Verstappen and Bottas finished where people expected them to but the reigning champion Lewis Hamilton had a day to forget.
Follow Us
The Formula 1 (F1) qualifying race in Monaco proved to be an intensely dramatic race as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc shocked everyone to earn himself the pole position. He was followed by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in second and Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas in third. What came as an even bigger shock than Leclerc’s victory was reigning champion Lewis Hamilton’s performance. The Englishman finished at seventh position on the hardest F1 track to overtake. He will have concerns about the Monaco GP if this performance was anything to go by. His closest title challenger, Verstappen, displayed a strong performance and would have finished first himself if not for Leclerc’s brilliance.
It was not all good for Leclerc during the race, however. The Frenchman crashed on the final lap and the accident prematurely ended the intense qualifying session. It also denied Verstappen and Bottas the chance to overtake him. However, for the rest of the race, Leclerc was at his absolute best. He was disappointed with how the race ended but was happy about his first timed lap. He clocked a pole time of 1:10.346 on his first lap of Q3.
“It’s a shame to finish in the wall, it doesn’t feel the same,” Leclerc said after the race. “But at the same time, I’m incredibly happy about my first timed lap. It’s a big surprise for everyone to be on pole for the race,” he added.
Of the chances of a gearbox change, Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto said that they were worried. “We are worried but we are checking it. It’s too early to know,” he said.
Both Verstappen and Bottas finished where people expected them to but the reigning champion Lewis Hamilton did have a day to forget. He finished in seventh in all three segments of qualifying and lapped half a second slower than his teammate Bottas in Q3. He will have a mountain to climb at the Monaco Grand Prix as he will start five places behind Verstappen.
“From my point, I had such lack of grip out there, which then leads you to try to kind of over-drive and start pushing to get more from it. But to no end, it just doesn’t improve,” a dejected Hamilton said after the race.
For Verstappen, there might not be a better opportunity to close the gap at the top of the leaderboard. He is currently 14 points behind Hamilton and the Monaco GP will prove to be a massive opportunity for him to take the pole position.
