The owner of the house flies through the streets of the Principality. Charles Leclerc dictates the pace and wins the pole position of the Monaco GP, placing the Ferrari ahead of everyone on the tortuous street circuit where starting first certainly gives a huge advantage, given the difficulty in overtaking. Leclerc, who had already been the fastest in all the tests, put himself behind the McLaren which was clearly improving after the updates, and this time with Oscar Piastri who will start on the front row with the Ferrari driver. Third was Carlos Sainz’s other red.
However, Max Verstappen’s record streak of seven poles in a row is interrupted, for the first time in apparent difficulty: the world champion’s Red Bull closed qualifying with the sixth fastest time, paying for a brush with the wall in Sainte Devote.
A decidedly bad day for the entire team, with Sergio Perez even excluded from Q1 and who will start third from last on the grid. Fernando Alonso also did badly, his Aston Martin was also among the big ones excluded in the first round of qualifying.
Leclerc is instead enjoying the 24th pole of his career, the third in Monte Carlo: the last time the Monegasque managed to start in front of everyone was in Las Vegas, another street circuit. The Ferrari driver played his best cards at home, without sparing himself: because in the decisive minutes, after an attempt closed in 1’10″418 which would already have been enough for pole, with Piastri stopped at 1’10″424, he made a further fastest lap, further lowering the time to 1’10″270 which left the McLaren driver 154 thousandths of a second behind. “It was nice, the feeling after a good qualifying lap here is always very special, so I’m really happy – the words of Leclerc -.
Qualifying isn’t everything though, although it helps a lot for the race, so we need to put everything together. I need to make a good start and if I succeed I hope that Carlos can follow me and go with me in front of everyone – continued the Monegasque -. If there are two of us up front we will be able to control the race and aim for a great result.”
And Sainz, who will leave his place at Ferrari to Lewis Hamilton from next season, said he will be the team man: “I’m happy to see Charles on pole and the team with a chance to win the race – said the Spaniard – we will everything possible to allow him to take the victory. He drove incredibly well all weekend.” The team principal, Fred Vasseur, however, preaches caution: “Charles has been flying since the beginning of the weekend, he was very consistent with a very fast pace right from the start. Carlos was also very good with a great lap at the end, and it’s nice having both cars in front also from a strategic perspective, we know that it is exceptionally important to get the pole position in Monaco, but winning is not a given, so we have to do everything properly.”
The memory of the mess from two years ago is not too distant, when with the Ferraris first and second in qualifying, rain and mistakes on the wall had forced Leclerc, who started on pole, to close at the foot of the podium. Redemption time for the Monegasque who is looking for the first sharp on his home track.
Formula One Grand Prix of Monaco – Paractice and Qualifying
ANSA Agency Leclerc believes it: ‘In Monaco the driver makes the difference’ – News – Ansa.it ‘The objective is to win’ in Monte Carlo, Max: ‘We suffer on the curbs’ (ANSA)Reproduction reserved © Copyright ANSA
