00:00But hey, we've been coming here since way before the World Championship started.
00:04Understood.
00:06Trouble with that, Lewis has had to make a bit of a gap now,
00:09and he's got Franco Colopinto, who's nipped in between the two Ferraris.
00:12But we're in the 1.15 nines, we were 1.13s earlier in Free Practice 3.
00:18Just brushed the barrier, got a little bit unstable going into Casino Square.
00:24Certainly would have lost time.
00:25It's by half a second.
00:26Well, that's the worst.
00:27Come on!
00:31We know Isaac is pretty volatile in that respect.
00:35Yep, he manages to drive through it, as it were, pretty quickly.
00:39But if you can keep calm while all around you people are losing theirs,
00:43well, you'll be the winner here in Monaco in the 1,000th Grand Prix in 60 years
00:48since Bruce McLaren drove for his team here in Monaco in 1966.
00:53The Asterisk crosses the line only fifth fastest behind Hülkenberg, Hamilton, Norris and Leclerc.
00:59And Antonelli now as well, who goes third fastest.
01:01Yeah, I think Lando will be reasonably happy with that 14.2.
01:05But we'll find a huge amount of traffic in between Alex Albon and the end of the lap.
01:11Yeah, these cars are much better at travelling through the dirty air centre of the back of another car.
01:15But Max, Max had to navigate a lot there and it's hurt him with a 14.5.
01:22Racing bulls.
01:23Charles Leclerc quickest through first and middle sector.
01:27Lando Norris into the 1.13s, goes fastest overall.
01:31I dare say Charles Leclerc is going to beat that as he crosses the line.
01:33And he does with a 1.13.4.
01:36Be comfortable, you've got to be in the 1.13s in this first phase of qualifying to get through to
01:41Q2.
01:42And that's only four drivers at the moment.
01:46This is, oh, that must have been up against the barrier for Antonelli.
01:50We did see that move, didn't we, when we were on the overhead camera, the slide.
01:53And that is where George Russell lost time.
01:56Charles Leclerc now going through the final corner.
01:58I would imagine to stretch the gap out in front and does so by another couple of tenths.
02:04Here he comes to, there are some mega camera angles around here.
02:07I love the drone angles that I've never seen those before.
02:11But Antonelli goes over the line then and pops it into second place.
02:14Confirming what a cracking lap that was from Charles Leclerc as Max Verstappen then moves into second.
02:20There is a flag now out on the track towards the end of the lap.
02:25It's for Gabriel Bortoleto at the Nouvelle Chicane.
02:28And he has stopped right on that chicane.
02:31Bottas crosses the line, still in the bottom six.
02:34And that is Gabriel Bortoleto up against the barriers.
02:37So I would imagine that is going to be either the session ending under yellow flags or they might red
02:44flag it.
02:45They'll have to red flag it.
02:47They have.
02:48And they will restart it unless it's under 70 seconds.
02:52Bad news if you are Oli Behrman and Carlos Sainz in that bottom six at the moment and probably not
02:57expecting to be in that bottom six.
02:59Let's see what happened.
03:00Oh, he clipped the barrier on the entrance.
03:02Yeah, clipped that inside.
03:03Very easy to do.
03:04You almost aim for it, to be honest.
03:06He was slightly unsighted by the car ahead of him, but a broken track rod there and it steered him
03:13left into the barriers.
03:15Tunnel than you'd ever imagine.
03:17And something has gone wrong.
03:19No, it's the end of the session, of course.
03:20So over the line then, didn't quite make it.
03:23No, Colopinto did not make it.
03:25He could well be at risk here because the checkered flag had come out before he got to the line.
03:30So just outside the time he needs to get out of the bottom six.
03:33Bottas crosses the line, stays 20th.
03:36He's out of qualifying.
03:38Stroll didn't leave the pits, so he's out of qualifying.
03:41Perez has pitted.
03:43He's out of qualifying too.
03:45We're on board with Oli Behrman trying to shove the car, go-kart style, to the line.
03:51Stays 18th.
03:52He's out of qualifying.
03:53Sainz has improved in the middle sector.
03:56A man who's scored in all ten of his Monaco Grand Prix that he's taken part in.
04:01Can he get into Q2?
04:02Yes, he can.
04:03Tenth fastest for Carlos Sainz.
04:06Great effort from him.
04:07Run-off zones or whatever, maybe turn oneward.
04:10But we've got it, thank goodness.
04:12He certainly wouldn't build a pit lane this narrow.
04:14Look what the f*** made.
04:16Williams mechanic, what an idiot.
04:20Yeah, Carlos Sainz was basically told by his mechanic to go.
04:22He then managed to get the brakes on and Max Verstappen could get past.
04:27He was, and he is, and he's on the power now, charging down the main straight.
04:31While he does that, Leclerc's going in faster through the first sector.
04:35Verstappen into the 1.13s.
04:37That's two tenths up on his best time from Q1.
04:39Still quite a long banana of a straight to get to the line.
04:43And that's what we're expecting into the 12s.
04:46Yep, a 1.12.9 for Charles Leclerc.
04:50His teammate Lewis Hamilton just a tenth and a half back.
04:53Ferrari first and second fastest with Max Verstappen.
04:56Currently P3.
04:58Make that P4 as Oscar Piastri pops up an impressive time.
05:02Just on the fringes of those 1.12s.
05:04And Isaac Hadjar goes fourth fastest ahead of his teammate Max Verstappen.
