Lando Norris denied Charles Leclerc pole position for his home grand prix with his final lap of the session.
The pair’s team mates will line up immediately behind them, while Max Verstappen took fifth on the grid.
It was a poor session for Mercedes, however, as neither of their cars reached Q3.
Q1
For the second week in a row, Q1 came to an end with the 15th-placed driver, who claimed the final place in Q2, crashing. Andrea Kimi Antonelli clipped the barrier on the inside at the Nouvelle Chicane and slithered to a stop, apologising profusely on his radio to race engineer Peter Bonnington.Several drivers behind him might have felt they were owed apologies too. However Antonelli’s crash had little effect upon the five drivers trying to escape the drop zone.
Both Alpine drivers dropped out in the first round after being the only ones to start the session on the medium compound. They later switched to softs, but not in time to escape the bottom five.
Gabriel Bortoleto briefly grabbed a place in the top 15 with his final flying lap. However he slipped into the drop zone moments later.
The two drivers who had picked up penalties also went out in the first round. Lance Stroll is also under investigation again, this time for holding up Pierre Gasly at the chicane, and Oliver Bearman also went no further.
Race control also confirmed an investigation into potential impeding by Lewis Hamilton on Max Verstappen. The Red Bull driver had to go around the outside of the Ferrari at Massenet. Hamilton’s race engineer Riccardo Adami had told him Verstappen was “slowing down,” but the Red Bull driver was infuriated by the encounter with his rival. “Massive impeding, that,” he told Gianpiero Lambiase on his radio.
Leclerc headed the session, followed by the two McLaren drivers and Verstappen.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Q1 result
| P. | # | Driver | Team | Model | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | SF-25 | 1’11.229 | |
| 2 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL39 | 1’11.285 | 0.056 |
| 3 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL39 | 1’11.308 | 0.079 |
| 4 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | RB21 | 1’11.431 | 0.202 |
| 5 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | W16 | 1’11.507 | 0.278 |
| 6 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | SF-25 | 1’11.575 | 0.346 |
| 7 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | FW47 | 1’11.629 | 0.400 |
| 8 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin-Mercedes | AMR25 | 1’11.674 | 0.445 |
| 9 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Williams-Mercedes | FW47 | 1’11.707 | 0.478 |
| 10 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | RB21 | 1’11.800 | 0.571 |
| 11 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT | 02 | 1’11.811 | 0.582 |
| 12 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT | 02 | 1’11.818 | 0.589 |
| 13 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas-Ferrari | VF-25 | 1’11.839 | 0.610 |
| 14 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber-Ferrari | C45 | 1’11.871 | 0.642 |
| 15 | 12 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | W16 | No time | |
| 16 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber-Ferrari | C45 | 1’11.902 | 0.673 |
| 17 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas-Ferrari | VF-25 | 1’11.979 | 0.750 |
| 18 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Renault | A525 | 1’11.994 | 0.765 |
| 19 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | AMR25 | 1’12.563 | 1.334 |
| 20 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine-Renault | A525 | 1’12.597 | 1.368 |
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Q2
The session took another unfortunate turn for Mercedes soon after Q2 began. George Russell, who looked more competitive than he had all weekend in Q1, lost power after hitting a bump at the exit of Sainte Devote.
He tried to cruise back to the pits but came to a stop in the tunnel, triggering red flags, and ending his run of Q3 appearances.
Ferrari had opted to take the medium tyre compound when Q2 began and Leclerc was initially able to go quickest on it. However Norris and Verstappen, both still running the softs, beat his time, the McLaren driver three tenths of a second ahead.
The Williams drivers also opted for mediums and Albon put his car fourth. Hamilton and Sainz, however, fell behind a clutch of soft-tyred runners after their first laps, taking ninth and tenth respectively by the time Russell’s W16 ground to a halt.
The session resumed with nine minutes left on the clock and the Ferrari drivers back on soft rubber. In short order they headed the times again, Leclerc on a 1’10.581, Hamilton three-tenths off.
Sainz made a late switch to softs but failed to make the cut for Q3 by a tenth of a second. A thrilled Esteban Ocon was laughing on his radio with race engineer Laura Mueller as he rebounded from a poor Friday to claim the final place.
Yuki Tsunoda was on course to reach the top 10 as the final runs began. But his first sector was poor and both Racing Bulls drivers beat him to reach Q3.
Norris unleashed a strong lap to pip Leclerc to the top time by a hundredth of a second. But team mate Piastri had a scruffy end to the session as he did a final run to get his eye in for the pole position shoot-out. Verstappen also put in a fully committed final lap, which left him fifth.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Q2 result
| P. | # | Driver | Team | Model | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL39 | 1’10.570 | |
| 2 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | SF-25 | 1’10.581 | 0.011 |
| 3 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | FW47 | 1’10.732 | 0.162 |
| 4 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL39 | 1’10.858 | 0.288 |
| 5 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | RB21 | 1’10.875 | 0.305 |
| 6 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | SF-25 | 1’10.883 | 0.313 |
| 7 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT | 02 | 1’11.040 | 0.470 |
| 8 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin-Mercedes | AMR25 | 1’11.182 | 0.612 |
| 9 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT | 02 | 1’11.250 | 0.680 |
| 10 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas-Ferrari | VF-25 | 1’11.262 | 0.692 |
| 11 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Williams-Mercedes | FW47 | 1’11.362 | 0.792 |
| 12 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | RB21 | 1’11.415 | 0.845 |
| 13 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber-Ferrari | C45 | 1’11.596 | 1.026 |
| 14 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | W16 | No time | |
| 15 | 12 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | W16 | No time |
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Q3
Norris sustained his advantage after the first runs in Q3, Piastri slotting in behind him. The pair of them were quicker than Leclerc, with Verstappen fourth in the Red Bull.McLaren sent their cars out early for their final runs, and fuelled to do two laps each. This proved a shrewd tactic.
