Red Bull driver Verstappen surged to his third pole of 2023 by just 0.084s with a remarkable late effort to usurp Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, who had until the dying moments of the session looked set to claim his first pole since Hockenheim 2012.
At the circuit where pole position has more value than any other, due to the difficulty of overtaking at the Principality, Verstappen had trailed his fellow double world champion by two tenths heading into the short final sector. But Verstappen “gave it everything I had” and admitted he “clipped a few barriers” to secure his first pole position in Monaco and increase his chances of repeating his 2021 victory.
Alonso admitted he was driving at “an uncomfortable level of risk” to secure the all-important pole, but keeps his hopes of a first Monaco victory since 2007 alive with a front row start.
Charles Leclerc qualified third for Ferrari, but a three-place grid penalty for impeding Lando Norris in the Tunnel section dropped him to sixth and elevated Esteban Ocon to third. The Alpine driver was another to admit he “hit the wall very hard a couple of times” and delighted to match his best-ever grid position, despite some frustration that his ploy of running early in the hope of a late red flag didn’t pay off.
Carlos Sainz recovered from his FP2 crash to take fourth after Leclerc’s penalty, with Lewis Hamilton boosted to fifth in the lead Mercedes following its raft of upgrades. The eight-time world champion revealed that a set-up change which had made life harder in qualifying should pay dividends in the race.
However, Hamilton’s day was not straightforward as a late FP3 prang meant his car had to be hoisted to safety on a crane, giving eagle-eyed photographers a close-up view of the team’s closely guarded secrets, to the frustration of team boss Toto Wolff.
Verstappen’s pole was a positive antidote for Red Bull after defending Monaco winner Sergio Perez planted his car into the barriers at Sainte Devote in Q1. The Mexican will have to start from the pitlane as the impact required his team to replace the chassis. Perez admitted “I cannot believe what I what I've done”, as his championship deficit to Verstappen appears likely to increase.
Source: Autosport