Charles Leclerc maintained his consistency to secure F1 pole in Monaco GP, with Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz rounding the Top 3.
Q1:
It was a hectic first part in F1 Monaco GP qualifying with the field closely bunched up as the Top 18 were covered by just the 0.568s margin, where Mercedes’ George Russell set the pace with a 1m11.492s lap from McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
The other Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton was third in a close Top 3, with the dropzone seeing some big names being knocked out. The first to get knocked out was Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso (1m12.019s), who was in the pits when he was pushed out.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez (1m12.060s) improved on his final run but it wasn’t enough to end up only 18th behind Williams’ Logan Sargeant (1m12.020s). These 18 drivers were inside 0.600s margin, with only the two Stake F1 Team drivers outside one second margin.
It was Valtteri Bottas (1m12.512s) ahead in 19th from Zhou Guanyu (1m13.028s). The impeding watch list had Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz being investigated for impeding against Williams’ Alexander Albon, as Guanyu, Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo involved in theirs.
Q2:
The second part in F1 Monaco GP qualifying was hectic as well with the field again closely bunched together as McLaren’s Lando Norris took the top spot with a 1m10.732s lap ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and the other McLaren of Piastri.
The late gasp lap from Alpine’s Pierre Gasly knocked his teammate Esteban Ocon (1m11.289s) in 11th after the Frenchman didn’t get a quick lap in. He was impeded early on by Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg (1m11.440s), who ended up just behind him.
Visa Cash App RB’s Ricciardo (1m11.482s) was only 13th after not getting the right temparature, with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll (1m11.563s) 14th and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen (1m11.725s) 15th.
Q3:
The final part in F1 Monaco GP qualifying saw Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finally get to the party to set a lap of 1m10.418s to have provisional pole by just the 0.026s margin from McLaren’s Piastri and Red Bull’s Verstappen in the Top 3.
The other Ferrari of Carlos Sainz did well to be fourth from Mercedes’ George Russell in Top 5. The final run was intense as Leclerc improved further to a 1m10.270s lap to secure a home F1 pole in Monaco GP from Piastri (1m10.424s) and Sainz (1m10.518s).
Both the Spaniard and Norris (1m10.542s) improved late on to slot in third and fourth, with Mercedes’ George Russell (1m10.543s) in fifth from Verstappen (1m10.567s) after the Dutchman bailed out of his final lap due to touching the barrier at the exit of Turn 1.
Mercedes’ Hamilton (1m10.621s) was seventh from Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda (1m10.858s), Williams’ Albon (1m10.948s) and Alpine’s Gasly (1m11.311s) in the Top 10.
UPDATE: The FIA technical delegate has referred both the Haas cars to the stewards for a DRS issue which is not conforming to the Technical Regulations. Here: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2024%20Monaco%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20DRS%20Car%20Numbers%2020%20and%2027.pdf
UPDATE 1: Sainz has been cleared of impeding in the case of Albon after the Thai driver noted that the Spaniard didn’t unnecessarily impeded him. Here: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2024%20Monaco%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Decision%20-%20Car%2055%20-%20Alleged%20impeding%20of%20Car%2023.pdf
Elsewhere, Hulkenberg was cleared of impeding Ocon as well due to the fact that radio was not working properly and team’s message to the German did not go through well which was acknowledged by the Frenchman on his radio issues and also the FIA across all teams. Here: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2024%20Monaco%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Decision%20-%20Car%2027%20-%20Alleged%20impeding%20of%20Car%2031.pdf
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