Norris and Piastri improved their times on their first flying laps, edging further clear of their rivals. Neither Verstappen nor Hamilton could get on terms with them on their final runs, but Leclerc could, and took the top spot away with a lap of 1’10.063.
The McLaren drivers still had one final lap to come, however, and Norris produced something special with his last effort. He set a record-breaking pace, dipping below the 70-second barrier with a time of 1’09.954 to take his first pole position since the season-opening race in Australia, and arguably the most important one of the season.
Hadjar delivered an excellent lap to join Verstappen on the third row of the grid, pipping Alonso by a thousandth of a second. Albon wasn’t able to deliver on the strong pace he showed earlier in the race and qualified one place ahead of his team mate.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Q3 result
| P. | # | Driver | Team | Model | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL39 | 1’09.954 | |
| 2 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | SF-25 | 1’10.063 | 0.109 |
| 3 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL39 | 1’10.129 | 0.175 |
| 4 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | SF-25 | 1’10.382 | 0.428 |
| 5 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | RB21 | 1’10.669 | 0.715 |
| 6 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT | 02 | 1’10.923 | 0.969 |
| 7 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin-Mercedes | AMR25 | 1’10.924 | 0.970 |
| 8 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas-Ferrari | VF-25 | 1’10.942 | 0.988 |
| 9 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT | 02 | 1’11.129 | 1.175 |
| 10 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | FW47 | 1’11.213 | 1.259 |
Miss nothing from RaceFans
Get a daily email with all our latest stories - and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here:
2025 Monaco Grand Prix
- Norris predicts his Monaco pole record should stand “for a very long time”
- Bearman is right: Formula 1 should let Monaco be Monaco
- Wurz’s proposed Monaco track changes would make ‘1 to 5%’ difference – Sainz
- Bortoleto claims his “put him in the wall” radio message was taken out of context
- I deserved penalty, deliberate rule breaking ‘should never be allowed’ – Russell
Ajaxn
24th May 2025, 16:36
A Cracking Quali.
It looks like Ferrari rebuilt Hamilton’s car to be closer to Leclerc’s setup. Tomorrow’s two-stopper should be interesting.
BasCB (@bascb)
24th May 2025, 21:24
Yeah, Monaco did not disappoint with qualifying again. Now let us hope the race will be more interesting than the last few ones over here were.
RH
24th May 2025, 16:57
Mega lap from NOR. Outstanding performance.
LEC outstanding as usual, the papaya cars just that much quicker.
VER made a mistake in his last lap but looking at a 7 tenth gap, don’t think his mistake cost him anything more than a P4 all things considered. HAM might get a grid drop for impeding (potential thanks to Ferrari for this) and that might put him where he would be if he just had a clean last lap.
PIA a bit disappointing.
Very nice qualifying session.
BasCB (@bascb)
24th May 2025, 21:25
Yeah, Hamilton did get a grid drop, meaning Verstappen will start next to Piastri on the second row and Hadjar will get to start in p5!
Also a really good qualifying from Ocon to get the Haas so far up in the top 10 and a decent job from Lawson to make it 2 RB cars in the top 10
David BR (@david-br)
24th May 2025, 17:06
Excellent and enjoyable qualifying session, superb lap from Norris. Now just a question of a mistake free GP and some luck with all the pit stop shuffling, safety cars etc. A grid drop for Hamilton seems likely.
Mercedes, what happened?!
erikje (@erikje)
24th May 2025, 17:06
He will get a grid drop but I put the fault on Ferrari. He’d already pulled over and slowed when he was told Verstappen wasn’t pushing. He gave a tiny blip of acceleration which put him right on line in the worst place.
Solid grid drop, 3 places so he’ll be p7 tomorrow.
N
24th May 2025, 17:56
It didn’t affect Verstappen’s session, they both went through to Q3 no problem, so i expect no action.
Tommy Scragend
24th May 2025, 19:06
Impeding is impeding, it doesn’t matter whether it affected the other driver’s session or not. Hence Hamilton has received a three-place penalty.
Applebook
25th May 2025, 0:03
Of course it was the team’s fault, but 90% of the time, it is. Very few drivers intentionally impede others. The punishment is harsh and unfair to the driver, but it is necessary to deter shenanigans from the pitwall.
Edvaldo
24th May 2025, 17:13
The best part of this weekend is over as the race is going to be the drag we all know and hate.
BasCB (@bascb)
24th May 2025, 21:27
Oh, come on. It will surely be interesting to see why Alonso is not finishing in the points when he starts in p6 (after the Hamilton grid penalty).
Applebook
25th May 2025, 0:04
With two mandatory stops and crashers like Colapinto and others on the grid, it could be a more interesting than usual dry Monaco GP. Hoping for Charles to get some luck here, as he more than deserves it.
David BR (@david-br)
24th May 2025, 19:44
At least we can pretend it’s a race for a couple of laps. Then it’s a game of Sokoban via the pit lane.
David BR (@david-br)
24th May 2025, 19:44
(replying to Edvaldo, as ever I’ll swear I clicked the reply button…)