Verstappen Seals Pole For 2023 Monaco GP

Max Verstappen sealed pole position for 2023 Monaco Grand Prix following a dramatic Qualifying session.

Verstappen topped FP3 and proceeded to top all three Qualifying segments which saw several drivers threaten to spring surprises in a chaotic session.

Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc meanwhile qualified second and third respectively in a tense finish, whilst Sergio Perez was a shock Q1 exit for Red Bull after suffering a crash.

Now, here is a full roundup of FP3 and Qualifying for 2023 Monaco Grand Prix.

 

FP3

A quiet start to FP3 saw nobody venture out in the opening minute until Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll decided to be the first driver to head out, albeit for an installation lap.

Perez was eventually the first driver to set an early benchmark time of 1m 15.641 in the ninth minute on soft tyres, just barely a minute after Esteban Ocon stopped with a hydraulic issue in the tunnel but he reset the car and crawled back to the pits.

The Mexican lowered his benchmark in the 14th minute to 1m 14.990 but McLaren’s Lando Norris went 0.085 seconds faster three minutes later, only for Stroll to post 1m 14.763 in the 19th minute to go fastest but Perez displaced him quickly by 0.386s mere seconds later.

Verstappen however immediately went fastest on his first flier with 1m 13.794 in the 21st minute, only for Alonso to go 0.097s quicker two minutes later.

Perez however displaced the Spaniard a further minute later with 1m 13.587 but Verstappen in the 26th minute went top from his Red Bull teammate by 0.004s, as he headed Perez and Alonso at the halfway mark of the session.

Perez responded just past the half-hour mark with 1m 13.289 as Carlos Sainz went second-fastest, only for Verstappen to post 1m 12.898 a minute later, although the Dutchman eventually set a session-topping 1m 12.776 in the 35th minute.

Everyone soon turned their attention to the Qualifying simulations as Verstappen was unable to improve, due to issues with his tyre warm-up preparation, yet he finished top by 0.073s from Perez as Stroll rounded out the top three.

Alonso meanwhile dropped to 14th at the checkered flag after failing to adequately prepare his tyres for a flying lap, although the session was curtailed with five minutes left as Lewis Hamilton crashed at Mirabeau after he lost the rear on entry.

Haas’ Kevin Magnussen meanwhile had caused a brief Virtual Safety Car after he parked up on the run down to Portier in the 52nd minute, due to an unspecified technical issue.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1m 12.776
2	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	+ 0.073
3	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+ 0.166
4	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	+ 0.485
5	Lando Norris	McLaren	+ 0.620
6	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+ 0.677
7	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+ 0.699
8	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+ 0.710
9	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	+ 0.720
10	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	+ 0.745
11	George Russell	Mercedes	+ 0.814
12	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+ 0.848
13	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas	+ 0.874
14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+ 0.921
15	Yuki Tsuoda	AlphaTauri	+ 0.962
16	Guanyu Zhou	Alfa Romeo	+ 0.996
17	Logan Sargeant	Williams	+ 1.075
18	Alex Albon	Williams	+ 1.154
19	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+ 1.222
20	Nyck De Vries	AlphaTauri	+ 1.411

 

Qualifying

Q1

With traffic always an issue in Monaco, several drivers ventured straight out onto the circuit as soon as the pit exit light turned green.

Verstappen in the fifth minute set 1m 13.784 as the benchmark time once everyone completed their first flying laps ahead of Perez, Alonso and Stroll.

Yuki Tsunoda, Nyck De Vries, Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly and Logan Sargeant meanwhile occupied the elimination zone, but Tsunoda and Gasly moved out of the bottom five in the seventh minute as the red flag came out after last year’s winner – Perez crashed at St Devote after sliding upon entry.

McLaren meanwhile managed to benefit from track evolution as Norris posted 1m 13.485 to go top from teammate – Oscar Piastri just mere seconds before the red flag was waved, with 11 minutes and 12 seconds left on the clock.

