As Leclerc records the first home pole for a Monegasque driver in 85 years, Aston Martin record their best qualifying result since 1959 and Gasly equals his team’s best ever Monaco qualifying result. Here are the facts and statistics from qualifying at the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix!
LECLERC TAKES POLE AT HOME
Despite crashing and bringing out the red flags at the end of qualifying, Charles Leclerc took pole position for his home race. It’s the first time a Monegasque driver has taken pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix since Louis Chiron did so in 1936. Leclerc had never reached Q3 for the Monaco Grand Prix prior to today.
Leclerc took pole position for the eighth time in his Formula 1 career. It was his, and the Ferrari team’s, first pole since the 2019 Mexican Grand Prix. Leclerc now has as many poles as John Surtees, Riccardo Patrese and Jenson Button.
With Leclerc’s pole, Ferrari equal McLaren as the team with the most pole positions at the Monaco Grand Prix in its 67-race history as a round of the World Championship. Both teams now have eleven poles in the principality.
Leclerc is the 36th different driver to take pole at the Monaco Grand Prix during its tenure on the Formula 1 calendar.
THE TOP 10
Max Verstappen – who had set the best first sector time just prior to the red flag in Q3 – qualified in second place. It’s the first time he has qualified on the front row at the Monaco Grand Prix.
Carlos Sainz qualified in fourth place, recording his best qualifying result since his third place at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix. With Leclerc setting the fastest time in Q3, this was the first time Sainz has been out-qualified by his team-mate at the Monaco Grand Prix in his F1 career.
With fifth place, Lando Norris recorded his best qualifying result of the year to date. This was also McLaren’s best qualifying result at the Monaco Grand Prix since Lewis Hamilton qualified fourth for the team in 2012.
Both Pierre Gasly – who qualified sixth – and Carlos Sainz maintained their 100% Q3 record at the Monaco Grand Prix. Juan Pablo Montoya, Mark Webber, Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg and Alex Albon are the only drivers to not miss out on Q3 on all of their appearances at the track since the system was introduced in 2006.
Gasly’s sixth place equals the Red Bull junior team’s best ever qualifying result at the Monaco Grand Prix. Carlos Sainz qualified sixth for Toro Rosso in 2017.
Lewis Hamilton qualified in seventh place – his worst qualifying result since the 2018 German Grand Prix. Since the 2018 German Grand Prix, this is only the fifth time that Hamilton has qualified outside of the top three on the grid.
Sebastian Vettel reached Q3 and qualified in eighth place. It was his best qualifying result since his fifth place at the 2020 Hungarian Grand Prix. Vettel’s eighth place was also the best result for an Aston Martin driver since the 1959 British Grand Prix.
This was Vettel’s twelfth consecutive appearance at the Monaco Grand Prix in which he has reached Q3. His Q1 exit here in 2008 is the only time he has failed to qualify in the top ten.
Antonio Giovinazzi reached Q3 for the first time since last year’s Turkish Grand Prix. It’s the second time he has appeared in Q3 in the last 34 races. This was the first time a driver for the Alfa Romeo/Sauber team has reached Q3 in Monaco since Sergio Perez in 2011.
OUT IN Q2
With Esteban Ocon qualifying eleventh and Fernando Alonso out in Q1, the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix is the first race weekend of the season that neither Alpine driver has reached Q3
Daniel Ricciardo qualified in twelfth place, recording his first Q2 exit at Monaco since 2013 – a year in which he also qualified twelfth at the circuit. Ricciardo’s Q2 exit makes this the third Monaco Grand Prix in a row that one McLaren driver has reached Q3 with the other out in Q2.
Lance Stroll, who qualified thirteenth, is yet to out-qualify a team-mate at the Monaco Grand Prix in four appearances at the event. This was, however, the first time that the Canadian has made it out of Q1 in Monaco, as well as the first time he has not qualified eighteenth at the track.
Kimi Raikkonen qualified fourteenth at the Monaco Grand Prix for a second successive appearance at the event.
OUT IN Q1
Fernando Alonso qualified in seventeenth place for the Monaco Grand Prix. It was his first Q1 exit since the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix and the second time Alonso has been out in Q1 at the Monaco Grand Prix. He was out in Q1 in 2010 following a crash in FP3.
The 2021 Monaco Grand Prix marks the first time that Alonso has been out-qualified by his team-mate at four races in a row since Felipe Massa out-qualified him at the four races between the 2012 United States Grand Prix and the 2013 Malaysia Grand Prix. This is only the fourth time in Alonso’s career that he has been out-qualified at four races in a row.
Haas saw both of their drivers eliminated in Q1 for an eleventh successive race. This was the first time both Haas cars have been out in Q1 in Monaco in the team’s history.
After a crash in Free Practice 3, Mick Schumacher became the first driver to fail to set a lap time in qualifying since Yuki Tsunoda, who crashed out during Q1 at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Schumacher was also the first driver to fail to make an on track appearance in a qualifying session since Daniil Kvyat at the 2019 Russian Grand Prix.