Bdoes Formula 1 smoke a race in Monaco – after this qualifying? Nothing that isn’t analysed, calculated and simulated before the entourage sets off on the racetrack. Even the maximum possible lap times are calculated in advance, sometimes requested by engineers. The spectacle on Saturday afternoon in the Principality was probably not on anyone’s screen.
A time hunt for the best starting position for the Monaco Grand Prix this Sunday (3 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for Formula 1 and on Sky), which presented other potential winners minute by minute at the end of the hour. The lead changed four times. The audience murmured every time. Because the favorite Max Verstappen was ousted. First by Fernando Alonso, the old master in the Aston Martin.
“What a last sector!”
Champion Verstappen had hardly managed to counterattack when a surprise guest appeared at the front, two minutes before the time was up: Esteban Occon in the Alpine (Renault). Charles Leclerc, who knew every corner of the principality simply because of his experience on the way to school, finally swung up to outshine everyone with his Ferrari. The Monegasque back home on pole for the third time in a row, which was last achieved by a certain Ayrton Senna between 1988 and 1991?
Oh no. Alonso shoots past. His mechanics seize with joy. But Verstappen is still on the slopes. Too slow despite a speed of 270 on the way up to the casino, even in the second sector it doesn’t look like the last overtaking manoeuvre. He fights, pushes the Red Bull to the limit, touches the barriers and wins the duel in the final meters – by 0.085 seconds. “What a last sector,” calls team boss Christian Horner to his pilot and transmits the pecking order: first in front of Alonso and Leclerc.
The 23rd pole position of his career is not something that Verstappen – at first glance – is particularly excited about: “We knew that it would be very close. The first sector wasn’t ideal, I had to risk everything, I gave everything I had,” he says in a conversational tone, calm, relaxed, barely moved a few minutes after the show and still on the track. Nothing about him testifies to this extraordinary achievement.
While mechanics look at the rims worn down by the “wall” contact, Verstappen signals composure. The hands are in the pockets, the cap is on, the demonstration too: Verstappen’s very first pole position in Monaco corrects the slight impression that he doesn’t really like cornering through alleys in the ultimate quick test over one lap. Leclerc is hot on his heels with 19 pole positions in significantly fewer races.
“A lot can happen in the race”
The Ferrari man managed eight of them on street circuits. Verstappen didn’t have a single one to offer until Saturday. Being under pressure to deliver at the very last moment is a testament to what champions and winners are all about, especially when they don’t necessarily love the terrain but are forced to overcome that ‘weakness’.
“I think that was one of the best laps that (Max) has ever done in qualifying. When he got to the pool, he was 0.2 seconds behind Fernando,” Horner told Sky TV. Nevertheless, Verstappen viewed Saturday afternoon, which was characterized by big turns, as a successful preliminary exercise: “A lot can happen in the race, there could be rain, a safety car. It will be about getting a clean race and staying calm.”
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