Monaco GP Qualifying: Norris pips Leclerc and Piastri

Norris and McLaren kept their power dry till the very end as Leclerc appeared as favorite for pole after topping all three practice sessions in the buildup to qualifying.

McLaren went for something different in Q3 as they sent their drivers out early for what were supposed to be their final runs in Q3 but their drivers stayed on track and once everyone else finished their runs and Leclerc started celebrating pole, the two Papaya cars came roaring down the finish line, Norris denying Leclerc by 0.109s while Piastri managed third, just 0.066s behind the Ferrari driver.

Lewis Hamilton was fourth fastest in the sister Ferrari, 0.428s off the pace and was 0.287s clear of reining Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen who was only fifth in the Red Bull, a whopping 0.715s off the pace.

However, Hamilton will have to face the stewards after Qualifying for impeding Verstappen.

It was a strong session for the Racing Bulls as Isack Hadjar was sixth fastest but almost second off the pace while teammate Liam Lawson was a bit further down the order in ninth.

It was a strong session for Lawson, the first time he made Q3 in 2025 and appeared to be the faster Racing Bulls driver this weekend, only for Hadjar to turn the situation around in Q3.

Fernando Alonso continued the momentum from Imola with his upgraded Aston Martin AMR25 and qualified seventh while Lance Stroll was 19th. No comment!

Esteban Ocon was a superb eighth for the Haas as Alex Albon was tenth in the Williams as Carlos Sainz missed out on Q3 and was 11th fastest.

It was a qualifying to forget for Mercedes as Kimi Antonelli crashed at the end of Q1 and after making Q2 which meant he could not take part.

But then, to make matters worse, George Russell broke down in the tunnel as Mercedes revealed the reason was hitting a bump. Russell and Antonello were classified 14th and 15th respectively.

Mercedes said in a statement: "George lost power after hitting a bump coming out of Turn 1 and was unable to restart the car after trying a number of switch change. It looks like a potential electrical problem at this stage."

After taking his second pole position in the 2025 Formula 1 season, Norris commented: "It was a nice lap. It was a well put together lap and it feels good when you cross the line and it all pays off.

"At the minute I don't care! I'm going to enjoy today," the McLaren driver responded when asked about the race in Sunday. "I've worked hard for today.

"That's what tonight is for to prepare for tomorrow. I'm just very pleased with today and happy with qualifying. I will live the moment for a little bit then focus on tomorrow," he maintained.

Explaining McLaren's Q3 run plan, Norris added: "It’s what we believed was best before qualifying and what was proven to be best after. The team have done an amazing job, so thanks to everyone here and at the factory.

“These days don’t come easy, so I’m proud to give something back to them," Norris concuded.

A disappointed Leclerc said: "There’s always something more to be done, but at the end of the day, this was the best we could do.

"I think the lap was really good. The first lap was a bit of a shame because that gives you a bit more confidence for the second run when you have a first good lap. I couldn’t have that – I had sector two traffic. But it’s the way it is. Just obviously very frustrated.

"We know that we don’t quite have the car to go for wins this year but this weekend the car felt good, and starting second here, it’s going to be tricky to take that first place," he concluded.

Piastri struggled all weekend with his car, so third place should be a satisfactory considering all that, despite ruing a mistake.

"It was intense," he said. "Quite reminiscent of last year [he qualified second]. My first lap felt good then my second lap I made a mistake at the Nouvelle Chicane and left a little bit on there.

“To beat Lando today was going to be tough. Well done to him. But, still pretty happy. It’s been a pretty messy weekend so far, so to come out with a lap I thought was good is a decent result.

“I think I’ve hit my walls this weekend then I have in my whole career! It’s been untidy. In qualifying I was much happier with things and felt pretty good.

"But we have been doing some digging this weekend. To come out with this result is a decent effort," Piastri concluded.

Glorious sunny conditions prevailed over Monaco as qualifying kicked off with track temperatures registering 40 degrees Celsius, while the air temperature was 21 degrees.

Without any delays, the drivers set out on track as the green light was illuminated at the exit of the pitlane as Albon and Sainz led the pack in their Williams.

All the drivers went out on Soft tyres while Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto in the Alpine were on the Mediums.

After a few lap times from midfield teams, Leclerc started his flying lap and duly shot up to the top of the timing screens. Albon was second, while Hamilton was seventh.

With less than 13 minutes remaining, Verstappen joined the action as Norris was on his first timed lap as the names on the timing screens were being reshuffled.

Norris went to the top but the Piastri dropped him to second as other drivers started second attempts as the times dropped with the track ramping up.

