Charles Leclerc steps out of his Scuderia Ferrari SF-24 in celebration of grabbing Pole Position for the 2024 Formula Monaco Grand Prix on the streets of Monte Carlo (Source: Scuderia Ferrari)
MONACO – The opening practice sessions on the famed streets of Monte Carlo showed that the Mercedes pair, along with the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, were looking to give a chance for a new winner at the Monaco Grand Prix was possible with Red Bull looking to on the back foot for the weekend. However, with qualifying being more important than a usual Grand Prix, the qualifying rounds soon became one to watch.
But before qualifying, the final practice will be the teams’ first chance to nail down their qualifying and Grand Prix setups. Leclerc was looking to continue his weekend form as he again found pace as teams took to the streets on a hot yet beautiful day. Even though a red flag was called as the Kick Sauber of Valtteri Bottas stopped after hitting the barriers, a relatively clean practice was a welcome sight for teams.
By the time the session checkered flag flew, the home driver, Leclerc, was once again on top of the leaderboard. While it looked like Max Verstappen’s Red Bull was starting to show signs of its recognizable life, it grabbed the second quickest time of the session, ahead of Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes. The McLaren of Lando Norris and the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez finished the top five fastest times in the final session.
With the final practice now complete, qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix was now on everyone’s radar for what could be the most important session of the year to set the grid.
The track position on the tight confines made it difficult to get a clean lap in the first round. Once the pit lane lights turned green, most of the field outside the Ferraris attacked the track for their first runs of the session. As Nico Hulkenberg from Haas initially found the quickest time, the top times were traded around as drivers found more confidence in their cars as the session wore on.
Charles Leclerc in his Scuderia Ferrari SF-24 during Saturday track action for the 2024 Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix in Monte Carlo (Source: Scuderia Ferrari)
However, as some teams could find a clean track to obtain a quick lap, Norris and Perez were on the verge of being knocked out early. Norris was lucky to scrape together a fast enough lap to secure a spot in the second round. Perez found himself on the outside looking in, much like what had happened the previous year. He was joined by a surprisingly slow Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso, the Williams of Logan Sargeant and the Kick Saubers of Bottas and Zhou Guanyu.
The lights soon went back green on the pit lane for the start of the second round, and when the first times started to file in, it looked like Verstappen was starting to find his form, putting in the quickest time of the weekend. However, that was short-lived as Carlos Sainz in his Ferrari, Oscar Piastri’s McLaren, and a handful of other drivers picked up the quicker times in their first run.
But as drivers truly took their second runs to fight for the final round, Verstappen once again found himself at the top of the timing sheets before Norris slid in a quicker time. Pierre Gasly also pushed his Alpine to an impressive fifth quickest time, showing impressive pace out of an Alpine that had been seen as difficult multiple times throughout the year.
Even though Haas had shown a quick pace in the first round, the same could not be said in the second as both Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen wound out missing out on the third round. However, that was the least of their worries as during post-qualifying inspection, both Haas cars were disqualified from Qualifying after being found to have irregularities in their DRS system. The other Alpine of Esteban Ocon joined the Haas cars, the Visa Cash App RB of Daniel Ricciardo and the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll.
Charles Leclerc on the streets of Monte Carlo in his Scuderia Ferrari SF-24 ahead of the 2024 Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix (Source: Scuderia Ferrari)
Teams were now ready for the start of the final round, and while Hamilton put in the quickest lap in the beginning, Leclerc set a benchmark to beat, with Piastri and Verstappen close by. As the clock was winding down, it was looking to be a close fight between Leclerc, hoping to defend his native streets, and Verstappen, hoping to claim a ninth consecutive pole.
As the drivers took to the track for their final runs, Leclerc put in a mighty final lap that set him clear of the rest of the grid, all but solidifying his third pole position on the streets of Monte Carlo for the Monaco Grand Prix. Piastri surged for a solid second while the other Ferrari of Sainz grabbed third. Meanwhile, the other McLaren of Norris and George Russell in his Mercedes rounded out the Top 5.
Verstappen’s run of consecutive pole positions ended after his final attempt was cut short after backing out of his run following contact with the barrier at Sainte Devote. He starts sixth, ahead of Hamilton, with a collection of surprise faces rounding out the Top 10 of Yuki Tsunoda’s Visa Cash App RB, the Williams of Alex Albon and Gasly’s Alpine.
With the grid set, attention now turns to the Monaco Grand Prix, the first of three major motorsports races between Formula 1, INDYCAR’s Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600. Charles Leclerc hopes to turn his race day luck around on his home streets to pick up his first Monaco Grand Prix victory.
