Ferrari sustains pace from Thursday’s practice success as Mercedes has mixed results.
MONTE CARLO, Monaco—In a most unusual way to take the second pole of his career, home hero Charles Leclerc set the fastest time Saturday afternoon at this prestigious circuit (1:10:346) only to crash his Ferrari in the final session.
Runner-up Max Verstappen was setting a fast lap in his Red Bull when it was ruined by Leclerc’s crash. Valtteri Bottas took third for Mercedes.
In the final session, Leclerc managed to grab the fastest time and continued for more laps, while Verstappen, with only a few minutes to go, began a lap which seemed like it could beat the Monegasque’s time. But with only 18 seconds left into the session, Leclerc caught his front right tire into the guardrail in the chicane coming out of Tabac and crashed into the wall–ending the session and ruining Verstappen and any other driver that had a chance to improve their times.
“It was a shame finishing into the wall,” Leclerc said afterward. “I was pretty happy about my first-time lap, and the first corner was very tricky and very difficult to manage. After P2, I was quite emotional about the car, and I felt it was time to put everything together. I was pretty happy, but we must score points, and I was pretty surprised that we are on pole.”
Verstappen was pleased that he was on the front row, but it was a chance that the Dutchman could have had to win the pole position. “It was unfortunate because of the red flag, but it ruined the chance for pole, but we will see,” said Verstappen.
Bottas had opportunities that did not actualize. “I was doing a good lap, but it ended with the red flag, but that is how it sometimes goes,” Bottas explained. “I went out for everything on the last lap, but I am gutted. We tried to get the car good for this weekend, but in Monaco, anything can happen.”
As for other qualifiers, Carlos Sainz Jr. took fourth in his Ferrari, while Lando Norris finished fifth for McLaren. Pierre Gasly took sixth in his Alpha Tauri, while Lewis Hamilton finished an unimpressive seventh, three-quarters of a second off Leclerc’s time. Sebastian Vettel took eighth with his best qualifying result this season. Sergio Perez in his Red Bull and Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi rounded up the top ten, finishing ninth and tenth, respectively.
Disappointment was the emotion of the day for many other drivers.
Yuki Tsunoda, Fernando Alonso, Nicholas Latifi, and the two Haas drivers, Nikita Mazapin and Mick Schumacher, were eliminated from the opening session. The latter did not participate in the qualifying due to an accident earlier in free practice three. Other top drivers bowed out in the second session. Esteban Ocon, Daniel Ricciardo, Lance Stroll, Kimi Raikkonen, and George Russell failed to go to the third round.
With the crash, Leclerc might have damaged his gearbox, which could result in a penalty if it has to be repaired before Sunday’s race. But Monaco always has drama, and race day should be no different.
