Lando Norris expects his record-breaking pole position lap time for the Monaco Grand Prix will stand for many years.
The McLaren driver became the first person to lap Formula 1’s most famous track in less than 70 seconds when he claimed pole position for this year’s race. His lap of 1’09’954 kept Charles Leclerc off pole for his home race by a tenth of a second.
F1 will introduce a major overhaul of its technical regulations next year. The 2026 rules permit lighter cars and require them to be narrower. Changes to the aerodynamic regulations and power unit specifications are predicted to lead to slower lap times.
Norris therefore expects his Monaco lap to remain the benchmark for a long time. “The ‘1:09, that’s very unlikely to be beaten for a very long time unless the track changes or whatever,” he said.
“The cars next year are nowhere near going to be as quick as this year. Hopefully, that lap time lasts for a very, very long time.”
He said he was especially proud to score a pole position at one of F1’s most demanding tracks. Norris had never previously taken pole position in F1 at Monaco and lost his only previous pole at the track in the Formula Renault Eurocup support race nine years ago due to a technical infringement.
“The meaning, the history, the people that have won here in the past – they don’t always go on to be champions, but most of them have,” he said. “And just to know in 30 years’ time I can say, ‘I mastered Monaco that one year’ – or hopefully a few more – but that one year is something I look forward to saying.”
Fastest lap times in Monaco, 2013-25
Lap times rose sharply in Monaco when the current V6 hybrid turbo power units were introduced in 2014, then fell quickly. Lewis Hamilton’s 2019 pole position time of 1’10.166 stood as the record for six years until Norris beat it.
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