formula 1
Leclerc races to first place on the grid in Monaco
Charles Leclerc secured pole position in his hometown of Monaco. Photo
© Claudia Greco/Pool Reuters/AP/dpa
For the third time in his career, Charles Leclerc will start his home race from pole position. The Ferrari star’s goal is to win the Monaco Grand Prix for the first time.
In qualifying for the Grand Prix in the principality, he secured first place on the grid and also distanced himself from world champion Max Verstappen, who surprisingly had no chance in sixth place. “Whatever happens, we have to bring this home,” Leclerc demanded of himself and his team while still in his racing overalls.
Verstappen, on the other hand, looked for explanations for the weak performance. “It was like a go-kart, which is obviously not good,” said the 26-year-old on Sky about the difficult setup of his car. Already on Friday in training, the three-time champion complained that his car “jumps like a kangaroo” and that he couldn’t get it under control as he would have liked. In the race, “not much” was possible from sixth position, “but I’ll see,” he said.
Leclerc still without a win in Monaco
For the Monegasque Leclerc, it was already the third pole position in the city where he was born. However, he was not able to take advantage of this in the race in the past. So far, the 2022 vice world champion is still without a win or podium finish on one of the most traditional tracks on the racing calendar. A lot of bad luck and also the inability of his team prevented better results in the past.
“The emotions here are much more intense than anywhere else. I am very, very happy, but I know that qualifying is not everything,” said Leclerc. “In the race, everything has to come together, and we haven’t always managed that recently.”
Leclerc set the fastest lap in 1:10.270 minutes, ahead of Oscar Piastri in the McLaren. Third place went to Carlos Sainz in the second Ferrari. “I need a good start,” said Leclerc, who is also counting on his teammate Sainz: “If we go into the first corner in first and second place, we can manage the race as a team.”
Pole position in the principality particularly important
The first place on the grid is particularly important in Monaco, as overtaking maneuvers in the Grand Prix are very difficult on the narrow asphalt strip on the Côte d’Azur. Before the eighth race of the season on Sunday (3 p.m./Sky), Verstappen is still clearly leading the World Championship standings with 161 points, ahead of Leclerc (113) and Sergio Pérez (107) in the second Red Bull. Verstappen won on the Mediterranean coast last year and in 2021, while Pérez was victorious on the challenging street circuit in 2022.
Meanwhile, in the Mediterranean sun, Verstappen missed the chance to become the first driver ever to secure first place on the grid for the ninth time in a row and got out of his otherwise strong car disappointed. Most recently in Imola, he had caught up with Ayrton Senna, who had already made it to the top of qualifying eight times in a row in 1988/1989.
Hülkenberg and Magnussen have to start from the pits
Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Pérez suffered a debacle. The third-placed driver in the World Championship was eliminated in the first qualifying session in 18th place and was still cursing his performance in the car. It was over just as early for veteran Fernando Alonso. The two-time world champion had no chance in the Aston Martin, finishing 16th.
Nico Hülkenberg, the only German in the field, drove his Haas racing car to twelfth place in his adopted home country. But it was not to end there. Because of an illegal rear wing on the car, he and his teammate Kevin Magnussen were removed from the results list. They are allowed to start the race, however, from the pit lane.