Norris stuns in Monaco with record-breaking Pole

Amid Red Flag chaos, traffic paradise and the weight of Monte Carlo pressure, Lando Norris delivered a lap for the ages to take Pole and break the Monaco lap record, crushing the dreams of the hometown hero Charles Leclerc in the process.

Qualifying 1:

In desperation to maximise Formula 1’s most important Qualifying session of the entire year, the world’s most expensive traffic jam had formed in the pitlane, being released as the clock on Q1 began counting down.

Liam Lawson was among the eager starters, launching around the Circuit de Monaco to set an initial lap time of 1:12.946s, placing him momentarily at the head of the field.

As the minutes ticked by and the minor improvements came, the Kiwi fell into the elimination zone, sitting two-tenths back on a safe place in the standings as he geared up for one final run.

Making his way around the unforgiving 3.3km circuit, Lawson set personal best after personal best, crossing the line with a time of 1:11.818s, however, what was more impressive was his timing when a late Red Flag saved him from a potential Q1 exit in Monaco. 

Hoping to break his Q3 drought, Lawson advanced to the second session in P12, just seven milliseconds behind his teammate.

Oscar Piastri was one of three drivers to wait for the early pit exit chaos to pass, only leaving his garage after four minutes of running alongside his teammate and Max Verstappen.

Putting his foot to the floor, the Australian shot to the top of the order with a primary time of 1:12.439s, looking strong until the quicker Ferrari duo overshadowed his benchmark.

Piastri didn’t let the early demotions disrupt his flow, setting a lap that was over a second quicker to move to the head of the field, however, at the cost of potential damage after he reported “I’ve hit the wall”.

Red Flag chaos struck the end of the session, however, Piastri was unaffected as he managed to complete his final lap with ease, finishing Q1 in a safe P2.

As for the rest of the field, traffic was the word of the day as many drivers were forced to abort their attempts throughout the 18-minute session, however, the pole contenders of Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were unfazed while they completed the top three in the early half of Q1.

As the minutes ticked by, track evolution proved to be a huge factor around the streets of Monte Carlo, with Norris the new man to beat after setting a time of 1:11.596s before Leclerc reinstated his lead, demoting both McLaren drivers. 

At the other end of the spectrum, Yuki Tsunoda, Lance Stroll, Lawson, Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly were the drivers at risk, however, the entire bottom ten drivers were still above the predicted cut-off time of a 1m12s lap with just three minutes remaining.

Launching for one final time, personal best sectors frequented the timing sheets, with Tsunoda and the man he replaced jumping clear of the elimination zone as heartbreak hit the circuit.

In the worst-case scenario for Gabriel Bortoleto, Ollie Bearman, Gasly, Stroll and Colapinto, yellow flags started waving in the middle sector before the stricken Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli upgraded conditions to a Red Flag.

The Mercedes rookie was too eager as he exited the tunnel, clipping the inside kerb at Turn 10 and breaking his front left suspension as he catapulted into the opposing barriers.

The session came to a premature end, with those five unlucky drivers condemned to start the Monaco Grand Prix from the back of the grid with an impossible 78 laps ahead of them.

Qualifying 2:

Following a brief delay to allow for the remnants of Antonelli’s accident to be clear, the second session of the hour kicked off in frantic fashion as the cars tussled their way out on track.

Having secured himself a banker lap prior to the Red Flag delay, Lawson was one of the last drivers to rejoin the session, and when he finally ventured out, it was a lap full of personal best sector times.

He settled into P9, at risk of falling into the bottom five as he tracked just 0.032s ahead of his vulnerable teammate before the last round of laps kicked off.

Two personal best sectors guided the Racing Bulls driver to the line, with the timesheets reflecting a new milestone for Lawson as he secured a place in Q3 — his first experience in the top ten shootout in 2025.

Prior to the second Red Flag of the session, Piastri was yet to record a representative time to his name, making the now shortened Q2 session a desperate one for the Australian. 

He restarted Q2 on the softest compound available, reaping the fourth fastest time as he had to bittersweetly watch his teammate jump to the top of the timesheets.

Pushing his MCL39 around the Circuit de Monaco for one final try, the Australian set two personal bests sectors before losing out in the last sector, forced to take caution after brushing the wall at Rascasse.

Despite the hiccup, Piastri advanced to the top ten shootout, looking to add yet another accolade to his growing list in 2025.

Ferrari took the gamble on the medium compound tyre, however, it didn’t pay off compared to the red-marked times rolling in as Lando Norris sealed the early benchmark of a 1:10.959s.

Running was brought to a halt shortly after when the second Mercedes-derivative of the session struck in Q2, with George Russell losing power on the run up to Turn 3, using momentum to bring him all the way down to the tunnel before his W16 came to a stop.

The Brit desperately tried to restart his car, however, he accepted defeat and assistance from the Monaco marshals who ushered him towards the escape road at the Nouvelle chicane.

As a result, the Mercedes teammates will line up alongside one another in P14 and P15 for Sunday’s race.

The session restarted with 10 minutes on the clock as Isack Hadjar led the field out of the pitlane. 

