F1 Monaco GP live commentary and updates - Qualifying
Live updates from Formula 1 qualifying at the Monaco Grand Prix
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Live Commentary
By: Jake Boxall-Legge
And breathe, after an all-action qualifying session.
Will the race tomorrow be as spectacular? It's Monaco, and you can never predict what'll happen - especially with the tactical element a complete unknown for tomorrow's race.
We'll catch you then for the 78-lap grand prix! Thanks for joining us.
Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Norris pleased to atone for recent 2025 "struggles"
"Yeah, it's been a long time coming. I feel good. I don't think I'd realise how good this would feel after a few struggles over the last couple of months. We've worked a lot over the past few months to get to where we are today.
"No risk [with two Q3 runs] from our side, it's what we believed was best before qualifying, and it's proved to be what's best after."
Lando Norris, McLaren
Photo by: Peter Fox / Getty Images
Leclerc: More on the table in Monaco
"There's always something more to be done. But at the end of the day, this was the best we could do. The first lap was a bit of a shame, it gives you more confidence for the second run. Just frustrated. We know we don't have the car to go for wins this year."
Piastri: It's been a 'messy' weekend
"Intense, as it always is around here. Quite reminiscent of last year, actually, first lap felt good and then second lap, made a mistake at the harbour chicane. It's been a pretty messy weekend, so to come out with a lap I'm happy with and third is pretty good."
Williams had looked good all day, but 10th and 11th on the grid won't be what the team expected - looks like sticking to the medium tyre plan wasn't the call after all.
Big opportunities for a lot of teams tomorrow - Racing Bulls, Aston, and Haas have some decent track position, but it'll be interesting to see how the backmarkers make up ground with strategy.
Close as you like - 0.109s the gap between Norris and Leclerc.
Piastri is third, with Hamilton a further 0.25s behind the Australian.
Verstappen was left behind after his early pace, 0.715s off Norris' pace, with Hadjar, Alonso, Ocon, Lawson, and Albon completing the top 10.
Hamilton is third, with a time 0.257s off Norris. But Leclerc does something about the McLarens, a 1m10.063s!
But with the final roll of the dice, it's Lando Norris with a 1m09.954s! Track record in the bag, and Norris starts at the front of the grid.
The McLarens will have another go, as the Ferraris begin to filter through on their final runs of the session...
It's a 1m10.140s for Piastri, with a stellar middle sector! But Norris finds a smidgen more in the final sector, and posts a 1m10.125s!
What does everyone else have in the tank?
Order after opening Q3 runs
1. Norris, 2. Piastri, 3. Leclerc, 4. Verstappen, 5. Hamilton, 6. Albon, 7. Ocon, 8. Alonso, 9. Lawson, 10. Hadjar.
Here comes the rest of the field.
The McLarens go for their second laps early, with five minutes of the session still remaining. Fresh softs for them, and for Esteban Ocon - who joins them on the circuit.
Verstappen was close to Norris in the opening sector, but lost out in sector two - and a little bit more in the final sector. He splits the Ferraris to go up to fourth overall.
Albon's circulating on the mediums, and moves up to sixth. Ocon, Alonso, Lawson, and Hadjar fill the remaining positions.
Piastri kicks off with a 1m10.531s, as Norris puts in a 1m10.464s to open the session. Hamilton is about half a second off Norris on his first run of Q3, as Leclerc slots into third place.
What's Verstappen got? We're about to find out.
Q3 begins at Monaco
Here we go - who's going to get the most prime real estate in Monaco for tomorrow's race? Let's find out!
Top 10 through to Q3
Norris
Leclerc
Albon
Piastri
Verstappen
Hamilton
Hadjar
Alonso
Lawson
Ocon
Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team, Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls Team
Photo by: Peter Fox / Getty Images
Eliminated in Q2
11. Sainz
12. Tsunoda
13. Hulkenberg
14. Russell
15. Antonelli
"I cannot do more", Alonso says. He's up to seventh, and believes he's hit the limit.
Hubris? Not a bit of it; Hadjar pings up to sixth before Albon moves up to third place, but neither Sainz nor Tsunoda are able to break out of the bottom five on their last runs. Alonso is safe.
Elimination zone with two minutes left
11. Hadjar, 12. Hulkenberg, 13. Ocon, 14. Russell, 15. Antonelli.
Williams has indeed ditched the mediums for the final laps of the session, while Verstappen gets up to third - but he's still over 0.3s off Norris' best.
A strong final sector puts Norris just 0.011s above Leclerc to go top. Albon and Sainz are both in the box, so might be looking to try some softs for the final part of the session.
Tsunoda is out of the bottom five, but just 0.003s clear of Hadjar.
Leclerc posts a 1m10.581s to go fastest, while Hamilton is second - 0.302s off his team-mate.
