Leclerc takes his hometown pole for the third time in the last four years. In winning, he denied Max Verstappen from setting an all-time Formula One record.
MONTE CARLO, Monaco—Charles Leclerc had been dominating the entire weekend at his home race, and on Saturday, continued that effort by posting a 1:10:270 fastest lap to take the pole for Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri improved by taking second, with Leclerc’s Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz finishing in third.
Charles Leclerc: It was nice. The feeling after a qualifying lap is always very special here. Really, really happy about the lap, the excitement is so high, but it feels really good.
Leclerc set the best time midway through the final session, and no other driver was able to match the Monegasque. This is also the first time this season that Ferrari and McLaren have their two drivers in the first four starting positions for Sunday’s race. Lando Norris was the second McLaren to achieve this by finishing in fourth, with George Russell leading the Mercedes entry by taking fifth.
Max Verstappen had the chance to surpass the late Aryton Senna’s pole position record if he had captured his ninth consecutive pole, but that not only didn’t happen; the Dutchmen had to settle for sixth, saying that his car “was all over the track.”
Hamilton finished seventh in his Mercedes, with RB’s Yuki Tsunoda continuing to improve on his driving this season by taking eighth. Alex Albon in the Williams finished in ninth, while Pierre Gasly in his Alpine finished out the top ten. It was the first top ten qualifying achievement for Alpine.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas, and Logan Sargant in his Williams were knocked out early. The same fate awaited multiple drivers in the second session, including Haas F1’s Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen, RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, and the Alpine of Esteban Ocon.
Leclerc has won the pole at his home race for the last three of the last four races here, and he knows that the real prize is a good performance on race day.
“Qualifying is not everything,” he said. “As much as it counts, we need to put everything together this coming Sunday. In the past years, we did not manage to do that, but we are a stronger team now, and I am sure we can achieve the target.”
We’ll find out if he’s right. The 2024 Monte Carlo Grand Prix gets underway at 9 a.m. Eastern time, and the race will be televised in America on ABC.
