Will it be the hometown hero Charles Leclerc or will McLaren or Max Verstappen pit him to the post!
An iconic street-race circuit, which sees an unknown strategy this weekend due to the two mandatory pit stops, has been ordered for this race, an interesting twist that could excite the race even more.
The Monaco Grand Prix practice sessions saw several crashes and risky moments, leading to penalties. Lance Stroll received a one-place grid penalty for crashing into Leclerc in FP1, and Bearman at Haas had an unfortunate start, receiving a 10-grid penalty for overtaking under a red flag in FP2.
Qualifying begins, and the roaring motors are the only sound in Monaco this weekend. Many drivers used the new soft tires, and only Colapinto and Gasly tried out the medium tires for Q1. After several errors in the practice sessions, let’s hope that qualifying sees no more red flags.
All the cars set decent times in the lead-up to the end of Q1, and the teams are desperate to surpass each other. Monaco’s track temperatures are temperamental; cooling tires is key to a good qualifying. An impending incident between Stroll and Gasly means Stroll might get another penalty. Soon, Colapinto and Gasly change tires, all going onto soft tires, which seems much quicker but is a failed strategy for them.
Williams is clearly in a good place, as they’re in the high spots, at least in the top 10 for Q1.
Antonelli clips the barrier, breaking his suspension. It sends him into the wall, bringing an early end to Q1. The red flag is out, ending the rest of qualifying.
Colapinto, Stroll, Gasly, Bearman, and Bortoletto are out with a tragic end. However, Bearman will start last due to penalties, and Stroll will start 19th. Kimi has made it through to Q2 but won’t participate as his nose is in the barrier, clipping the corner and sending him off into the wall. This was an easy rookie error. I’m thankful that Antonelli is not injured.
Verstappen was unhappy with Hamilton as he was on the racing line and interrupted his final lap, which didn’t affect his qualifying but brought out an obvious annoyance in Max. Q2 begins without Antonelli, and more teams are choosing the medium tires this time to see if the cooler track temperature will help their tires.
Russel’s engine fails for Mercedes, and he pulls into the tunnel, which means the session must stop. This is a disastrous moment for Mercedes. Russel is desperate to get his engine going, but it’s game over for him and a disappointing end for Mercedes in 15th and 14th.
With 10 minutes to go, the rest of the cars are tense, waiting to come out and show their pace. Verstappen is fighting hard for a good lap, and it looks like the Ferrari’s and Mclaren’s are currently in the provisional top positions.
Hulkenburg, Tsunoda, and Sainz are out in Q2, but Hadjar pulled a speedy lap out of nowhere, putting the young rookie into Q3. His teammate Lawson reached Q3 for the first time in 2025, maybe trying to prove to Redbull that they were too quick to put him back down to RB.
With only a few minutes to go at the Monaco Grand Prix Qualifying, Leclerc and Verstappen are desperate to get ahead of McLaren. Albon’s got a good chance to put Williams higher up I hope to see the underdog achieve his goals.
Both McLarens are on it for their final fast laps, both cars keeping it together through the exits and only close moments with the barriers. Purple sectors were set by both McLaren’s, as Norris snatched a provisional pole position from Piastri. Hamilton and Leclerc were eager to keep Ferrari in the game. Leclerc is on for provisional pole, beating the McLaren’s, but Norris is desperate to win this.
Norris is just inches ahead of Leclerc in a close qualifying between them.
Piastri is in third, with Hamilton in fourth. It’s a Ferrari and McLaren fight. Verstappen is in fifth, unable to knock anyone off the top positions—an exciting and thrilling end to qualifying in Monaco. The mandatory two pit stops will cause chaos and strategic ambition for the race.
The red lights went out, and Norris had a desperate start, leading to a big lockup. He just about managed to hang on to first, but Leclerc was desperate to pass him.
Bortoletto has a bad exit within the first lap and heads for the barrier. He manages to get going again, and a few crafty cars pit under the virtual safety car, which might help them further down the line. Bortoletto manages to keep going and continues in Monaco.
The virtual safety car ends, but only a few laps on the way, Pierre Gasly crashes into the back of Tsunoda, and double yellow flags are waved. Gasly’s day ends just a few laps into the Monaco Grand Prix, which is a worrying issue for Tsunoda.
This time, the pit entry is closed, which will mess up several teams’ strategies. Alpine may be penalised as Gasly should’ve pulled up on the track instead of dangerously continuing onto the pit lane, stopping everyone from entering.
Verstappen and Piastri have some close encounters as the green flag comes out again, and several cars, such as Hulkenberg, Colapinto, and Hadjar, make some early pit stops, hoping to get into free air and drive higher up the board.
On lap 20, Norris makes his first pit stop, meaning Leclerc is the new race leader for now. Piastri has a dreadful pit stop and has to make it up on the out-lap, desperate not to let Verstappen get away.
It was a strategic race today due to the mandatory two stops and three sets of tyres. We’re halfway through lap 33, and only Mercedes and Williams haven’t pitted, so they still need to pit twice.
Several drivers are playing a team game, getting their drivers to make larger spaces for their teams and hopefully get a good pit stop. Alonso has retired at lap 38. The yellow flags are out, and a giant amount of smoke bursts out of the back, and he sadly has to retire. It is still pointless for this season.
The Mercedes strategy is very unusual and worrying to fans. With only 35 laps to go and no pit stops for either driver, will this wacky strategy work or hinder them? Racing Bulls are on track for a successful race with a winning strategy, getting all pit stops done by lap 43 and currently in high positions of 6th and 8th.
Russell and Albon have a rowdy moment. Russel overtakes Albon off the track, which he should give back, but instead continues on in the hopes of making up the time. Albon purposefully slows down, trying to make a gap for Sainz, so it’s a very controversial moment between the drivers.
Antonelli almost does the same as his teammate, but he gives the place back, and Russel gets a drive-through penalty but still comes out in front of Albon. Verstappen leads the race with 20 laps to go but still needs to box one more time, which means Norris is still in this. However, if a safety car comes out, it would ruin McLaren’s plans.
Norris and Leclerc are fighting hard behind Max, desperate to cling on for podium positions.
On Lap 64, Russel was called into the pits, putting him out of the points and Albon up into 10th. This was an unfortunate strategy for Antonelli, who pitted twice with only a few laps to go, ruining his race and placing him last.
Verstappen pits on the final lap, leaving Norris to fly ahead and hold onto 1st ahead of Leclerc. Norris won the Monaco Grand Prix, which was a perfect weekend and a solid strategy for McLaren, securing a 1st and 3rd position. A strong finish for Ferrari with Leclerc in 2nd and Hamilton in 5th continues to be a lonely attempt for Verstappen as the only Redbull driver earning points.
Several drivers had their career bests at Monaco, such as Hadjar in 6th and the excellent showing from the rookie driver. A stealthy strategy secured Williams in the points, and a strong effort from Ocon in 7th gained some valuable points for Haas.
Next up, we have the Spanish Grand Prix.
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