Lando Norris Puts McLaren Back On Monaco Pole After 18 Year Drought

It’s taken 18 years but McLaren is back on pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix. The last time was back in 2007, courtesy of Fernando Alonso, while today the star in the Principality was Lando Norris.

The Englishman was already quickest in Q2 and then did it again in Q3, snatching pole at the very last moment from the local hero Charles Leclerc: Lando’s time was a 1’09”954, while the Ferrari driver posted a 1’10”063.

Norris’ time is a new outright lap record for this track, beating the 1’10”166 set by Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes in 2019.

The second sees Oscar Piastri third in 1’10”129 while Lewis Hamilton was originally fourth in 1’10”382, however, he was later handed a three-place grid penalty for impeding Max Verstappen during Q1, and will now start from seventh on the grid. Verstappen, who originally qualified fifth, was promoted to the second row.

In the third free practice session, all the drivers continued working on performance and on gaining maximum confidence in pushing their cars to the very limit on this track. Almost all of them only used the C6 compound tyre, but the six drivers from Red Bull, Aston Martin and Sauber also used a set of Mediums each. The Hard also put in an appearance but only for the usual scrubbing-in lap with five drivers: Hamilton, Stroll, Alonso, Lawson and Hadjar. It’s worth noting that the Aston Martin duo, the devotees of this practice, also did the same with their second set of Hards and one of Medium.

Lando Norris – Pole

“Pole in Monaco, it feels good! We’ve worked hard to have a day like this. It’s very special to do it here in Monaco, the hardest track to take Pole, and I’m very proud of the whole team, here at the track and back at the factory.

“We employed a different run plan to our rivals but it’s what we believed would be best and we stuck with it. The final lap in Q3 around this circuit is about who can risk a little bit more. It was a well put-together lap and it feels good when you cross the line and know it has paid off. I’m going to live in the moment for a little bit and then shift focus to tomorrow.”

Charles Leclerc – P2

“Our expectations for this weekend weren’t particularly high, so finishing at the top of the FPs was a positive sign. Unfortunately, this brings some disappointment with it, not having taken pole today. It should be an interesting race tomorrow. There will be strategic games between the teams with the mandatory two-stop, and it’s possible that we will find some cars from further down the grid in the mix, so it should be exciting and I can’t wait to race on my home streets again.”

Oscar Piastri – P3

“Third is a decent result. It’s been a slightly messier weekend on my end, but we were able to put together some solid laps. My first lap in Q3 felt good, and then on the second lap, I made a small mistake in the Nouvelle Chicane which meant I left a little bit out there, but we can be happy. Well done to Lando. It’s going to be an exciting race tomorrow with the two stops, so let’s see what happens.”

In qualifying, the chart summing up tyre usage features several splashes of yellow among a sea of red. In fact, eight drivers used a set of Mediums: Leclerc (Q2), Hamilton (Q2), Russell (Q2), Alonso (Q2), Colapinto (Q1), Gasly (Q1), Ocon (Q3), Sainz (Q2), Albon (Q2 e Q3).

Mario Isola – Pirelli Director of Motorsport

“What a qualifying session! Saturday in Monaco always delivers plenty of excitement and that was the case once again today. For us, it was very interesting to see how the C6 performed in qualifying again and I believe we can say that, on this track, the softest compound in the 2025 range offered a little something extra in terms of performance compared to the C5. We’re definitely not talking about a big difference, around a tenth of a second or so, a tenth and a half, but it was definitely there. Yes, we saw some drivers using the Medium in qualifying which confirms the performance gap is not that big and also, as we saw last week in Imola, that in some situations, the C5 can offer greater confidence compared to its softer sibling, something that takes on great importance at this track. Usually, Sunday can be less exciting than Saturday in Monaco, but I think that this time we can expect a different afternoon’s action to usual.

In terms of strategy, tomorrow’s race will be a one-off. The changes to the Sporting Regulations introduced specifically for this Grand Prix require the use of at least three sets of tyres, which means anything is possible in terms of the pit stop windows, given that there really are so many theoretical possibilities, not to mention appearances from the Safety Car being quite likely at this track. All three compounds will come into play: in fact, drivers from three teams, Red Bull, Racing Bulls and Sauber, only have one set of Hard tyres and one of Medium, so they are bound to have to use the C6 during the race.

We know how good the teams are when it comes to exploiting any opportunity presented by the regulations, so we can expect some surprises, including in terms of stint lengths.”