After his qualifying woes in Spain, many might have predicted something similar for the Alpine in Monte Carlo.
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Forty years young and always up for a new challenge, Fernando Alonso proved yet again why he is one of the greatest the sport has ever seen. This time, it was at the qualifying session in Monte Carlo. Alonso and Alpine had been riddled with a stream of bad lick during the first few races of the season, some of which might have brought a podium. However, in the face of adversity, Alonso and Alpine have fought hard and at Monaco, the fruits of that hard work was seen. The Spaniard qualified P7 on the grid after a fantastic session that saw Red Bull’s Sergio Perez crash in Q3.
Fernando has always been one of those athletes that refuse to give up no matter how dire the situation looked. In his home race of Spain, Alonso had a dismal qualifying session as he failed to get out of Q1. Following that, the Alpine team decided to test a new engine for his car. There was nothing to lose after all. What Alonso did, nonetheless, was an absolute masterclass. From last on the grid, he drove an absolute belter of a race to finish in the points in P9.
After his qualifying woes in Spain, many might have predicted something similar for the Alpine in Monte Carlo. Maybe not a Q1 exit but not a Q3 finish either. The Spaniard had other plans. When Perez crashed with only 30 seconds to go in Q3, Alonso found himself in P7. That is a great position for the Spaniard to start and make a serious impact on the race for which rain is forecast. It truly is incredible how within the space of a week, Alpine and Alonso have turned around their fortunes and although it might have escaped the public eye, it’s a performance to commend.
On Saturday, Charles Leclerc put in a dominant performance at home to claim pole position for the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix, his incredible lap putting teammate Carlos Sainz at bay by 0.225s, despite a red flag interrupting the race early. Given the importance of a front-row start in Monaco, Leclerc topped Q1, Q2, and Q3 on his route to taking Ferrari’s 12th pole position in the Principality with a stunning pace of 1m 11.376s. The Monegasque was on track to improve, but a red flag at the end of Q3 effectively set the field, with Perez finishing third, 0.253s behind Leclerc, and Verstappen fourth, 0.290s behind. Perez’s was the source of the Q3 red flag.
Lando Norris rounded out the top five for McLaren, with Mercedes’ George Russell in sixth place. Fernando Alonso (P7) and Lewis Hamilton (P8) share the fourth row, with Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) in ninth and Esteban Ocon of Alpine closing out the top ten. Yuki Tsunoda produced a brief red flag in Q1 when he clipped the barrier, but he was able to finish the race. He finished 11th on the provisional grid, ahead of Valtteri Bottas of Alfa Romeo in P12.
