Tracks are split into sections for timing. A “fastest sector” means you were quickest in that part of the track, and the hosts are saying Antonelli still won pole even without being the fastest in any one section on his last lap.
A flow state is when you’re completely locked in and everything feels effortless. The hosts are saying Monaco requires that kind of focus to drive the car right over the bumps and nail pole.
A safety car is when officials slow everyone down because something is unsafe on the track. When it happens, the race gets “paused” in a way, and teams can change their plans for pit stops.
One lap pace is how fast a car can go on its best single lap, like qualifying. Race pace can be different because tires wear and the car has to keep performing for longer.
In F1, strategy is how teams plan pit stops, tire choices, and timing relative to race events like safety cars. Because Monaco can bunch the field, small strategic calls can swing track position and outcomes even if qualifying was close.
Rear tyre overheating means the back tires are getting too hot, which can reduce grip and increase wear. In F1, that often forces teams to adjust driving style, tire pressures, and strategy because overheated tires can ruin lap times and consistency.
The Dodge Challenger is a car made for strong acceleration and a sporty, performance-focused drive. It’s a popular model people recognize, and the word “Challenger” can be used to mean a competitor in general conversation.
Term
front road
They’re talking about the front row of the starting grid—where the two fastest qualifiers line up side-by-side. At Monaco, starting near the front matters a lot because passing is hard.
The rear wing is the big spoiler on an F1 car that helps the tires stick to the road. More aggressive wing setups can make the car easier to control through corners—something that matters a lot at Monaco.
Movable aero means parts of the car’s wings/aerodynamics that can change while you’re driving. If there’s no movable aero, the car can’t “adjust itself” mid-lap, so the setup you qualify with is what you get.
F1 qualifying times are broken into parts of the track called sectors. If someone is fast in the first and last sectors, it usually means they’re doing well in key sections even if another part of the lap isn’t as strong.
On the TV timing screen, the color “purple” usually means the driver just set a faster time than before. It’s basically a quick visual sign that they’re improving in that part of the track.
Ferrari is a famous Formula 1 team. The hosts are basically saying Ferrari didn’t quite show the same speed in qualifying as they looked like they might earlier.
The front row refers to the two cars starting side-by-side on the grid at the very front. In qualifying, being on the front row is a major goal because it reduces traffic risk and gives the best chance to control the race start.
Charles Leclerc is a Ferrari race driver. In this segment, he’s shown trying to push for a big qualifying result, but it ends badly when he hits the wall and damages a tire.
Downforce is the “squish” from the air that presses the car onto the track. More downforce usually means the tires can stick better in turns, helping the car go faster.
The front wing is the car’s front aerodynamic “spoiler.” By changing its angle, the team can make the front tires grip more (or less), which changes how the car turns.
F1 tracks are divided into sectors, and each sector is timed separately. A driver “thrashing the car through the second sector” suggests they were pushing hard in that specific timed portion—often where setup and traction issues show up most clearly.
A puncture is when the tire gets damaged and starts losing air. In an F1 session, that usually ruins the lap because the car can’t grip properly and can become unsafe.
A “push-lap” is the last lap where the driver tries to go as fast as possible. It’s risky, and if you overdo it you can crash and lose your chance to set a better time.
“Temps back” means how much slower you are compared to the fastest car. If you’re a couple of tenths behind, you usually can’t fight for pole.
Term
Q1
Qualifying is split into parts called Q1, Q2, and Q3. Q1 is the first round, and the slowest drivers get sent home before the later rounds.
Term
Q2
Q2 is the second qualifying session, after Q1 has eliminated the slowest cars. Drivers who make it into Q2 fight for positions that keep them in contention for Q3, with time gaps often tightening compared to Q1.
A lap is divided into sections called sectors. The third sector is the last part of the track, and if a driver is slow there, it tells you where they’re struggling most.
George Russell is an F1 driver. In this segment, the hosts are saying he’s not getting enough speed from his car in qualifying, and it’s affecting his results compared with his teammate.
“Extract the time” just means “turn the car’s potential into a fast lap.” The hosts are saying Russell isn’t able to get the best performance out of his car consistently.
The “swimming pool section” is a famous part of the Monaco track. It’s tricky, and if the car feels unstable there, it can cost you a lot of time over the lap.
Timing screens show live lap times and sector information during qualifying. When the hosts say a driver “jumped to the top of the timing screens,” they mean he briefly set the fastest lap at that moment.
Track evolution means the track gets better (or worse) as more cars drive on it. In qualifying, that can make later laps faster because the surface improves.
A red flag means the race/qualifying is stopped for safety. If it happens during qualifying, it can ruin a driver’s lap timing and force everyone to adjust their plan.
Hülkenberg is the driver the hosts are talking about. They say he was fast earlier, but in Q2 he couldn’t get the lap time he needed, so he ended up much further back.
Place
Pringlesworth
Pringlesworth is a specific spot on the track where crashes are common. The host says it’s easy to get it wrong there, even by a tiny amount.
“Three wheels” means the car is not fully stable and is only supported by three tires. It’s usually a sign the driver lost control or hit something, costing the lap.
