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Max Verstappen takes pole in Monaco but Fernando Alonso will target turn one
By Tom Cary in Monaco
Monaco gets a lot of stick for being a boring circuit these days, and perhaps this afternoon’s race around the famous harbour will end up being a snooze-fest, but you will rarely see a more exciting qualifying session than we experienced in the Principality yesterday.
In the space of 70-odd dramatic seconds at the end of Q3, pole position changed hands four times, with first Esteban Ocon (Alpine), then Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), then Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) and finally Max Verstappen (Red Bull) all lowering the previous mark.
By the finish all four cars were separated by just two tenths of a second. That it was Verstappen who eventually took pole – his first in Monaco – will disappoint the neutral. The Dutchman is almost nailed on to claim a third successive drivers’ title this year, with team-mate Sergio Perez his only realistic challenger (and Perez’s chances nosedived yesterday as the Mexican crashed on the very first corner of qualifying, ensuring he will start from the back of the grid).
Red Bull have won every race this season and if Verstappen gets away cleanly, it will probably take a rainstorm or a mistake to trip him up. There are showers forecast so that is a possibility. But there is no doubt Alonso would have been a more popular pole-sitter.
It is more than 11 years since the Spaniard last took a pole, at the 2012 German Grand Prix, and over a decade since his last win, which came in Spain the following year. You could feel the crowds in Monaco willing the 41 year-old on and they roared their approval when he set the provisional mark with seconds to go of the session.
Verstappen, by that point, was only midway through his final lap and well short of the required pace. As he entered the final sector, the Dutch driver was a full two tenths of a second off Alonso’s split.
But this is when champions show their mettle, and Verstappen’s final sector, in which he clipped the wall at the one point as he literally pushed his Red Bull to the ragged limit, was utterly majestic. Verstappen’s pit crew went suitably potty, while Alonso’s looked crushed.
Alonso was phlegmatic about missing out on pole, saying he “had to be happy” given Aston Martin’s astonishing progress this year. And the Spaniard, who is famed for his fast starts, definitely still has a chance today. Leclerc less so.
The Monegasque driver had been hopeful of doing something from third, but he was later demoted to sixth on the grid after stewards found him guilty of “clearly impeding” McLaren’s Lando Norris in the middle of the tunnel when the latter was on a fast lap.
Leclerc’s penalty was good news for Ocon, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who will now start third, fourth and fifth respectively. Realistically they are all going to need rain or some other act of God if they are to catch Red Bull’s runaway championship leader who once again showed why he is the man to beat at the moment.
“What a last sector, Max!” Red Bull’s team principal, Christian Horner, exclaimed over the radio after his man had beaten Alonso’s time by just 0.084 seconds.
“Mighty.” The man himself was not getting overly carried away. “We needed to pull that out the bag,” he replied. “But yes, very lovely.”
Horner, though, was still waxing lyrical about it later on. “I think that is one of the best laps he’s ever driven in qualifying,” he insisted to Sky Sports.
“When he arrived at the swimming pool he was 0.2 sec behind Fernando. Then all the time through that last sector, I think he hit the wall on both sides but carried the momentum and the speed. I could see him gaining the time. I knew it was going to be close and he just did it.
“My emotions are somewhere in the middle. I’m elated for Max with probably the best qualifying lap of his career, and then for Checo [Sergio Perez] unfortunately a mistake too early in Q1.” Horner added: “We know the importance of quali here.
That session was gloves off and it’s a track that doesn’t play to the strengths of the car and we needed Max to be on the top of his form to deliver that today. “If we can get a good start I think we’ll be strong in the race. But one lap, a slow-speed circuit like this the car doesn’t get a chance to use its strengths.
That was down to Max today. “There’s a great respect between Fernando and Max, but they’re very similar characters. They’re cut from the same cloth and they’re both hard racers.
They both want to win this race and I’m sure Fernando sees a chance and he knows how valuable that start is. That first 500 metres is what’s going to dictate this grand prix.”
