INDIA in F1

Tag: Monaco Grand Prix

  • Lando Norris takes pole ahead of Leclerc at Monaco: Formula 1

    Lando Norris takes pole ahead of Leclerc at Monaco: Formula 1

    Monaco, 24 May 2025: Lando Norris set a new track record lap to beat local hero Charles Leclerc by a tenth of a second at the end of a thrilling qualifying session for the 2025 FIA Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix. Third place went to championships leader Oscar Piastri. 

    At the start of Q1 it was Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen who set the early pace, with the Dutchman’s opening flyer of 1:11.920 taking him almost two tenths ahead of practice pacesetter Leclerc. However, both McLaren driver soon eclipsed that time, with Norris going four tenths quicker, while Piastri stopped the clock at 1:11.385 to take P1. 

    In the final runs it was Leclerc who took top spot, with the Monegasque driver posting a lap of 1:11.229 to finish just under eight hundredths of a second ahead of Norris with Piastri third ahead of Verstappen and Mercedes’ George Russell. 

    At the other end of the order, Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto was the first to be eliminated in P16, ahead of Haas’ Oliver Bearman, who will start last due to a 10-place grid penalty for ignoring red flags in FP2. Pierre Gasly qualified in P18 ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and the second Alpine of Franco Colapinto, though the Argentinian will move ahead of Stroll due to a one-place penalty for the Canadian.

    The red flags came out at the end of the session when Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, who squeezed through in 15th, hit the barriers in the Nouvelle Chicane. 

    Norris led the way in the first runs of Q2, with the McLaren driver taking P1 on 1:10.959. Verstappen slotted into second place with 0.065s behind, while Leclerc, with Medium tyres on board, took third place two tenths further back. 

    However, moments later the red flags were thrown once more. Russell slowed through the hairpin and Portier before grinding to a halt in the tunnel. In the final runs, it was Norris who took control with a lap of 1:10.570, 

    Just 0.016s ahead of Leclerc and two tenths ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon. 

    Improvements in the final runs for Haas’ Esteban Ocon and Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar meant that Williams’ Carlos Sainz was bumped out of Q3 in P11, while Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda dropped out in P12 ahead of Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg and the sidelined Mercedes cars. 

    In the opening runs of Q3, it was Norris who set the pace with a lap of 1:10.464, just under seven hundredths of a second ahead of Piastri and Leclerc. 

    McLaren opted for two final flying laps and Norris proved unbeatable. The Briton first dropped the provisional pole time to 1:10.125 and though Leclerc briefly moved ahead on 1:10.063, Norris found more time to take pole with a lap of 1:09.954, a new track record. Behind local hero Leclerc, Piastri finished third ahead of Hamilton. Verstappen couldn’t improve on his opening lap and at the end of the session the Dutchman took fifth place ahead of Hadjar, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, Ocon, the second Racing Bulls car of Liam Lawson and Albon. 

    2025 FIA Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix – Qualifying 
    1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1’09.954 – –
    2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1’10.063 0.109 0.156
    3 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1’10.129 0.175 0.250
    4 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1’10.382 0.428 0.612
    5 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1’10.669 0.715 1.022
    6 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1’10.923 0.969 1.385
    7 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1’10.924 0.970 1.387
    8 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1’10.942 0.988 1.412
    9 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1’11.129 1.175 1.680
    10 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1’11.213 1.259 1.800
    11 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1’11.362 1.408 2.013
    12 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1’11.415 1.461 2.089
    13 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1’11.596 1.642 2.347
    14 George Russell Mercedes – – –
    15 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes – – –
    16 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1’11.902 1.948 2.785
    17 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1’11.979 2.025 2.895
    18 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1’11.994 2.040 2.916
    19 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1’12.563 2.609 3.730
    20 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Renault 1’12.597 2.643 3.778

  • Kush Maini takes pole to flag victory in the Monaco Sprint race: F2

    Kush Maini takes pole to flag victory in the Monaco Sprint race: F2

    Monaco, 24 May 2025: Indian star Kush Maini secured victory in the Monte Carlo Sprint Race for DAMS Lucas Oil, converting pole position around the Principality in the FIA Formula 2 World Champioinships.

    The Indian driver held off fellow Alpine Academy talent Gabriele Minì, who finished second for PREMA Racing. Luke Browning inherited third for Hitech TGR after a time penalty for Campos Racing’s Arvid Lindblad.

    AS IT HAPPENED

    Maini got the perfect start, but Luke Browning fell down the order to fifth by Turn 1. His poor getaway allowed Gabriele Minì to climb up to P2.

