Qualifying no higher than the fourth row of the grid is just one of several developments vexing McLaren during the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix weekend.
Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris qualified seventh and eighth, over half a second off Mercedes polesitter Kimi Antonelli, which has the same engine as McLaren’s MCL40. If the size of that margin was “disappointing”, in the words of McLaren team principal Andrea Stella, it wasn’t altogether surprising given the known performance characteristics of the car.
