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Lando Norris has long been aware that if he is to revitalise his Formula One world championship challenge he had to click with his McLaren car in qualifying. So his pole position for Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix is a moment to savour, a performance he has been attempting to nail since claiming the No 1 spot at the season-opener in Australia.
On a curcuit that rewards confidence and commitment like no other, Norris had both in spades for a mighty lap in the final seconds of qualifying, threading the needle on the streets of Monte Carlo to beat the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc into second place by by 0.109 seconds and his teammate Oscar Piastri into third.
The pole is his first in Monaco and McLaren’s first here since Fernando Alonso took top spot in 2007. It was the perfect comeback after he felt frustrated with his early season form in qualifying. The British driver has struggled to adapt to this year’s McLaren, particularly over the single lap and has fallen behind Piastri in the title fight.
“I’ve been working to improve, to do a better job,” he said. “Today was probably the first time since Australia that I’ve really put it all together. It’s not like I’m driving quicker. I’m driving in a better way, in a smarter way but there’s been a lot of work that’s gone on.
“Even if it was pole in any other track, it probably would have been the pole that’s meant the most to me. It probably means even more that it’s in Monaco but more because of what’s happened over the last couple of months. It may not seem like a lot, but for me it’s quite a big thing.”
Norris has been insistent he remains confident and the team have been tuning the car to accommodate him better and now might hope he has shrugged off his qualifying hoodoo. Starting at the front of the grid is a chance for him to stage a comeback in a closely fought title race. Piastri leads the British driver by 13 points with Max Verstappen 22 points back in third.
However, the serious business of the weekend remains ahead and therein lies the rub for Norris, as formula one is hoping that his fine lap will not presage another routine procession to victory. Certainly this year Monaco is something of a wild card. With the introduction of the mandatory use of three sets of tyres during the race, all drivers will have to take at least two pit stops in both wet or dry conditions.
The rule was introduced in an effort to improve the “sporting spectacle” with overtaking on the narrow track rendered all but impossible by the wide and heavy cars. It was instigated after an early red flag last season allowed a free tyre change, the drivers managing their rubber in a procession to the flag.
As is so often the case at Monaco, however, qualifying was an absorbing session that swung between the leading protagonists. In Q3, Norris and Piastri had claimed the top spots and Leclerc could not match them. For the final laps the McLarens once more went out early and Norris was again immense, taking the provisional pole by one hundredth of a second. The pair then stayed out for a cool down lap before going again.
Leclerc, however, was far from out of it, and seemed to have done enough only for Norris to snatch pole. At the last gasp the British driver claimed pole by a tenth of a second in 1min 9.959sec.
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Lewis Hamilton suffered a crash in FP3 but Ferrari were able to repair the damage and he recovered to a strong fourth place. The British driver is under investigation for impeding Verstappen in Q1, however, and may face a grid penalty. Verstappen was fifth for Red Bull.
In what was something of a disastrous afternoon for Mercedes, George Russell went out in Q2, losing power in the tunnel, leaving him in 14th. His teammate, Kimi Antonelli, had crashed out on his final run in Q3 and finished in 15th.
Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson were in sixth and ninth for Racing Bulls, Fernando Alonso seventh for Aston Martin, Esteban Ocon eighth for Haas and Alex Albon 10th for Williams. Carlos Sainz was in 11th for Williams, Yuki Tsunoda in 12th for Red Bull and Nico Hülkenberg 13th for Sauber.
Gabriel Bortoleto was in 16th for Sauber and Oliver Bearman in 17th for Haas but he will take a 10-place grid penalty for overtaking under a red-flag during second practice. Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto were in 18th and 20th for Alpine and Lance Stroll was in 19th for Aston Martin but has a one-place grid penalty for causing a collision with Leclerc in first practice.
