#F1 #Qualifying: @LandoNorris pips @CharlesLeclerc to #MonacoGP pole by 0.109s.
Lando Norris, (GBR), #4, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL39, celebrates in Parc Ferme after scoring pole position in Qualifying at the Formula 1 Tag Heuer Grand Prix De Monaco, Circuit de Monaco, Monte-Carlo, Monaco. Image credit to Glenn Dunbar/LAT Images. Norris Monaco GP Pole, 2025 Monaco GP Qualifying, Monaco GP Qualifying Results, F1 Monaco GP Qualifying, Formula 1 Monaco Qualifying.
Norris Monaco GP Pole – McLaren’s Lando Norris pipped home favourite Charles Leclerc to take pole position for tomorrow’s Monaco GP by 0.109 seconds as Oscar Piastri in the other MCL39 entry was third.
This was Norris’s 11th pole position and first since the season-opening Australian Grand Prix as he is in prime position to take victory tomorrow, the first in the principality and close down team-mate Piastri in the battle for the World Driver’s Championship.
In Q3, the initial flyers saw MoneyGram Haas F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon the first to register a 1:19.710 then was beaten by Piastri’s 1:10.531 then was ousted by Norris’s 1:10.464 to hold provisional pole by a slim 0.067 seconds.
Leclerc and Hamilton slotted in third and fourth respectively and both 0.189 and 0.522 adrift of Norris’s benchmark respectively.
Hamilton is currently under investigation by the stewards for impeding Verstappen’s flyer in Q1 coming up the hill through to Casino Square.
Verstappen then split the Ferrari’s to go fifth in the order and 0.205 seconds off Norris’s effort.
The final flyers saw Piastri set a purple middle sector to go provisional pole with a 1:10.140 but was beaten by Norris’s two purples with a 1:10.125 to hold pole by a slim 0.015 seconds.
Hamilton moved up into third with a 1:10.382 as then team-mate Leclerc shot to the top with a 1:10.063 as Norris with two personal bests pipped the home favourite to pole position by 0.109 seconds.
Piastri ended up third and 0.175 off his team-mate Norris’s pole effort as Hamilton was fourth.
Reigning world champion Verstappen ended qualifying in fifth and ahead of RB’s Isack Hadjar who took sixth and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso who qualified seventh.
Haas’s Ocon ended up eighth whilst RB’s Liam Lawson and Williams’ Alexander Albon completed the top ten.
In the middle segment, which was topped by Norris, with 10:08 left on the clock a second red flag hit when a slow-travelling Silver Arrow of George Russell stopped after losing power in the tunnel.
After the session resumed and at the end a late improvement from Hadjar saw Williams’ Carlos Sainz knocked out and missed out on a Q3 appearance by 0.100 seconds.
Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda could not improve on his final hot-lap wounding up 12th as Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg took 13th.
Both aforementioned Mercedes of Russell and Antonelli (what happened below) were 14th and 15th.
In the opening qualifying stage, which was topped by Leclerc, the session ended under a red flag after Mercedes’ Antonelli hit the wall at the Nouvelle Chicane.
Replays showed the Italian hit the front left into the wall damaging his wheel and suspension and went front on into the barriers
Before that, a late improvement from Hadjar sent Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto down and out of Q1 and the Brazilian will start the Monaco GP in 16th.
Haas’s Oliver Bearman took 17th, but the Englishman will start the race at the back after receiving a ten-grid-placed-penalty for speeding during a red flag yesterday.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was 18th and ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll who received a one-grid-placed penalty for his incident with Leclerc yesterday in FP1, is also under investigation by the stewards for impeding Gasly in Q1.
The other Alpine of Franco Colapinto brought up the rear.
You can see the full Formula 1 Tag Heuer Grand Prix De Monaco 2025 Qualifying Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2025/races/1261/monaco/qualifying
2025 Monaco GP Qualifying – The Top Three
2025 Monaco GP Pole Position – Lando Norris, #4, McLaren Formula 1 Team, Mercedes – 1:09.954:
“It’s been a long time coming. I feel good! I don’t think you realise how good this feels after quite a few struggles over the past few months. And here, a hard place to do it and up against the hometown hero as well. The team have done an amazing job so thanks to everyone – as these days don’t come easy. It was a nice lap, it feels very good when you cross the line and it all pays off so I’m very happy.”
2nd Place – Charles Leclerc, #16, Scuderia Ferrari, SF-25 – 1:10.063:
“There is always something more to be done, but this was the best we could do. The first lap was a shame as it gives you the confidence in the second lap, but I had traffic. It is what it is, very frustrated. We know we don’t have the car to go for wins but starting second here… We know it will be hard to go for first place. I like city tracks; I like to go all in and take risks. I’m proud – at the end of the day, it’s not too bad.”
3rd Place – Oscar Piastri, #81, McLaren Formula 1 Team, Mercedes, MCL39 – 1:10.129:
“Intense, as it always is around here. My first lap felt good, my second lap – a mistake in the chicane and I left a little out there but to beat Lando today was going to be tough so well done to him. A messy weekend, so to come out with third is good. I think I’ve hit more walls this weekend than I have my whole career.”
