F1
Sergio Perez loses three wheels after collision with Kevin Magnussen causing red flag on opening lap after Charles Leclerc starts on pole with Max Verstappen down the order
‘Pole and win’ – Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc sets target ahead of Monaco GP
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Charles Leclerc delivered under pressure to put his Ferrari on pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix.
Leclerc was the favourite heading into Saturday’s crucial qualifying session in Monte Carlo and the homegrown star held his nerve to take top spot. The Monegasque saw off McLaren’s Oscar Piastri by 0.154 seconds, with Carlos Sainz third in the other scarlet car and Lando Norris fourth.
Max Verstappen, who was bidding to take a record ninth consecutive pole, could manage only sixth after he hit the wall on the exit of Sainte Devote. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton will start either side of the Red Bull driver after they qualified fifth and seventh respectively for Mercedes.
Leclerc has failed to convert his previous two poles in Monte Carlo into a victory. But, with overtaking notoriously difficult on the unique 2.1-mile course, he will still start as strong favourite to take the win.
Follow live updates from the Monaco Grand Prix with The Independent
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Monaco Grand Prix – Lap 51/78
McLaren are still hopeful of getting Lando Norris on a fresh set of tyres. He needs to open a gap of over 20 seconds on George Russell though before they can pull the trigger on pitting.
Further back, Lance Stroll has a puncture and has to change tyres again! Aston Martin’s good work from earlier is all for nothing as he falls to the bottom of the leaderboard as a result.
Mike Jones26 May 2024 15:51
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Monaco Grand Prix – Lap 49/78
Esteban Ocon has taken responsibility for his collision with Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly.
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, he said: “Today’s incident was my fault, the gap was too small in the end and I apologise to the team on this one. Hoping for a deserved points-finish for the team today.”
Mike Jones26 May 2024 15:48
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Monaco Grand Prix – Lap 47/78
Charles Leclerc is winless on his last 12 starts on pole position and has never been on the podium at Monaco, his home race. So far things are looking good for the Ferrari driver though.
He’s weathering his tyres well and is two seconds ahead of Oscar Piastri in second.
Mike Jones26 May 2024 15:46
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Monaco Grand Prix – Lap 44/78
Lance Stroll has gone into the pits after Fernando Alonso allows him enough time to hold his place in 11th. He’s now on the hard tryes and should be fine to make it to the end of the race.
Good display of teamwork there.
Lando Norris asks how his front left tyre is looking and gets the reply that his is the best of the top four cars.
Mike Jones26 May 2024 15:43
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Monaco Grand Prix – Lap 42/78
Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri both lap Valtteri Bottas who is at the back of the pack despite having set the fastest lap. Piastri radios to his team questioning why Leclerc hasn’t slowed down yet.
‘He must have a problem otherwise why wouldn’t he slow down?’ Says the Australian.
Mike Jones26 May 2024 15:39
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Monaco Grand Prix – Lap 40/78
No change to the top five with Charles Leclerc slightly slowing the pace in an attempt to keep George Russell close to Lando Norris.
What Ferrari don’t want is for Norris to stop and come back out on good tyres, ahead of Russell, and then challenge Carlos Sainz for third.
Mike Jones26 May 2024 15:36
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Monaco Grand Prix – Lap 38/78
Charles Leclerc has a big enough to stop, pit, change tyres and come out ahead of George Russell in fifth. He won’t do it yet though as he’d get stuck behind both McLaren’s and Carlos Sainz who may have the legs to get to the end of the race.
Mike Jones26 May 2024 15:33
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Monaco Grand Prix – Lap 35/78
There’s a debate going on between McLaren and Ferrari as to which team is likely to pit first. That decision could decide who goes on to win this Grand Prix.
“There is a risk if we open 20 seconds Lando catches us.” says Carlos Sainz to his Ferrari garage. Sainz is also worried about the tyre degradation.
Mike Jones26 May 2024 15:29
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Monaco Grand Prix – Lap 32/78
Lance Stroll is struggling with left front tyre graining. His times are slowing down and there’s a long way to go in this race. Mercedes are taking note of that as their drivers are both on medium tyres too.
McLaren radio across to Lando Norris and tell him they’ve spotted graining on Carlos Sainz’s tyres up ahead.
Mike Jones26 May 2024 15:25
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Monaco Grand Prix – Lap 29/78
Behind Fernando Alonso in 12th place there’s a queue forming ofr Daniel Ricciardo, Logan Sargeant, Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas.
There’s no way around the Aston Martin who is maintaining his medium tyres.
Mike Jones26 May 2024 15:22
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