The Ferrari drivers had notably switched to the soft compound tyre, with the results reflecting that as the correct decision when Leclerc and Hamilton slotted into P1 and P2 — however, it was only momentary when Norris flew to the line, going fastest by a slim 11-millisecond margin.

With just two minutes on the clock, Hadjar, Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon found themselves sitting in what was effectively the bottom three.

Launching for their last ditch attempts, Hadjar’s pace saw him contending for a top-five time, with Ocon also improving when he crossed the line. 

Not so fortunate was Hulkenberg who was forced into a cautious final sector after kissing the barrier at the Swimming Pool chicane.

Joining the Sauber driver in a Q2 exit were two very disappointed contenders.

Yuki Tsunoda had the car under him to perform better in Qualifying, however, what he declared as an “unfair” ending to his session saw him locking in a P12 start for the Monaco Grand Prix.

Carlos Sainz was the last driver to be eliminated in Monaco, with Williams’ poor tyre preparation costing the Spaniard greatly, with Sainz ending Q2 saying he had “no grip” on the fresh C6 tyre.

Qualifying 3:

As the light went green at the end of the pitlane, the moment drivers, teams and fans had been waiting for all weekend finally arrived.

Competing in Q3 for the first time in 2025, Lawson was one of the last drivers to cement a time in the fight for pole position before slotting into P8, 1.2 seconds off the provisional pace.

The Kiwi returned to his garage for a mid-session pause, rejoining in the dying minutes for one final flying lap.

Putting together three personal best sectors rewarded Lawson with his fastest time of a 1:11.129s, temporarily boosting him into sixth place before the final order rolled in.

Losing out to his competitors, the Kiwi had to settle for a final result of P9 on the Monaco Grand Prix starting grid, three places back on his teammate in his original P6.

Unlike previous sessions, the shootout for pole position prompted Piastri to join the queue ahead of the green light.

The Australian instantly set the fastest overall Sector 1, before putting his name on the board with an initial time of 1:10.531s, positioning Piastri in an encouraging, but not quite fulfilling, P2 as he returned to the pitlane. 

Following a brief lull, the McLaren duo bolted early for their final runs to rack up one additional opportunity over their rivals.

The Australian looked on track to record a brilliant first lap on return, going purple in the middle sector before ultimately falling 15 milliseconds short of Norris on provisional pole. 

Starting anew, the #81 opened the lap with even more pace, however, a subpar run through Sectors 2 and 3 let him down, discounting him from the front-row fight as he locked in a third-place start for the Monaco Grand Prix.

As for the rest of the remaining competitors, it was Norris who stole the early provisional pole time from his teammate, crossing the line with a 1:10.464s to his name.

Leclerc rounded out the top three for the time being, with Verstappen and Hamilton trailed behind — all setting their laps on the softest available compound.

Sitting in P6 and P7, Alex Albon and Ocon were the only drivers to attempt a run on the yellow-marked tyre, however, their Q2 times were notably quicker.

Along with the rest of the field, they returned to their respective garages for a rare quiet moment in Q3, before the last round of flying laps kicked off. 

The McLaren duo exited the pitlane early, allowing themselves two attempts at securing pole position, with just one of the teammates only capable of doing so when the chequered flag arrived. 

When the remaining eight cars joined them on track, it was the hometown hero whose ultimate run brought the challenge to Norris, with his time of 1:10.063s putting him on provisional pole — however, it was only temporary.

Norris charged through the lap with perfect precision, improving across the 19 corners to secure his first pole position since Melbourne with a new lap record of 1:09.954s, a tenth clear of the Ferrari driver. 

His McLaren teammate will also line up alongside a Ferrari, with Hamilton — under investigation for impeding Verstappen earlier in Qualifying — provisionally qualifying in P4.

Verstappen couldn’t match the efforts of the two legendary teams ahead, settling for a fifth-place start for the main event, set to take the five lights alongside his sister-team competitor, Hadjar.

Fernando Alonso’s fastest time of 1:10.924s put him marginally ahead of his former Alpine teammate, Ocon, with the pair locking in Row 4 ahead of Row 5’s occupants, Lawson and Albon.

With track position king in the Principality, Lando Norris will hope to further reduce the points margin to his championship-leading teammate come the chequered flag on Sunday, with the young Brit already etching his name into the history books after completing the first sub-70-second lap in Monaco history. 

However, with the margin for error so slim in Monaco, the 78-lap race will feel like a lifetime for the McLaren driver whose win is anything but guaranteed.

Lights out for the Monaco Grand Prix will take place at 23:00 AEST.

Image: Formula 1

Monaco GP Qualifying Results:

*Note – Stroll penalised one grid position for causing a collision during practice. Bearman penalised 10 positions for overtaking under red flags in practice.

2025 Monaco Grand Prix Schedule (AEST):

Friday, May 23:

FP1: 21:30 – 22:30

Saturday, May 24:

FP2: 01:00 – 02:00

FP3: 20:30 – 21:30

Sunday, May 25:

Quali: 00:00 – 01:00

Race: 23:00

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