Monaco Grand Prix qualifying classification
- Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:11.365
- Fernando Alonso (Spa) Aston Martin 1:11.449
- Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1:11.471
- Esteban Ocon (Fra) Alpine 1:11.553
- Carlos Sainz Jr. (Spa) Ferrari 1:11.630
- Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:11.725
- Pierre Gasly (Fra) Alpine 1:11.933
- George Russell (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:11.964
- Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:12.082
- Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren1:12.254
- Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren1:12.395
- Nyck de Vries (Ned) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:12.428
- Alexander Albon (Tha) Williams 1:12.527
- Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin 1:12.623
- Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:12.625
- Logan Sargeant ((USA)) Williams 1:13.113
- Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 Team 1:13.270
- Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Haas F1 Team 1:13.279
- Guanyu Zhou (Chn) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:13.523
- Sergio Perez (Mex) Red Bull 1:13.850
Monaco Grand Prix, as it happened
Well, well done Max Verstappen
In fact, well done to all men in the top four who found superb laps out there.
I am not that confident of an interesting race. It would have been nice for Verstappen to not have been on pole, but there you go. Alonso might not be backward about going forward at the first corner.
MAX VERSTAPPEN TAKES POLE POSITION FOR THE 2023 MONACO GRAND PRIX!
It is a mighty final sector from the Red Bull driver!
He beats Alonso by just 0.084s! It's a pole in Monaco, his first here.
"Oh my god, I hit the wall a few times. We needed to pull that sector out of the bag," he says.
The Red Bull mechanics go mad.
What a session that was.
Q3 - Norris is out of the garage!
Nice work McLaren.
Not a good lap from Verstappen, though... not so far.
Ooh, he saves his best till last, going fastest in the final sector to take provisional pole by 0.052s. That was on the set of tyres he set his earlier lap time on.
Hamilton into third but on a different set of tyres. A few twists yet?
Q3 - Order and gaps after the first runs
Russell is the last man to cross the line. No sign of Norris, though the mechanics are working hard on his McLaren and he may just sneak out.
- ALO 1:11.706
- SAI +0.029
- LEC +0.053
- RUS +0.258
- VER +0.396
- OCO +0.527
- GAS +0.546
- HAM +0.635
- TSU +1.538
- NOR (NO TIME)
Having seen those laps I think Verstappen could find at least half a second here, it not six tenths.
Q3 - Alonso goes fastest!
By four tenths! It was an untidy lap from Verstappen, relatively speaking. Leclerc now pips him to the provisional front row, but he is then pipped himself by a tiny margin. They are both within 0.06s of Alonso's lap time.
You would expect that Verstappen has at least three or four tenths to find there. Can he, though?
Q2 - Looks like Norris hit his front left on the exit of the Swimming Pool chicane
Then that meant he couldn't full turn in to the next corner. Hamilton begins his hot lap needing to find some time to get out of the session. He doesn't think he'll be able to get enough heat in his tyres.
DEV, HAM, STR, BOT, ALB are the men in the drop zone.
Stroll pits and he is out!
Q2 - Final runs under way
Going well for George Russell. The fastest first sector and a decent middle sector.
He finishes his lap in third, 0.243s off Verstappen. Decent.
Hamilton is about to finish his latest fast lap and does so in 10th... improving just one place. Odd. And slow. Half a second off Verstappen and 0.3 nearly off Russell.
Q1 - Tsunoda into first!
Just 0.002s faster than Verstappen. That is a surprise to say the least. Hulkenberg 12th. Verstappen just taps the wall in the last corner, taking some of the sponsor hoarding with him. Should all be fine, though.
Hamilton down to 15th now. Sainz 17th. So no mistakes for either of them...
But Hamilton does make a mistake! He goes straight over at the chicane. He has enough time, just, to get over the line for another lap but that will be a fraught lap now. Will he have enough battery charge to deploy?
And then there's the traffic...
Q1 - The two Alpines going well
Second and third currently. On fresher tyres, though. Alonso and Verstappen were on used softs. Hamilton begins his next hot lap and definitely needs to hook this one up.
It's okay from Hamilton, but nothing more. He's only 12th after that lap... he will need to go again on fresh tyres, surely?