Piastri then puts his McLaren into fourth to break out of the bottom five - putting Sainz back in. The Spaniard then continues to find time and moves up to seventh, shoving Hulkenberg down to 11th.
The Williams duo is persisting with the mediums - Alonso is the only other C5 runner out there - as the Ferraris have ditched them for the C6s. It's all about getting into Q3 here, as the timing board is cleared after this session.
Q2 resumes after Russell stoppage
As it stands, we have Norris, Verstappen, Leclerc, Albon, Lawson, Hadjar, Alonso, Hulkenberg, Hamilton, and Sainz in the top 10.
Hulkenberg kicks us off at the pitlane, followed by Albon.
There's still 10 minutes of Q2 left. Ocon, Tsunoda, Piastri, Russell and Antonelli sit in the bottom five - only three of them will get a chance of breaking out of the drop zone.
Piastri set a purple first sector, but had to abort after Russell's stop.
The session will resume in a couple of minutes, at 16:44 local time.
Russell lost power going up the hill to Massenet, kept the car ticking over - but it ran out of steam on the exit of Portier. He's been pushed out of the tunnel, so hopefully we'll get going shortly.
"I think that's game over, sorry mate. We've got no battery," Russell is told. He looks distinctly unhappy with that; Russell was in with a shout of a decent qualifying result.
This makes Mercedes' Sunday efforts a lot more difficult now.
Russell stops in Monaco tunnel
Mercedes hits double-trouble as Russell loses power, and comes to a halt in the middle of the tunnel.
That brings the session to a close, although Russell's asking if he can try the ol' turn it off and on again trick.
Leclerc puts his first time on the board, a 1m11.314s on those mediums. But Norris finds a hatful of time on the softs, a 1m10.959s to go fastest!
Max Verstappen splits the two at the top of the order.
Q2 begins in Monaco
The second phase of quali starts now - both Williams have mediums on now. Both cars are fuelled for the session, so they'll keep going through the session. Leclerc and Hamilton also have the mediums on.
This didn't work for either of the Alpines, but they did give up on them rather than persist to the end - perhaps desperation killed the team's curiosity.
Antonelli made it into Q2, but won't be able to run - so this puts him P15 at best for the grid tomorrow. At least Mercedes can flex its strategic chops...
The start of Q2 will be delayed to fix the Nouvelle Chicane barriers - that gives me a chance to check I've not accidentally written "Nouvelle Cuisine" somewhere in the live text.
Meantime, Hamilton's had a bit of a radio fumble as he wasn't sure if Verstappen was pushing or not. The Dutchman had a bit of a squeaky-bum moment as he approached Hamilton's Ferrari at Massenet.
Eliminated in Q1
16. Bortoleto
17. Bearman
18. Gasly
19. Stroll
20. Colapinto
Franco Colapinto, Alpine
Photo by: Peter Fox / Getty Images
Antonelli hits the wall at the Nouvelle Chicane
That's session over - Bortoleto had just got into the top 15 and was safe, before Hadjar got ahead just before the red flag.
Antonelli touched the inside wall after turning in too early at the Nouvelle Chicane, and skittered across the track and went into the opposite barrier. That's all she wrote for the Italian rookie here.
Hamilton gets up to fourth with his final tour, as Verstappen improves to go third. Norris then improves up to second.
Lawson and Alonso break free of the bottom five - who else can find a way out?
The Williams duo get into fourth and fifth. Hamilton's in 13th and is having to prime himself for another lap.
Elimination zone with two minutes to go
16. Bortoleto, 17. Alonso, 18. Bearman, 19. Stroll, 20. Colapinto.
Leclerc posts a 1m11.229s to go fastest now, as Piastri thinks he's touched the wall somewhere.
Gasly gets out of the bottom five for now, but Colapinto can't improve on his latest soft-tyre time. Tsunoda gets into ninth with the old-spec Red Bull.
Hulkenberg fires his way into sixth on his latest lap - that pulls him out of the bottom five for now. It's going to be all change here, and a few drivers are going to lose out when the music stops.
Hadjar gets up to seventh, which becomes eighth when Antonelli moves up the pack. Ocon also escapes the clutches of the bottom five, pushing Tsunoda down.
Russell puts himself into the top three here, having been pretty much anonymous in the practice sessions. That becomes fourth when Piastri sets a 1m11.385s to go fastest over Norris.
At the other end, we've got Lawson, Hadjar, Hulkenberg, Colapinto, and Gasly in the relegation zone. Alpine's medium-tyre gamble didn't quite come to fruition.
Gasly got baulked at the Nouvelle Chicane by Stroll, who didn't realise there was another car behind him - much like FP1.
Leclerc splits the McLarens, 0.156s slower than Norris' benchmark. Verstappen looks excellent in sector 1, but he's losing time in the following sectors - and remains fourth after his latest effort.
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