05:08Lando Norris, meanwhile, going fastest in the middle sector and going quickest overall by nine one-thousands from Charles Leclerc.
05:14Max then really hard on the throttle way before the exit of Antonino's corner.
05:20Over the line he goes.
05:21And that is P2.
05:23P2 for Max Verstappen.
05:26Matching the minimum or the maximum slowest time that you can have when you're not on a flying lap.
05:32Here comes George Russell then.
05:33Never started in the top three here in Monaco.
05:37Only eighth fastest for George Russell when he crosses the line.
05:41George Russell so far not looking like a driver.
05:43We're going to see going for Paul.
05:45Where is he losing his time?
05:50Oh, he had an oversteer again, didn't he, in the middle of that corner.
05:53I suspect.
05:54You know, when a car slides like that on the entrance to the swimming pool.
05:58And that's why we stick Bernie on the pit wall for this qualifying session as Colopinto goes 12th fastest.
06:05Gasly, his teammate, gets into the top ten.
06:08Will this be enough to keep Liam Lawson well inside the top ten?
06:12It certainly moves him up to P9.
06:14If the projected time is a 1.13.3, knockout time, plus or minus a couple of tenths, he's on
06:20the cusp, Liam Lawson.
06:22Tonelli is absolutely flying whilst his teammate is just trying to inch up maybe into the top six.
06:27Russell crosses the line, stays eighth fastest with a 1.13.2.
06:32Russell is right on the cusp here.
06:34The man who's second in the championship, the championship leader, Kimi Antonelli, 1.12.7, is out in front.
06:40Yeah, that's twice he's done a 12.7 now, Antonelli.
06:44But Verstappen then smashes that by two tenths of a second.
06:48That's a lot around here.
06:50In Q3, we'll see in a moment.
06:52Sainz crosses the line, stays in the elimination zone.
06:55P11 just on the fringes but missing out.
06:58Alex Albon is also missing out.
07:01Both Williams are there or thereabouts but not quite, keeping Gasly and Lawson in that top ten.
07:07Dennis Hadjar goes third fastest in Lawson.
07:10Lindblad stays in P15 and one by one, the challenge is coming but it ain't coming to dispose Gasly or
07:18Lawson in that top ten.
07:20A bit leery there.
07:20That was a bit leery, wasn't it?
07:22But Piastri to the line then.
07:25He's got steadily further back down the grid in the last few years.
07:29A 1.12.9 from him.
07:31Norris, a 1.12.7.
07:33Boom, give it full beans and just keep flicking up through the gears and see what it does for him.
07:39And it's a 12.5, four tenths quicker than Q2.
07:43George Russell, meanwhile, where can he finish third fastest?
07:46So he's ahead of Piastri, ahead of Leclerc, who's done a lap and then pitted but not ahead of his
07:52teammate, Kimi Antonelli.
07:54A 1.12.3 from him puts him on provisional pole.
07:58Oh, Max Verstappen getting all out of shape at the Rascasse corner.
08:02That will have cost him time and he was on a par with Antonelli up until that moment.
08:07Verstappen crosses the line.
08:08He is one one thousandth of a second slower.
08:12That's the provisional front row.
08:13So Antonelli and Verstappen as Hadjar now crosses the line and goes P6.
08:18But a warning is a warning.
08:19A black and white flag.
08:20One more strike and you're out.
08:21Final warning, yeah.
08:22And Kimi Antonelli's got one from earlier in Q1.
08:25This is Charles Leclerc through an oversteer moment through Massenet.
08:29That would be why he pitted early at the end of that lap.
08:32The pressure's on Charles Leclerc here.
08:35He's going to get one chance, Martin, and one chance only unless they can squeeze in two laps.
08:41He's lucky that was a little tap against the wall there for Oscar Piastri.
08:44Then we saw him getting, yeah, he's a bit too trigger happy on the throttle there.
08:49He's sticking, it was giving him some speed.
08:51A little bit tail happy coming out of the final corner.
08:55Over the line he goes and it is Paul.
08:57And the crowd are cheering like crazy.
09:00George Russell, first set of him, best he's done so far in this session.
09:04Verstappen to the line, grabs that pole position back again with a 1-12-0.
09:10Next to cross the line, Lewis Hamilton on the front row with Max Verstappen.
09:15From the front row, we've got a yellow flag out on the track though.
09:18Antonelli crosses the line and he has got pole position.
09:22And Charles Leclerc hits the wall as Antonelli takes pole.
09:27That, in a Monaco moment, is how it all changes around.
09:32Back corner, he loses it.
09:35He's got oversteer on the way in.
09:37And that's why he clouted the right rear.
09:40Back end stepped out on the way into the corner.
09:43He kind of had nothing to lose at that point, did he?
09:45It was just like, you know, go for gold.
09:48And wow, what a performance from the teenager then to seize pole position.
09:54We knew Verstappen could go faster.
09:57And it's an old Ferrari second round.
09:59Yes, Kimi.
10:00Nice work, pal.
10:01Well, good man.
10:02Well done.
10:04Woo!
10:04Woo!
10:05What about the lap?
10:08Woo!
10:10My man.
10:1143 milliseconds.
10:14Oh, man.
10:14That's not too bad.
10:16Oh.
10:17Oh.
10:18Oh.
10:18Oh.
10:19Oh.
10:19Oh.
10:20Oh.
10:22Oh.
10:22Oh.
Comments