Qualifying at Monaco; one of the most iconic days in the F1 calendar. The sun is shining on the Côte d’Azur and this is a day all drivers dream about from a very young age, pushing it to the very limit without ending up in the wall. Going into the weekend, it felt like it was wide open for pole and the race win and that definitely feels the case going into qualifying today.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, at his home circuit having grown up in Monaco, was fastest throughout both sessions on Friday and then fastest again in practice three this morning. Local boy Leclerc has never finished on the podium in any race around the streets of Monaco and the home fans will be cheering him on. He grew up in the city, taking the bus to school from Sainte-Dévote (turn one) up the hill towards Casino Square.
Leclerc has been on pole at Monaco before but not managed to convert it into a race win and the Monegasque driver understands the importance of qualifying today.
“I’ve had two poles in the past, but then the Sunday result wasn’t the one I wanted,” he acknowledged. “So if we manage to do [that], so which is the best starting place for Sunday, we’ll have to focus well on Sunday in order to put everything together to finally get that win.”
It has been a challenging weekend so far for Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who was complaining about bouncing during the practice sessions on Friday. Verstappen has not been happy with his car all weekend and, speaking yesterday after second practice, he explained the issues he has been experiencing.
