Red Bull couldn’t beat their best lap time from last year in Monaco, but Ferrari’s pace was the real surprise this weekend.
Charles Leclerc has had a front row start once already this year, in Bahrain, though that was partly thanks to George Russell’s penalty. In Monaco they were clearly more competitive.
Teams’ performance
Much as was the case in Imola, Williams looked far more competitive in Q2 than Q3. On that occasion Carlos Sainz Jnr pulled off a superb lap, this time it was his team mate’s pace which flattered to deceive.
Once Alexander Albon reached Q3 he couldn’t get anywhere near his previous best time. He was the only driver among the final 10 who failed to improve his time. Not only that, his best effort was almost half a second off.
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Three teams lapped slower than last year in Monaco, two of them by a significant margin, although mitigating circumstances apply. Alpine gambled on the medium rubber in Q1, where both drivers went out, and Mercedes took themselves out of contention before either driver set a flying lap in Q2.
The real surprise here was Red Bull. Not merely because Verstappen lapped a tenth of a second slower than he managed last year, but because in spite of that he will nonetheless start two places higher than he did 12 months ago.
Sector times
After qualifying Leclerc doubted his car was quick enough to beat McLaren to pole position and the sector times appear to back that up. He put his three best times together and capitalised on a less-than-perfect run by one of the McLarens.
For once it was Oscar Piastri, not Lando Norris, who couldn’t quite keep it tidy when it mattered most. That cost him a front row start to Leclerc.
Fernando Alonso was clearly thrilled with his performance in Q3 and he had a right to be. Based on best sectors, Aston Martin had the seventh-fastest car. Realistically, factoring in Mercedes’ problems, they probably ranked eighth, and so it follows their drivers could expect 15th and 16th on the grid. Alonso’s clean lap delivered a brilliant seventh, which will become sixth after Lewis Hamilton’s penalty.
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| P. | # | Driver | S1 | S2 | S3 | Ultimate lap (deficit) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Lando Norris | 18.216 (2) | 33.254 (2) | 18.469 (1) | 1’09.939 (+0.015) |
| 2 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | 18.170 (1) | 33.301 (3) | 18.526 (2) | 1’09.997 (+0.132) |
| 3 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | 18.290 (4) | 33.180 (1) | 18.593 (3) | 1’10.063 |
| 4 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | 18.368 (5) | 33.385 (4) | 18.629 (5) | 1’10.382 |
| 5 | 1 | Max Verstappen | 18.268 (3) | 33.601 (5) | 18.609 (4) | 1’10.478 (+0.191) |
| 6 | 23 | Alexander Albon | 18.369 (6) | 33.616 (6) | 18.689 (7) | 1’10.674 (+0.058) |
| 7 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | 18.485 (8) | 33.664 (7) | 18.744 (8) | 1’10.893 (+0.049) |
| 8 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | 18.388 (7) | 33.770 (9) | 18.757 (9) | 1’10.915 (+0.008) |
| 9 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | 18.515 (10) | 33.737 (8) | 18.672 (6) | 1’10.924 |
| 10 | 30 | Liam Lawson | 18.489 (9) | 33.838 (11) | 18.772 (10) | 1’11.099 (+0.030) |
| 11 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | 18.523 (11) | 33.890 (12) | 18.875 (12) | 1’11.288 (+0.074) |
| 12 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | 18.731 (15) | 33.801 (10) | 18.883 (13) | 1’11.415 |
| 13 | 63 | George Russell | 18.555 (12) | 34.046 (15) | 18.883 (13) | 1’11.484 (+0.023) |
| 14 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | 18.755 (17) | 34.038 (14) | 18.803 (11) | 1’11.596 |
| 15 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | 18.595 (13) | 34.062 (16) | 19.149 (19) | 1’11.806 (+0.173) |
| 16 | 12 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | 18.731 (15) | 34.015 (13) | 19.097 (17) | 1’11.843 (+0.037) |
| 17 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | 18.632 (14) | 34.214 (18) | 19.030 (15) | 1’11.876 (+0.118) |
| 18 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | 18.786 (19) | 34.067 (17) | 19.049 (16) | 1’11.902 |
| 19 | 18 | Lance Stroll | 18.898 (20) | 34.263 (19) | 19.143 (18) | 1’12.304 (+0.259) |
| 20 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | 18.756 (18) | 34.429 (20) | 19.188 (20) | 1’12.373 (+0.224) |
Field performance
Norris picked the ideal venue to deliver his best qualifying lap since the season-opener. He produced a record-breaking lap, becoming the first driver to dip below the 70 second barrier in Monaco.
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