The Monaco GP Is Won By Leclerc, Ending Verstappen’s Record Attempt

(CTN News) Charles Leclerc secured pole position for Ferrari at the Monaco Grand Prix on Saturday, ending Max Verstappen’s quest for his eighth consecutive pole position.

Verstappen of Red Bull, who holds the Formula One record jointly with the late Ayrton Senna, will start Sunday’s race in sixth place. Probably the hardest track in the tournament is the passing one.

With his third pole in four years at Monaco, where he grew up with a view of the start-finish line, Leclerc increased his career total to 24 poles.

The past several days have been amazing, he said.

He came in 0.154 seconds ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and 0.248 ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr., a Ferrari teammate. Fourth-place qualifier Lando Norris of McLaren was followed by Monaco GP Mercedes’ George Russell.

Leclerc Monaco declared himself happy with his performance.

“I know most of the time that qualifying is not everything in the race.” After winning pole position in 2021, a transmission problem prevented him from starting again. He led in 2022 right from the beginning until Ferrari foolishly decided to change his tires.

Supervising the second and third practices as well, Leclerc said, “The team has become significantly more formidable since that time.”

He is about to snap out of his almost two-year winless run, which began in July 2022 at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Five-time Formula One winner Leclerc said, “I just need a good start.”

Three weeks ago, Norris won the Miami Grand Prix, and last weekend in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, he almost passed Verstappen, proving that McLaren is in top shape.

Piastri explained, “It was a good tempo. We were really sure going into this weekend that we could be fighting for the pole and the victory once more.”

Sainz was still not happy with his Ferrari.

“It instantly eliminates confidence when you’re so close to the walls,” says Sainz. “Rear (of the car) loss in unexpected locations.”

Lewis Hamilton started seventh while Yuki Tsunoda (RB), Alexander Albon (Williams), and Pierre Gasly (Alpine) completed the top 10.

“I’ve been pushing the limits everywhere and the qualifying laps felt good,” said Hamilton. “The car feels much better than it did in Monaco in previous years.”

Traffic forced several drivers to swerve around other cars vying for space on Monaco’s tight and narrow 3.3-kilometer (two-mile) street circuit.

The first qualifying round saw Spanish veteran Fernando Alonso just miss a piece of debris before going into the tunnel section.

Both Alonso and Sergio Perez of Red Bull—who used foul language over the race radio—were unable to advance to Q2. Being out of contract at the end of the current season, Red Bull has not yet guaranteed his place in 2025.

Alonso starts in 16th place, while Perez in 18th.

“Traffic on my lap cost me a couple tenths,” Perez said. “This would have really changed the lap.” We regretfully assembled it incorrectly, and this is the result. We are sorry but we are unable to come.

Last year, Monaco Verstappen won the race starting from pole position;

This year, he will have strong competition as he tries to win his sixth race of the season. Before the third session, he enjoyed the sunshine and spoke with Liverpool football player Virgil van Dijk on the rooftop of Red Bull’s campervan.

Using binoculars, the two Dutchmen peered over the armada of large ships and Prince Albert’s home, which was perched at a significant height above the track.

Perhaps they talked about the upcoming European Championship, where Van Dijk would lead the Netherlands to victory in its first major competition since Euro 1988.

Verstappen broke his personal record of 19 wins in Formula One last year. At the moment, he is third among all Formula One drivers with 59 wins, and he is vying for his fourth world championship in a row.

All the same, he oversaw none of the three practice sessions held in Monaco. Halfway during the last session, he was brought back to the stewards for driving too slowly, and he was warned.

The first red flag was waved in P3 when Sauber driver Valtteri Bottas ran into a wall coming out of the swimming pool chicane.

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