The pressure of Circuit de Monaco had a positive effect on Lando Norris, who set a lightning-fast 1:09:954 to win the pole for Sunday’s (May 25) Monaco Grand Prix.
The Britton bested the local hero Charles Leclerc by a mere 0.109 seconds, relegating him to second for Sunday’s race, splitting the McLarens with Oscar Piastri in third position.
Ferrari’s newest driver Lewis Hamilton made it to fourth above Max Verstappen in fifth.
The back half of the top 10 is the super rookie Isaack Hadjar in sixth, two-time world champion Fernando Alonso in seventh, Esteban Ocon in eighth, followed by Liam Lawson in ninth and Alex Albon in 10th.
Q3
Everyone went out on soft tires to chase the pole in the last qualifying session, save for Albon and Ocon, who ran out of sets by Q3.
In the last minutes, the McLarens had the track to themselves, with the championship leader Piastri and Norris beating each other in the lap times minute after minute, but Leclerc was determined to take pole and was in first position by the last minute of the session.
In a dramatic finale, Norris was having none of it, stealing the thunder from Leclerc in his home turf and taking pole position for the race.
| Pos. | Driver No. | Driver | Team | Time from Leader |
| 1. | 81 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:09:954 |
| 2. | 1 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.109s |
| 3. | 63 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +0.175s |
| 4. | 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | +0.428s |
| 5. | 14 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +0.715s |
| 6. | 55 | Isaack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | +0.969s |
| 7. | 23 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | +0.970s |
| 8. | 18 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | +0.988s |
| 9. | 6 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | +1.175s |
| 10. | 10 | Alex Albon | Williams | +1.259s |
Q2
The headaches don’t stop for Toto Wolff with his last car on track suffering an engine failure as the session started. George Russell‘s W16 dangerously stalled in the middle of the blind turn 9, bringing out the red flag.
With the two Mercedes out, many drivers had a better chance, with Niko Hulkenberg starting ahead of them in P13, and a disappointing P12 for Yuki Tsunoda. Carlos Sainz made a solid effort to slot himself in 11th position for tomorrow, well positioned to gain some points if he can find the gap to overtake.
| Pos. | Driver No. | Driver | Team | Time from Advancing |
| 11. | 6 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | +0.100s |
| 12. | 44 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | +0.153s |
| 13. | 5 | Niko Hulkenberg | Kick Sauber | +0.334s |
| 14. | 7 | George Russell | Mercedes | No Time |
| 15. | 30 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | No Time |
Q1
It was a calm Q1 for the drivers who given the technical difficulty of the track decided to stay focus and avoid any major incidents.
The peace broke in the last minute as Kimi Antonelli hit the wall in turn 11 and broke the front left suspension arms to bring out the red flag.
Oliver Bearman was eliminated in 17th, but yesterday he received a 10-place grid penalty in FP1 as he illegally overtook Sainz under a red flag, resulting in a red flag violation. Another penalty was handed in FP1 to Lance Stroll, who caused a collision with Leclerc and damaged his front wing, incurring in a one-place penalty which will be paid on Sunday.
This effectively promotes Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto to 17th and 18th for the start of tomorrow’s race, with Stroll starting in 19th position and Bearman in the 20th and last position.
| Pos. | Driver No. | Driver | Team | Time from Advancing |
| 16. | 7 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Kick Sauber | +0.022s |
| 17. | 18 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | +0.099s |
| 18. | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | +0.114s |
| 19. | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +0.683s |
| 20. | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | +0.717s |
The F1 Monaco Grand Prix begins on Sunday, May 24, at 9 a.m. ET, on ESPN.
