In the most prestigious race, home favourite Charles Leclerc won the battle in qualifying. A first position that is worth gold along the streets of the principality. Charles will have to finish his excellent work on Sunday, having the first chance of his career to triumph in Monaco. Although after a first preliminary examination the transmission does not appear to be damaged, a final decision will only be taken on ahead of the race. Let’s start immediately with the analysis by examining the table that shows the difference between the ideal lap and the best for each driver. Not everyone managed to get close to their perfect lap. Charles Leclerc’s crash in the last moments of Q3 precluded the last attempt for most of the drivers.
Hearing the team radio messages, both Bottas and Verstappen were very annoyed with the situation. Both are we sure they could have put their signature on pole position? Were they right? Well, it seems incredible considering the performances that Mercedes showed during this weekend, but Bottas is the ideal pole man from the Mercedes team. In fact, the Finn still had two 2 tenths in his pocket. Max too, following a different warm-up strategy, was aiming hard for pole.
The other drivers, for the last round of qualifying, decided to carry out the so-called “prep lap”, useful for centering the operating window on both axles. Throughout the weekend the front of the single-seaters could not get up to temperature, not providing the drivers with the necessary grip to deal with changes in direction. Ferrari was magical in this, perhaps the best.
It is no coincidence that we find Charles Charles’s SF21 in front of everyone. The Monegasque had a car more geared towards oversteer than Carlos Sainz. A balance that seems to have given him the necessary confidence. The Spaniard also had a good pace in all sessions, especially in the first sector, where he was able to make a difference at Sainte Devote. Like Bottas, he left 2 tenths on the road which would have earned him third position. Overall an excellent Ferrari, balanced and capable of handling Pirelli compounds at best.
If we look at the graph that highlights the gaps from the Ferrari in Q3, we notice how in sector 1 almost everyone went faster. The first section includes a long straight that goes all the way to the Casino, where the Honda and Mercedes power units can unleash more power. In this area the Monegasque has never managed to have the same inspiration as his teammate. It is the central section where Charles has earned the first position. A succession of very slow corners where the SF21 showed its excellent traction and rotation qualities. Coming to the last sector, the gaps are once again smaller.
Below the tenth we find Verstappen, Bottas and Norris. The reigning champion was far behind this time. Especially in the third sector, where his engineer gave him many indications to be able to improve. The British did not find the pace and on the last attempt he even hit the wall in the second sector. After FP3, the technicians had decided to make some changes to the car. Shortly before qualifying we saw them stiffen the front anti-roll bar, hoping to be able to activate the front compounds in the right way. Provision that only worked on number 77.
A provisional fourth place on the grid is a result Carlos Sainz Jr would’ve happily signed up for at any other race of his shortlived Ferrari career so far – but in Monaco he described it as “the most painful thing of all”.
The Ferraris have been a revelation this weekend on the streets of Monaco, and Sainz – while perhaps aided by Charles Leclerc missing virtually the whole opening practice with a gearbox problem – has been every bit a match for his team-mate from session to session.
This meant he went into the final segment of qualifying with a genuine shot at pole, but after lapping a quarter of a second off Leclerc on his opening attempt Sainz felt he was robbed of an opportunity to improve when Leclerc clobbered the barrier and brought out a session-ending red flag. Sainz had been 0.246s off his own previous best in sector one at the time, though.
Much like Leclerc, Sainz was coy after Thursday’s running over just how much Ferrari could’ve hoped for – but the Spaniard made it clear after qualifying that he felt this was a very real chance at pole position and the win. Sainz said he lost “two or three tenths in the last sector compared to my best lap” on his initial Q3 lap, and therefore believed he a lot of laptime in the bag – potentially a “1m10.2s, 1m10.1s with the track evolution” – even despite believing he was impeded by Sergio Perez early in his final Q3 attempt.
Leave a Reply