Formula 1’s penultimate session before the main race at Monaco was one of the best qualifying sessions in recent memory.
Charles Leclerc looked very strong for the whole weekend. McLaren kept looking slower than the Crimson team. However, the Monaco qualifying brought about results that had the audience on the edge.
Lando Norris takes Pole Position from hometown hero Charles Leclerc
Charles Leclerc was the clear favourite coming into Monaco. He had the pace, the understanding of the track and the team support. The Monegasque driver was putting in performance after performance during the weekend.
Another record falls!!
Lando Norris breaks the Monaco Lap record by 0.2 seconds with a 1:09.954!#F1 #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/BJ23FCW4DD
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) May 24, 2025
During qualifying session, Charles Leclerc took provisional pole position with a record setting 1:10.063. However, Lando Norris went over a tenth faster at the last minute to take pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix.
McLaren’s amazing qualifying run ensures a great race ahead for them, with the papaya team starting 1-3. The Prancing Horses are placed 2-4, with Verstappen making up the top 5.
Mercedes had a stroke of bad luck at Monaco Qualifying
While we saw Ferrari and McLaren shining at the top of the pack, Mercedes had a qualifying to forget. The Silver Arrows had a consistent pace for the entirety of the weekend. Antonelli and Russell were both placing in the top 10s. This time, we saw both Mercs out at Q2.
During the qualifying, Antonelli hit the wall coming out of the tunnel at turn 10. The impact itself didn’t put him out of contention, but the subsequent puncture made him lose the car. The young Italian put the car into the wall almost immediately.
With one car out of the qualifying, Mercedes had all eyes on Russell, who was setting great lap times. But Mercedes’ luck turned for the worse as the Brit’s car had an engine failure and shut down inside the tunnel.
A difficult day in Monaco.
George’s loss of power in Q2 sees him finish in P14, and Kimi’s crash at the end of Q1 leaves him in P15. pic.twitter.com/kNDsZsdJDE
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) May 24, 2025
He tried his level best to restart the car, but to no avail. This was the first time in a long while that we saw both Mercs out at Q2, with the drivers at P14 and P15. At the race, Mercedes will have a lot of catching up to do if they want to score points, but with the difficult Monaco track, it seems unlikely.
The race is looking very interesting with five drivers gunning for the top spot. However, it will be all eyes on Leclerc, the hometown hero, as he comes into the Monaco GP as its last winner and the favourite to win this year.