    Into Mirabeau, Lindblad attempted a pass on Jak Crawford for third but contact between the two allowed Browning back past for fourth and ahead of the American. The Campos driver emerged from the tangle in third but was later handed a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision.

    With DRS enabled, Minì was on the rear wing of the race leader, the gap hovering at 0.3s in the opening 10 laps while the pair pulled over eight seconds clear of Lindblad in third.

    The gap was neutralised on Lap 12 when the Safety Car was deployed to recover Joshua Duerksen’s AIX Racing #20. The Paraguayan driver was left in the barriers ahead of Portier following contact with MP Motorsport’s Oliver Goethe out of Mirabeau that left the AIX with race-ending damage.

    Back to racing conditions entering Lap 15, Maini escaped from DRS range to Minì behind while Lindblad had Browning right on his gearbox in the battle for third on the road.

    Goethe was on the move again, sneaking his MP car up the inside of Victor Martins at La Rascasse to take P9 on the road. Contact between the pair though resulted in a 10-second time penalty for Goethe.

    With 10 laps to go, Minì was back to within 0.2s of the race leader, while Lindblad had dropped back by over 10 seconds in order to set up a late-race charge to minimise his time penalty.

    The Red Bull Junior Team driver was told to push on Lap 22, and he immediately upped his pace to put a buffer between himself and Browning.

    By the final lap, he was on the rear wing of Minì in second with Maini a further couple of seconds up the road.

    It allowed the DAMS driver to earn his second F2 victory ahead of Minì, who fended off Lindblad across the line.

    With Lindblad’s time penalty applied, it gave Browning P3 and dropped the Campos driver to eighth position.

    Crawford wound up fourth ahead of Richard Verschoor, Sebastián Montoya, Leonardo Fornaroli, as Lindblad completed the points in P8.

    KEY QUOTE – Kush Maini, DAMS Lucas Oil

    “P1, first Indian to win in Monaco too. It’s a great honour and a dream come true. I want to say thank you to DAMS and everyone who has supported me. We keep believing!”

    THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

    Alexander Dunne remains P1 in the Drivers’ Championship on 65 points but Luke Browning moves to within one point of the leader, second on 64. Richard Verschoor is third on 59 points with Leonardo Fornaroli just behind him in fourth on 54. Arvid Lindblad rounds out the top five on 46 points.

    Hitech TGR are the Teams’ Standings leaders on 93 points, with Campos Racing second on 87. MP Motorsport are third on 71 points, with Rodin Motorsport and Invicta Racing completing the top five on 65 and 63 points respectively.

    UP NEXT

    The Feature Race follows on Sunday morning, with Alexander Dunne going from Pole Position and Victor Martins alongside him on the front row. Lights out is scheduled for 09:40 local time.

  • Max Verstappen tops FP2 ahead of Charles Leclerc: Monaco Grand Prix

    Max Verstappen tops FP2 ahead of Charles Leclerc: Monaco Grand Prix

    Monaco, 27 May 2023: Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship leader Max Verstappen topped the second practice session for this Sunday’s 2023 FIA Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix, beating Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by just under seven hundredths of a second. Third place went to Leclerc’s team-mate Carlos Sainz but the Spanish driver crashed in the final part of the session, bringing out the red flags. 

    In the early stages of the second hour of practice it was Verstappen who led the way with the Red Bull driver taking P1 thanks to a lap of 1:13.985. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton briefly supplanted the title leader by the slimmest of margins before the Dutchman resumed control with a time of 1:13.857.

    Verstappen improved again to lower the benchmark to 1:13.312 as the early running on medium compound Pirelli tyres came to an end. 

    When the field began to move to soft tyres it was Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso who made the first major move. The two-time champion jumped ahead of Verstappen with a lap of 1:12.786, which stood as the best time of the session for more than 10 minutes before Sainz made his soft-tyre leap with a lap of 1:12.569. 

    Verstappen slotted into third with his first effort on soft tyres, but then moved ahead with his next run of 1:12.462. 

    Leclerc then jumped to P2, marginally ahead of his Ferrari team-mate but that brought an end to significant improvements as Sainz then brought out the red flags. The Spanish driver clipped the barrier on the inside as he went to exit the Swimming Pool section. 

    The contact broke a suspension arm on the front right of his car and he slid into the barriers at the exit, causing further damage to the right side of his Ferrari. 

    Once his car and the debris had been cleared running resumed with 12 minutes left on the clock but there were few improvements. 

