Nothing if not spectacular, qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix is the session of the weekend that surely stirs the heart the most. On the narrow, twisting streets of Monte Carlo against the backdrop of the lowering cliffs of the principality and framed against the looming walls of the circuit, the sudden-death drama, the tense, gripping draw of the single lap challenge is surely nowhere writ more large. On Saturday Monaco delivered on all the promise with a truly stunning denouement.
It was Max Verstappen who took pole for Red Bull but only with the most magnificent final sector of his final lap to pip Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin into second. In so doing he had threaded the needle in Monaco with an elegant but daredevil commitment that was at times almost heart-stopping. Nor was it predictable. In those final moments of Q3 as the clock ticked down and the leading protagonists set about their final hot laps as the circuit reached its quickest, it prompted almost a Mexican wave of celebrations in the pit lane.
First Ferrari were in the air as Charles Leclerc headed the time sheets, only for Aston Martin to leap to their feet as Alonso appeared to have sealed it for them. They were right to be confident but it was short-lived. Verstappen, still on track, was a full three-tenths down on the Spaniard’s time as he entered the final sector. There, almost preternaturally, the Dutchman found another level. Strong all weekend over the final corners, he whistled within a whisker of the walls and on the exit of the final corner did indeed just kiss the barrier as he shot over the line to take pole by just eight-hundredths of a second, his first in Monaco. It was a final third as memorable as perhaps any at this historic circuit and enough to give him the major advantage required. With passing all but impossible on Sunday, he is in the best possible position to secure his fourth win of the season.
The Red Bull principal, Christian Horner, called it “probably the best qualifying lap of his career”, a not unfair suggestion although Verstappen himself demurred with some modesty. “No, I don’t think so, but it was good enough,” he said, although he did concede that he had left nothing on the table. “In qualifying, you need to go all out and risk it all,” he added.
The finale was heartbreaking for Alonso but the Spaniard was content enough to at least be starting on the front row in a race he has not won since 2007 and from where he is well placed to take advantage should anything befall Verstappen.
Mercedes, who had brought their long-awaited new design upgrades to this meeting, made tentative steps in the right direction with Lewis Hamilton in fifth and George Russell in eighth. The places were not where they wanted to be but three-tenths off the leaders was deemed an acceptable gap at this stage.
It had not gone altogether smoothly, however. Hamilton had uncharacteristically crashed at Mirabeau in final practice, overshooting his braking area and giving his team a fast turn around to fix the car for qualifying.
With the team admitting at the season-opener in Bahrain that they had pursued the wrong design concept, Mercedes immediately set about going in a new direction, with the result making its debut in Monaco. With changes to the sidepods, floor and front suspension they are pursuing a new aerodynamic philosophy to improve downforce and grip, to provide a stable platform in which the drivers have confidence.
For Hamilton, Russell and the team this was perhaps much as they had expected. The twisting, bumpy street circuit in Monte Carlo, which requires a higher ride-height, is far from the best place to try out the aero changes the team has made, not least of which is aimed at being able to improve downforce by running the car lower. They had been circumspect about their performances here but appeared at least to believe they had indeed taken the right direction.
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“The worst would have been nasty surprises and there weren’t any,” said the team principal, Toto Wolff. “We have a new baseline and that is OK, we have taken the questions off the table. Are we able to win a race? We very much hope to get back to the front and fight.”
Leclerc was third but given a three-place penalty for impeding McLaren’s Lando Norris, his teammate Carlos Sainz was in fourth, with Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in third.
Pierre Gasly was seventh for Alpine and Yuki Tsunoda in ninth for AlphaTauri.
Norris hit the wall at Tabac in Q2, taking damage to his McLaren and leaving him in 10th place. His teammate Oscar Piastri was 11th. Nyck de Vries was 12th for AlphaTauri, Alex Albon in 13th for Williams, Lance Stroll in 14th for Aston Martin and Valtteri Bottas in 15th for Alfa Romeo.
Logan Sargeant was 16th for Williams, Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hülkenberg in 17th and 18th for Haas and Zhou Guanyu in 19th for Alfa Romeo.Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez took too much pace into Sainte Devote and hit the wall early in Q1, causing the session to be red-flagged. The Mexican will start from the back of the grid.
