formula 1
Monaco pole with nerves of steel: Verstappen in front of Alonso
Max Verstappen took pole position in Monaco. photo
© Hasan Bratic/dpa
That was high tension. In the end, Max Verstappen remains impressively cool. His teammate Sergio Perez, on the other hand, crashes into the crash barriers early on. Second in Monaco qualifying is Fernando Alonso.
Max Verstappen demonstrated all his class on Red Bull’s supposedly weak course and took pole position for the first time in the Formula 1 classic in Monaco. In a final thrill-hunt, the 25-year-old World Championship leader snagged the top grid position – 84 thousandths of a second ahead of Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin.
“I’m very happy,” said Verstappen: “We knew that we would have to fight a bit this weekend. In qualifying you have to go all-in and risk everything.”
Penalty against Leclerc
Third in a thrilling final knockout stage on the shortest course on the calendar was Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari at his home event. The Frenchman Esteban Ocon in the Alpine surprisingly made fourth place on Saturday ahead of Carlos Sainz in the second Ferrari and record world champion Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes. But the order only lasted a good two hours, then the race stewards decided that Leclerc had obstructed a rival in the last section. They saw the fault more in the team, the Monegasse has to suffer: Three places behind, Ocon, Sainz and Hamilton move up accordingly.
The many fans tuned in to the horn concert beforehand, and there was a party atmosphere on the terraces and balconies. Monaco, with only two more years left on the Formula 1 calendar, was at its best in the hunt for pole and proved that a fast lap around the circuit has its appeal.
On Friday, Verstappen had already set the best time of the day, and before the knockout phase, the Dutch Monaco by choice could not be beat in the third free practice session. Born in Monegasse Leclerc, however, had not really got going in the three practice sessions.
In the past two years, the Ferrari star had clinched pole in the Principality, after all he had made it to the finish line in 2022 after the previous failures in Formula 2 and Formula 1. But more than fourth place was not possible a year ago, when Sergio Perez triumphed in the classic.
Gloomy faces at Red Bull
This time, the Mexican caused gloomy faces at the control center of the industry leader Red Bull. In the first corner, he crashed sideways into the guard rails. Red flags, the crane had to go, Perez couldn’t go any further, his lap was passed and ended up in 20th place in the ranking – the last place.
Tactically bad for Red Bull, personally bad for street course specialist Perez in an internal duel with two-time champion Verstappen, another setback for the World Cup runner-up with 14 points less than his teammate.
Course with practically no chance of overtaking
But that’s exactly what makes Monaco, a course with virtually no overtaking chances, unpredictable. The smallest mistake will be punished. Even a Hamilton saved himself after a mistake in the second qualifying section practically at the last second – in contrast to Nico Hülkenberg. The 35-year-old Monaco course fan retired in 18th place in the Haas.
In the second round, Hamilton was threatened again – despite the heavily revised Silver Arrow, which was supposed to be used a week ago. However, the European start in Imola had to be canceled after storms and flooding in Emilia-Romagna. But Hamilton showed strong nerves again and got on with a good lap, meanwhile Leclerc had also made people sit up and take notice with the second-best lap behind Verstappen. In any case, the track seemed to be getting faster and faster.
Perfect for the final battle for pole. Suddenly Ocon led, then Leclerc, then Alonso. All eyes on Verstappen, it was said. And he withstood the massive pressure to take pole, the 23rd of his career.