McLaren returns to the front row for the first time in eighteen years, thanks to Lando Norris, who claimed his eleventh career pole position—snatching it from the hometown hero, Charles Leclerc—while Oscar Piastri will have to settle for third place.
McLaren hadn’t claimed pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix since 2007, when Fernando Alonso secured the front spot on the Sunday grid ahead of a rookie Lewis Hamilton. This weekend, the music remains the same as 18 years ago—but with different performers: Lando Norris has been crowned King of Saturday after setting a decisive lap, also breaking the track record with a time of 1:09.954.
This result was carefully built up over time by Andrea Stella’s team, which had never truly dominated during the three free practice sessions this weekend. The favorite appeared to be Scuderia Ferrari. But the masterpiece once again bears the signature of the number 4 in papaya orange, who clinched his eleventh career pole position, silencing the doubts that had arisen following his recent results.
Starting alongside Norris will be Charles Leclerc, the local hero who looked visibly disappointed after briefly tasting what would have been his second consecutive pole at his home circuit, having led the earlier sessions. But the afternoon told a different story.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time, and I feel great,” Lando Norris said after stepping out of his MCL39.These past few months have been tough, and Monaco is probably the hardest track to pull it off, especially against the hometown hero. We’ve worked so hard over the last few months to get to a day like this, and from our side, there was no risk “.
““This is what we believed in from the beginning of qualifying, and it proved to be the right call in the end. So, we stuck to our convictions. You’re always trying to find lap time, because everyone else is constantly improving, and you need to take the same amount of risk—but by the time you get to the final lap in Q3, it’s all about who can risk just a little more and push a little harder “.
On the dynamics that could play out on track tomorrow, particularly with the novelty of a mandatory double pit stop, Norris added: “Honestly, I have no idea, and right now I don’t care—I just want to enjoy this day. I’ve worked hard for it.”
Oscar Piastri Struggles but Remains Positive: “Tomorrow Will Be Exciting”
Lining up on the second row will be Oscar Piastri. The Australian driver struggled, making some errors and even crashing during yesterday’s second free practice session. Nevertheless, car number 81 of the Woking-based team said he was satisfied and already focused on tomorrow’s race.
“It was a very intense qualifying session, as always here; it reminded me a lot of last year,” said the Melbourne native. “The first lap was good, but I made a mistake at the chicane on the second lap and lost some time. I knew today would be tough, but I’m still pretty happy—it’s been a good weekend so far. Starting third is not bad. It hasn’t been the cleanest weekend for me, I’ve struggled to find rhythm “.
““In qualifying I felt a bit better—we’ve been working on that all weekend—and starting third here isn’t bad at all. We’re in a good spot. I think it’s going to be an exciting race with these two pit stops—we’ll see how it goes “.
A key feature of the 71st edition of the Monaco Grand Prix is the new regulation requiring two pit stops during the race—a change that could shake things up like a roulette wheel, potentially rewriting the script and bringing unexpected surprises.
Photo: McLaren.