Leclerc regained the lead with Hamilton in second but then Verstappen went fastest from his first attempt. Norris then went fastest with Piastri second dropping Verstappen to third.

The drivers kept on pounding around Monaco putting in lap after lap trying to improve their times while replay showed Gasly being impeded by Stroll at the chicane following the tunnel. The Canadian came under investigation.

With five minutes remaining, all drivers were out on track working on improving their times. Only Verstappen returned back to the pits.

With four minutes remaining, Piastri radioed saying that he hit the wall asking his team to check his front wing. He returns briefly to the McLaren pits, gets the all-clear from his mechanics and rejoined the action.

Q1 was a relentless session, which seemed like a Sprint Qualifying SQ1 where drivers use one set of tyres and stay out on track putting in the laps, as only few drivers pitted and briefly.

Just as Q1 was over, Antonelli crashed into the wall head on at Turn 11 which was a pity as he made Q2, just barely through.

Replay showed that he clipped the barrier coming out of the tunnel damaging his suspension and ending up in the wall.

As for the others, Leclerc was the fastest with a 1:11.229, 0.056s ahead of Norris in second while Piastri was third, 0.023s behind his teammate.

The rest of the top 15 were as follows: Verstappen - Russell - Hamilton - Albon - Alonso - Sainz - Yuki Tsunoda - Hadjar - Lawson - Ocon - Nico Hulkenberg - Antonelli

Out of Qualifying: Gabriel Bortoleto - Oliver Bearman - Gasly - Stroll - Colapinto. (Bearman will serve a ten-place grid penalty)

A moment between Hamilton and Verstappen was noted as the former impeded the latter. Radio communication showed Hamilton's engineer informing him Verstappen was coming but told him he was slowing down which wasn't the case.

The start of Q2 was delayed as the marshals cleared the stricken Mercedes of Antonelli from the track. The remaining 14 drivers made their way out on track.

Leclerc was the first driver to go for a flying lap with Medium tyres bolted to his Ferrari. and went to the top while Norris started his first Q2 lap on Softs with Piastri following suit.

Norris dropped Leclerc to second with Verstappen then taking that position from the Monegasque.

But then Mercedes' qualifying turned into a disaster as Russell reported that he lost power and was stranded in the tunnel.

The Red flag was out as his team instructed him to try and restart the troublesome W16. But then the engineer told Russell: "I think that's game over mate."

Ten minutes remained on the clock as the marshals started the job of removing the #63 Mercedes from the track.

The order at the time: Norris - Verstappen - Leclerc - Albon - Lawson - Hadjar - Alonso - Hulkenberg - Hamilton - Sainz - Ocon - Tsunoda - Piastri - Russell - Antonelli.

The remaining 13 drivers hit the track once again with 10 minutes remaining from Q2. Leclerc improved his time while Hamilton went second fastest despite hitting the wall on his lap.

Norris the went fastest while Verstappen was on his out lap with less than five minutes remaining. The Dutchman went third fastest as Piastri, who was behind Verstappen on track, was fifth.

In the end, Norris was the fastest driver in Q2 with a 1:10.570, 0.011s ahead of Leclerc while Albon was third.

The rest were: Piastri - Verstappen - Hamilton - Hadjar - Alonso - Lawson - Ocon.

Out of qualifying: Sainz - Tsunoda - Hulkenberg - Russell - Antonelli.

Albon was the first driver waiting at the pit exit when Q3 was given the green light. Ocon and Alonso followed as Piastri and Norris came next and then the Ferraris followed as Verstappen waited in the garage.

Piastri started his flying lap first as Norris followed him. The Aussie went fastest but then the Briton took over.

Hamilton went third fastest but then dropped to fourth as Leclerc went third fastest as Verstappen was on his first Q3 flyer but was only fourth.

The order after the first runs was: Norris - Piastri - Leclerc - Verstappen - Hamilton - Albon - Ocon - Alonso - Lawson - Hadjar (opting for one lap)

With less than six minutes remaining, the second round of laps began as both McLarens made their way out on track earlier. Hamilton and Leclerc followed.

Piastri went first as Norris followed him. Piastri improved to go fastest but Norris went even better and took the top spot.

The Ferraris were down the road starting their laps as Verstappen was starting his outlap in his RB21.

Hamilton started first and went third fastest. Leclerc followed and went to the top as Verstappen managed only fifth.

But Piastri was on another flyer as well as Norris who mugged Leclerc in the final seconds while Piastri was third.

The final order: Norris - Leclerc - Piastri - Hamilton - Verstappen - Hadjar - Alonso - Ocon - Lawson - Albon.