Key events
Giles Richards
Monaco’s place in Formula One history has long since been established but two little-known races from the principality 51 years ago remain etched in the memory of those who took part, when women blazing a trail in the male-dominated motor racing world took to the track in Monte Carlo.
Christine Beckers competed in the first Grand Prix Monte-Carlo Féminin on 26 May 1974 and now, at 81 is as irrepressibly enthused about racing as she was when she fell in love with the sport as a teenager.
“I lived my passion,” she says. “There’s no better way to live. Driving, I always felt that’s what I like the most in life. That’s where I’m happy. That’s where I forget everything else. Only having the best time.”
Brundle’s grid walk is coming up, so get yourself to a telly.
The commentator David Croft tells us that Norris’s hot lap for pole position was the first to be completed on this track in under 70sec, at an average speed of 106mph. That’s hot!
The lap time was 1:09.954sec.
Oliver Bearman of Haas, who has already taken a 10-place grid penalty, had a cooling contraption still attached to his car when he went to leave the pits just then. A member of the crew came and grabbed it, but Haas may face another penalty.
Grid positions on the official F1 site don’t seem to be updated with Hamilton’s penalty, but anyway, I believe this is how the cars will line up on the grid in about 40 minutes:
1. Lando Norris (McLaren)
2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
3. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
4. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
5. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
6. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
7. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari, three-place grid penalty)
8. Esteban Ocon (Haas)
9. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
10. Alex Albon (Williams)
11. Carlos Sainz (Williams)
12. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
13. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
14. George Russell (Mercedes)
15. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
16. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
17. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
18. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin, one-place grid penalty)
19. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
20. Oliver Bearman (Haas, 10-place grid penalty)
George Russell and Kimi Antonelli qualified 14th and 15th respectively for Mercedes. The team principal Toto Wolff called that “abysmal.”
Giles Richards
Aston Martin’s designer Adrian Newey has entered what he says his wife calls a “design trance” as he works flat out on the team’s new car for 2026, pointedly noting that if the team are to attract Max Verstappen to their stable the only way is to build a championship-winning car.
The 66-year-old’s switch to Aston Martin from Red Bull last year was one of the biggest coups in Formula One in recent years and Newey was speaking while attending his first race with the team at the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend, having begun working with them in March.
The presenter Natalie Pinkham is being taken for a spin by George Russell in a Mercedes F1 car, in a pre-recorded feature. It looks … fast. That’s what you get for putting an F1 engine in a road car.
“I’ve been driving this car a little bit,” Russell says (he lives in the Principality these days, obviously). “In Monaco, you always find yourself on the track somewhere. Over there, that’s the pitlane.”
Oh yes, you can email me if you wish.
Giles Richards
Lando Norris has long been aware that if he is to revitalise his Formula One world championship challenge he has to click with his McLaren car in qualifying. So his pole position for today’s Monaco Grand Prix is a moment to savour, a performance he has been attempting to nail since claiming the No 1 spot at the season-opener in Australia.
Martin Brundle says they haven’t been able to get a clear answer from the teams on strategy, because they don’t have a clear idea of how to handle the mandated two stops.
“Under normal circumstances you’d say Lando Norris will win if he leads into the first corner, but not today,” Brundle says.
A chat on the telly about today’s mandated two pit stops.
“The rules have thrown a grenade into things,” observes the Sky F1 pundit Naomi Schiff.
“People might be rolling the dice today, and gambling on what they are going to do.
“People further down may be able to put pressure on by taking a different strategy.”
Preamble
What does the Monaco grand prix symbolise in your mind? The magical old-school glamour of motor racing, or modern races so dull they make you weep? Perhaps a bit of both.
Regardless of Monaco’s suitability for contemporary Formula 1, we’ve got a race on today, with Lando Norris of McLaren on pole. His teammate Oscar Piastri leads the drivers’ standings by 13 points (Piastri 146, Norris 133) with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen third on 124: the title race is heating up after eight rounds.
The Ferrari of Charles Leclerc is second on the grid behind Norris, while his teammate Lewis Hamilton had an eventful time in qualifying: he crashed in FP3, recovered to place fourth, but was then penalised three positions for impeding.
A new rule for Monaco this season states that all drivers have to take at least two pitstops, so that certainly has the potential to make things more interesting. Drivers’ championship leader Piastri starts third and what can the reigning champion, Verstappen, achieve from fourth place on the grid? Let’s find out!
Lights out: 2pm UK time