    Verstappen therefore took top spot ahead of the Ferrari duo, with Alonso fourth fastest ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris. Hamilton finished sixth for Mercedes, while Sergio Perez was seventh in the second Red Bull RB19. Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas ended the session in P8 ahead of the Alpines Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon. 

    2023 FIA Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix – Free Practice 2 
    1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:12.462 30 165.786
    2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:12.527 0.065 33 165.637
    3 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:12.569 0.107 22 165.541
    4 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:12.682 0.220 32 165.284
    5 Lando Norris McLaren 1:12.906 0.444 18 164.776
    6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:12.960 0.498 29 164.654
    7 Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing 1:12.991 0.529 30 164.584
    8 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 1:13.050 0.588 33 164.451
    9 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:13.089 0.627 28 164.363
    10 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:13.162 0.700 30 164.199
    11 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:13.185 0.723 31 164.148
    12 George Russell Mercedes 1:13.191 0.729 32 164.134
    13 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 1:13.354 0.892 32 163.770
    14 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:13.457 0.995 28 163.540
    15 Nico Hülkenberg Haas 1:13.520 1.058 33 163.400
    16 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1:13.641 1.179 22 163.131
    17 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri 1:13.663 1.201 34 163.083
    18 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:13.673 1.211 30 163.061
    19 Alexander Albon Williams 1:14.217 1.755 10 161.865
    20 Logan Sargeant Williams 1:14.238 1.776 33 161.820

  • Charles Leclerc leads Ferrari’s 1-2 in FP2 at Monaco

    Charles Leclerc leads Ferrari’s 1-2 in FP2 at Monaco

    Monaco, 20 May 2021: Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc set the pace on home soil in the second practice session for Sunday’s 2021 FIA Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix, with the Monegasque driver a tenth of a second ahead of team-mate Carlos Sainz and almost four tenths faster than third-place Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.

    Leclerc had missed most of the morning session with a gearbox problem and seeking to make up for lost time the local hero was one of the first on track in the afternoon session and in the opening phase of the session he was frequently at the top of the timesheet as he quickly built up pace.

    He was ousted, though, by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who took top spot with lap of 1:13.961. The Dutchman then lowered his own benchmark to 1:13.499. Hamilton then set an identical laptime to take P2 by virtue of having set the time later after Verstappen.

    Verstappen then went quicker again reaching 1:13.241, despite being hampered by traffic in the sector.

    Hamilton then dipped into 1m12s bracket and a second flying lap saw him improve to 1:12.569.

    The Mercedes drivers then moved to soft tyres and Valtteri Bottas jumped to the top of the order with a lap of 1:12.107. Hamilton looked on course to eclipse that but he lost time when he took too much kerb at the Nouvelle Chicane. The mistake meant he took P2 behind Bottas, 0.173s adrift.

    Sainz then posted what looked to be the fastest time of FP2 with a lap of 1:11.796, especially when Hamilton, who had continued his run, set what would end up being only the session’s third fastest time.

    However, just inside the final 20 minutes, Leclerc set the session’s fastest time with a lap 1:11.684,  0.112 clear of Sainz and 0.390s in front of Hamilton. 

    Verstappen had to settle for fourth ahead of Bottas after the Dutch driver encountered traffic at the end of his first flying lap.

    The session was red-flagged a few minutes from time when Haas’s Mick Schumacher crashed Haas at Massenet. He was able to keep going but eventually had to pull over and stop at an escape road beyond the chicane.

    2021 FIA Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
    1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:11.684 30 167.585
    2 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:11.796 0.112 32 167.324
    3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:12.074 0.390 28 166.678
    4 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:12.081 0.397 27 166.662
    5 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:12.107 0.423 32 166.602
    6 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:12.379 0.695 24 165.976
    7 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:12.498 0.814 28 165.703
    8 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 1:12.708 1.024 24 165.225
    9 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:12.746 1.062 28 165.138
    10 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:12.982 1.298 26 164.604
    11 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:13.065 1.381 31 164.417
    12 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1:13.175 1.491 27 164.170
    13 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:13.195 1.511 26 164.125
    14 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:13.199 1.515 28 164.116
    15 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 1:13.257 1.573 26 163.987
    16 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:13.509 1.825 32 163.424
    17 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:13.593 1.909 31 163.238
    18 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 1:14.407 2.723 26 161.452
    19 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 1:14.416 2.732 25 161.433
    20 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 1:14.829 3.145 11 160.542