That is not great news for Perez's championship
As if it needs to be told. So hard to do anything from where he will start. Which will be 15th at the highest, realistically. The supposed king of the streets comes a cropper in Monaco.
They have hoisted the Red Bull up onto the crane and hopefully we will be under way again soon. It'll be just over 11 minutes when we do resume and it will likely be frantic again.
Looks like we'll be under way shortly.
Can Charles Leclerc finally get a good result in Monaco?
Very few Monegasque drivers in the history of F1. Leclerc the most successful but his record here has been poor to say the last. Here's how he has fared since 2017.
2017 F2 feature race: DNF
2017 F2 sprint race: DNF
2018 Monaco Grand Prix: DNF
2019 Monaco Grand Prix: DNF
2021 Monaco Grand Prix: DNS
2022 Monaco Grand Prix: 4th
And that fourth was starting from pole... he has had three poles here in in total which isn't bad.
Final times after third practice
- Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1min 12.776secs
- Sergio Perez (Mex) Red Bull 1:12.849
- Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin 1:12.942
- Carlos Sainz Jr. (Spa) Ferrari 1:13.261
- Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1:13.396
- Pierre Gasly (Fra) Alpine 1:13.453
- Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1:13.475
- Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:13.486
- Esteban Ocon (Fra) Alpine 1:13.496
- Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:13.521
- George Russell (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:13.590
- Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 Team 1:13.624,
- Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Haas F1 Team 1:13.650
- Fernando Alonso (Spa) Aston Martin 1:13.697
- Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:13.738
- Guanyu Zhou (Chn) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:13.772
- Logan Sargeant (USA) Williams 1:13.851
- Alexander Albon (Tha) Williams 1:13.930
- Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren 1:13.998
- Nyck de Vries (Ned) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:14.187,
Good afternoon F1 fans
Welcome to our coverage for Saturday's Formula One action, qualifying for the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix in Monte Carlo. It is traditionally one of the most-followed races and normally one of the least interesting ones. Overtaking in the principality is extremely difficult in the current breed of F1 cars, which makes qualifying even more important. That is a reason to get excited for this afternoon's session.
Who might be in the running for pole position? Well, Red Bull finished first and second in final practice earlier today but is that fully representative of how things are in running? FP3 was a disrupted session with a few yellow flags and stoppages, so not all drivers who might be competing for pole position set a representative lap.
Mercedes have come into this race with a significant upgrade package for their W14, which has been well off the pace of the leaders Red Bull so far this season. It might have been a bit much to expect them to be in the running for the front row going by their Friday practice, but there was a further setback in FP3, with Lewis Hamilton crashing into the barriers towards the end of the session.
The shunt will almost certainly not delay his qualifying attempt but, as if you needed reminding, is itself a reminder of the perils of a street circuit. It might also be a small dent to his confidence approaching a session where it is at its most important. Still, it wouldn't be too much of a surprise if he bounced back to put in a competitive lap. He has certainly been looking the faster Mercedes driver this weekend, but finished the session in eighth, three places ahead of team-mate George Russell.
Aston Martin have also been looking tidy this weekend (and so far this season). Fernando Alonso finished way down in 14th, nearly a second off the pace of the lead Red Bull of Verstappen but failed to get a truly representative lap in. Lance Stroll, his team-mate, was third 0.166sec off the pace. Encouragement there, no doubt.
Ferrari took pole position here last year, though home driver Charles Leclerc has not the best record around these streets, DNFing numerous times and generally having a bit of a miserable time about it all. He finished down in seventh in FP3, 0.7sec off Verstappen and complained numerous times about his car. Team-mate Carlos Sainz was closer, finishing fourth and 0.485sec off Verstappen.
So, it looks like Red Bull will be favourites for the qualifying session but it could be tight. And, as ever, it often comes down to timing. If you fail to get a good lap in early in any session you can be compromised by a red flag or yellow flags around the track. Traffic is tricky, especially in Q1.
I cannot promise you anything, but this session should be worth watching. Qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix begins in a little over an hour (3pm BST) and we will be here for all the build-up, live updates and reaction from it.