead of the final runs. His lap moved him to P7, three tenths faster than his previous effort.

With less than five minutes to go, Sainz and Verstappen got a jump on the field, wanting to set their fast times early. Sainz chose to do a preparaton lap, while Verstappen pushed.

The two Mercedes were the first to complete their final runs, Hamilton jumping to P4, Russell P3. Leclerc moved to the top of the times, taking Ferrari’s 250th pole position. Piastri slotted into P3. Norris into P4. Russell took P5, while Verstappen hit the wall on his final lap, leaving him P6. Hamilton was P7, Tsunoda was P8, Albon P9, and Gasly P10.

Charles Leclerc goes fastest… seconds after complaining that something was loose in his pedals ? pic.twitter.com/ea5vBG2jfh

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) May 25, 2024

Feature Image Credit: Red Bull Content Pool/Getty Images