Verstappen Steals Pole from Alonso in Monaco Qualifying

May 27, 2023Ramon Jones
Formula 1

The 2023 Monaco Grand Prix qualifying session ended earlier today with Max Verstappen (Red Bull) snatching pole position away from Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin). Verstappen edged out the top finish by one tenth of a second. Charles Leclerc finish third but will received a 3 place grid penalty for impeding Lando Norris (McLaren) during the session. Vertsappen’s teammate Sergio Perez had an unfortunate crash in Q1 which will see him start from the back of the grid. ON a circuit like Monaco improving from this position will almost guarantee that Perez will start on the hard compound tires and hope for a safety car or another on track incident to help him fight through the field. Monaco is not know for producing many over takes so Perez will have his work cut out for him.

The Mercedes upgrades for the W14 do not seem to have had the boost Lewis Hamilton was looking for. He was able to muster a P6 finish in qualifying with teammate George Russell in P8. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) had a phenomenal qualifying finishing a season highest P4 for the Alpine side. Oscar Piastri showed vast improvement finishing P11 for McLaren) Full qualifying results are below.

Full Monaco Qualifying Results

PositionNumberDriver Car/Engine  Time  Delta 
1Max VerstappenRed Bull/Honda RBPT1’11.365 
14Fernando AlonsoAston Martin/Mercedes1’11.4490.084
16Charles LeclercFerrari1’11.4710.106
31Esteban OconAlpine/Renault1’11.5530.188
55Carlos Sainz Jr.Ferrari1’11.6300.265
44Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’11.7250.360
10Pierre GaslyAlpine/Renault1’11.9330.568
63George RussellMercedes1’11.9640.599
22Yuki TsunodaAlphaTauri/Honda RBPT1’12.0820.717
10 4Lando NorrisMcLaren/Mercedes1’12.2540.889
11 81Oscar PiastriMcLaren/Mercedes1’12.3951.030
12 21Nyck de VriesAlphaTauri/Honda RBPT1’12.4281.063
13 23Alexander AlbonWilliams/Mercedes1’12.5271.162
14 18Lance StrollAston Martin/Mercedes1’12.6231.258
15 77Valtteri BottasAlfa Romeo/Ferrari1’12.6251.260
16 2Logan SargeantWilliams/Mercedes1’13.1131.748
17 20Kevin MagnussenHaas/Ferrari1’13.2701.905
18 27Nico HülkenbergHaas/Ferrari1’13.2791.914
19 24Zhou GuanyuAlfa Romeo/Ferrari1’13.5232.158
20 11Sergio PérezRed Bull/Honda RBPT1’13.8502.485