F1 qualifying results: Max Verstappen takes Monaco GP pole

27 May 2023

Motorsport.com, Edition: Global

Verstappen will start ahead of Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.

Besides the thrilling ending to Q3, where pole changed hands four times in the final two minutes, the big shock was last year’s race winner Sergio Perez crashing out of Q1 inside the first five minutes of qualifying in his Red Bull.

UPDATE: After qualifying, Leclerc was handed a three-place grid penalty for impeding Lando Norris (McLaren) in the tunnel.

Read Also: F1 Monaco GP: Verstappen beats Alonso to pole by 0.084s; Perez last Verstappen "clipped a few barriers" on frantic Monaco F1 pole run Leclerc handed F1 Monaco GP grid penalty for impeding Norris Monaco Grand Prix qualifying results: Verstappen on pole from Alonso

Cla Nº Driver Car/Engine Time Delay
[s] Delay
[%] 1 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'11.365 - - 2 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'11.449 0.084 0.118 3 31 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1'11.553 0.188 0.263 4 55 Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 1'11.630 0.265 0.371 5 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1'11.725 0.360 0.504 6 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'11.471 0.106 0.149 3-place penalty for impeding Lando Norris
7 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1'11.933 0.568 0.796 8 63 George Russell Mercedes 1'11.964 0.599 0.839 9 22 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT 1'12.082 0.717 1.005 10 4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1'12.254 0.889 1.246 11 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1'12.395 1.030 1.443 12 21 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT 1'12.428 1.063 1.490 13 23 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1'12.527 1.162 1.628 14 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'12.623 1.258 1.763 15 77 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1'12.625 1.260 1.766 16 2 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1'13.113 1.748 2.449 17 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1'13.270 1.905 2.669 18 27 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1'13.279 1.914 2.682 19 24 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1'13.523 2.158 3.024 20 11 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'13.850 2.485 3.482

What happened in Monaco Grand Prix Q1?

Verstappen set the early pace at 1m13.784s, 0.066s clear of Perez’s 1m13.850s. Perez then crashed heavily on his second push lap at Sainte Devote, after losing control of the rear of his car, and slammed the barrier to cause a red flag.

Verstappen reset the P1 bar at 1m13.038s at the resumption, before Alonso lowered it with 1m12.886s. Verstappen responded with 1m12.644s, before Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) grabbed the top spot by 0.002s with 1m12.642s.

Verstappen wasn’t to be denied, however, setting 1m12.386s on his final lap.

Falling at the first hurdle were Logan Sargeant (Williams), the Haas duo of Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg, Zhou Guanyu (who had topped the session briefly for Alfa Romeo before Perez shunted) and the gutted Perez.

Monaco Grand Prix Q1 results: Verstappen fastest from Tsunoda

Cla Nº Driver Car/Engine Time Delay Laps 1 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'12.386 12 2 22 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT 1'12.642 0.256 13 3 23 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1'12.706 0.320 13 4 55 Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 1'12.717 0.331 12 5 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'12.722 0.336 12 6 63 George Russell Mercedes 1'12.769 0.383 12 7 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1'12.872 0.486 13 8 4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1'12.877 0.491 12 9 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'12.886 0.500 10 10 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'12.912 0.526 11 11 31 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1'12.967 0.581 12 12 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1'13.006 0.620 12 13 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1'13.033 0.647 12 14 77 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1'13.038 0.652 13 15 21 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT 1'13.054 0.668 11 16 2 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1'13.113 0.727 13 17 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1'13.270 0.884 9 18 27 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1'13.279 0.893 8 19 24 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1'13.523 1.137 13 20 11 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'13.850 1.464 4

What happened in Monaco Grand Prix Q2?

Verstappen set the initial pace at 1m12.038s, 0.069s ahead of Alonso. Max then lowered the P1 time to 1m11.908s, 0.195s quicker than Leclerc.

In the closing moments, Norris slammed the barrier at Tabac after he’d already clipped the wall on the exit of the Nouvelle Chicane, but just squeaked through to Q3 by 0.018s.

Knocked out at this point were Norris’s McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, Nyck de Vries (AlphaTauri), Alex Albon (Williams), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) and the Alfa of Valtteri Bottas.

Monaco Grand Prix Q2 results: Verstappen fastest from Leclerc

Cla Nº Driver Car/Engine Time Delay Laps 1 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'11.908 9 2 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'12.103 0.195 9 3 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'12.107 0.199 9 4 63 George Russell Mercedes 1'12.151 0.243 10 5 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1'12.156 0.248 11 6 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1'12.169 0.261 7 7 55 Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 1'12.210 0.302 10 8 31 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1'12.248 0.340 8 9 22 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT 1'12.249 0.341 8 10 4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1'12.377 0.469 7 11 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1'12.395 0.487 10 12 21 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT 1'12.428 0.520 9 13 23 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1'12.527 0.619 6 14 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'12.623 0.715 7 15 77 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1'12.625 0.717 9

What happened in Monaco Grand Prix Q3?

On the first runs, Verstappen only lapped in 1m12.102s before Alonso took provisional pole with 1m11.706s after “pushing like an animal”, ahead of the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz (by 0.029s) and Leclerc (by 0.053s).

Verstappen pushed again on the same tyres, producing 1m11.654s to take back pole following a stellar final sector, while Lewis Hamilton jumped to third doing likewise in his Mercedes.

On the final runs, Esteban Ocon then grabbed P1 for Alpine with 1m11.553s, a tenth faster than Verstappen.

As the seconds ticked down, Leclerc wrested pole away on 1m11.471s, before Alonso grabbed P1 with 1m11.449s – faster by 0.022s. But Verstappen wouldn’t be denied, unleashing 1m11.365s on his final lap.

Alonso – who was just 0.084s slower – will start second, ahead of Leclerc, Ocon, Sainz, Hamilton, Pierre Gasly (Alpine), George Russell (Mercedes), Tsunoda and Norris.

Monaco Grand Prix Q3 results: Verstappen takes pole

Cla Nº Driver Car/Engine Time Delay Laps 1 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'11.365 9 2 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'11.449 0.084 6 3 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'11.471 0.106 6 4 31 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1'11.553 0.188 6 5 55 Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 1'11.630 0.265 6 6 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1'11.725 0.360 6 7 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1'11.933 0.568 6 8 63 George Russell Mercedes 1'11.964 0.599 7 9 22 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT 1'12.082 0.717 8 10 4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1'12.254 0.889

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