The session resumed ten minutes later with the track evolution further ramped up as Albon, Verstappen then Alonso went fastest in quick succession, with Alonso setting 1m 12.886 as the benchmark time in the 11th minute.

Hamilton found himself 17th after his first lap on the restart but rebounded to 12th quickest, whilst Verstappen posted 1m 12.644 in the 14th minute to go quickest but Tsunoda two minutes later went top by 0.002s.

At the checkered flag, Sargeant, Magnussen, Hulkenberg and Guanyu Zhou were eliminated in 16, 17, 18 and 19th positions, ahead of Perez who will start the race from 20th and last position on the grid.

Verstappen meanwhile posted 1m 12.386 at the flag to top Q1 from Tsunoda and Albon.

 

Q2

Verstappen was first of several drivers straight out on track after he opted to wait at the end of the pit lane to secure track position, which saw him proceed to set the benchmark time of 1m 12.038 in the third minute.

Down in the elimination zone once everyone completed their first flying laps, the bottom five compromised of; Hamilton, Albon, Stroll, De Vries and Tsunoda – of which Tsunoda didn’t set a lap time after he aborted his lap due to a lockup into Nouvelle Chicane.

Hamilton meanwhile improved to ninth in the sixth minute to drop his Mercedes teammate – Russell into the bottom five.

Up front, Verstappen lowered his benchmark lap time to 1m 11.908 as he continued to dominate the session.

With two minutes left, Norris gave McLaren a concern as he ran too deep and scraped the barriers at Tabac after he damaged his front-left suspension on the exit of Nouvelle Chicane earlier on the same lap.

At the checkered flag, Norris scraped into Q3 at the expense of Piastri as the Aussie missed out in 11th position by just 0.018s, ahead of De Vries and Albon as Stroll outqualified Bottas by 0.002s in 14th and 15th positions respectively.

 

Q3

Verstappen was first out on track and set the initial benchmark time of 1m 12.102 in the third minute but barely a minute later, Alonso produced 1m 11.706 to go onto provisional pole from Sainz and Leclerc with the top three split by just 0.053s.

Once everyone except Norris completed their opening stints, the order compromised of; Alonso, Sainz, Leclerc, Russell, Verstappen, Ocon, Gasly, Hamilton and Tsunoda, whilst Norris didn’t get out until the seventh minute due to front-left suspension repair.

In the eighth minute, Verstappen posted 1m 11.654 to go fastest despite not setting the fastest sector times in the first two sectors.

Ocon then unexpectedly lowered the benchmark pole time to 1m 11.553 a minute later for Alpine before pitting with two minutes left on the clock.

Leclerc then delivered 1m 11.471 in the 14th minute to go top but Alonso further found 0.022s to go fastest with 1m 11.449 to put himself on the cusp of a first pole position since the 2012 German Grand Prix.

Verstappen however snatched his first pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix, with 1m 11.365 at the checkered flag ahead of Alonso, Leclerc, Ocon and Sainz.

Hamilton meanwhile qualified sixth ahead of Gasly, Russell, Tsunoda and Norris who rounded out the top ten.

Post-Qualifying, Leclerc was handed a three-place grid penalty for impeding Norris in the tunnel in the closing minutes, which drops the Monegasque from third to sixth on the grid behind Ocon, Sainz and Hamilton.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1m 11.365
2	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+ 0.084
3	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+ 0.106
4	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	+ 0.188
5	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	+ 0.265
6	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+ 0.360
7	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+ 0.568
8	George Russell	Mercedes	+ 0.599
9	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	+ 0.717
10	Lando Norris	McLaren	+ 0.889
11	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	1m 12.395
12	Nyck De Vries	AlphaTauri	+ 0.033
13	Alex Albon	Williams	+ 0.132
14	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+ 0.228
15	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	+ 0.230
16	Logan Sargeant	Williams	1m 13.113
17	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+ 0.157
18	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas	+ 0.166
19	Guanyu Zhou	Alfa Romeo	+ 0.410
20	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	+ 0.737