Fernando Alonso is a famous Formula 1 driver and former world champion. The hosts are talking about how fast he was compared with the other driver on his team.
Being “lapped” means another car goes around the track and passes you while you haven’t finished your lap yet. It usually means you’re much slower than the front runners.
A hybrid race car uses two energy sources: fuel and stored electrical energy. It can save energy when braking and then use it later to help the car go faster.
The battery in a hybrid F1 car stores energy recovered from braking. That stored energy can be used later for extra acceleration. Even if it’s not the main factor on a specific track, it still affects how the car powers itself.
“Alonzo” is Fernando Alonso, one of the top drivers in Formula One. Here, the host is talking about how Alonso can’t always point to specific problems during Monaco qualifying.
A seagull is a bird, not a car. If it’s mentioned in the podcast, it’s probably because someone is talking about a problem or distraction caused by birds.
Ocon is Esteban Ocon, a Formula One driver. The host is saying Ocon won the Grand Prix.
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Thank you for listening to the Late Breaking F1 podcast. Make sure to check out new episodes
every Wednesday and every Sunday.
Hello and a very warm welcome to the Late Breaking F1 podcast presented by Sam Sage and
me, Ben Hawking, Monaco Qualifying. Normally Sam will like to think I can kick off some
of these episodes, at least with a bit of eloquence. I just don't have any words for
this one, though. It's Monaco Qualifying. It was great.
It's a belter. When a Formula One session gets me stood up in the lounge while I'm watching
the telly and I'm saying to everyone else, shush please, please be quiet, please stop
talking. I need to watch this. I need to know what's going on. That's when Formula One's
got you. That's where it's good and it is good to be back doing Qualifying on Monaco.
Absolutely. I've got plenty to get into today, of course, all the way from Q1 down to that
incredibly thrilling Q3 that saw Antonelli get yet another pole position ahead of Max
Verstappen's Red Bull, both Ferraris on the second row, Hamilton ahead of Leclerc. Just
those standings, though, don't really tell the whole story. Let's get into how Antonelli was able
to get pole. It looked like Sam yesterday in first and second practice. Mercedes weren't
a million miles off the pace, but equally not what we've seen from them so far this year.
We get to FB3 this morning. Antonelli leads the way and suddenly it looks like Mercedes are back.
Then we get throughout the first couple of parts of Qualifying and again,
looks like they're in the mix, but it is a mix. It's not going to be a dominant pole.
And then right at the end of Q3, Antonelli pulls out the bag at a 1 minute 12 just ahead of Max
Verstappen. Thrilling, absolutely captivating and incredible performance from him. It's amazing
to see that he's able to rock up and do it again another venue. A venue where last year he was,
I'm going to say it, woeful. He was really poor last time out, crashed in Qualifying,
nowhere near the points, well off the pace of his teammate and all the other rivals.
He's rocked up here at his second time of asking and he's not just beating his teammate,
who, let's face it, he is obliterated today. He's beating full-time world champion Max Verstappen.
He's beating seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. He's beating regular pole sitter and
home favorite, Charles Leclerc. It is a sensational turnout for the books and it was a thrilling
session. He does it all without a single fastest sector throughout his final lap as well, green
across the board, which shows you that he must be at 99% for every single one of those sectors
and the consistency from him. Only that his second appearance at Monaco is phenomenal,
just groundbreaking stuff. Great to see him take the fight to the big guns of
Monaco. The guys that have done it before, it's really good to see him rock up and
still the show a little bit. Yeah, and it was the consistency for me throughout today
that has really shown the development of Antonelli because I was having a look through sort of
best sector times from third practice just to see going into Qualifying who might be in the
conversation for pole. Antonelli was an obvious one based on him being fastest in FP3, but I was
just looking at who had the fastest sector one time. It was Antonelli, but it wasn't just that.
He had the four best times and then you look at sector three and it's basically the same thing.
He was just able to vary consistently without ever really getting too close to the wolves,
that there were lairier drivers out there, I think than Antonelli today.
That really impressed me. Antonelli seems to be right now on this. I'm going to call it a box
ticking exercise in terms of what he needs to prove in the sport. It's like going into this year,
it's like, can he win a Grand Prix? China wins. Can he win consistently? Well, he's on this
incredible run right now. Then Monaco is such a unique challenge. We've seen plenty of drivers
succeed elsewhere in the sport and then get to Monaco and not be able to bring it.
I'm going to say he brunged it. He brunged it and dig. Yeah, the famous words, I think of a
part of Ayrton Seng's wonderful speech where you have that outer body experience. You have to
brung it. But I do think it is like an outer body experience. I do think you have to go into this
flow state to achieve pole position at Monaco. You have to be so at one with the bumps. It's
such a bumpy track. It's underestimated just how bumpy Monaco is. You don't have to look at that
first sector, the famous undulation down the hill into Casino Square where you have to avoid
the undulation it takes the car out. He's mastered it so quickly. It's the way that he had to come
through the session as well because Ferrari, good to see you carrying that FP1, FP2 domination
all the way through the weekend again. That's what we like to see, guys. Good job.
He had to overcome that. He did. And then other challenges begin to arise. The Clare looked
strong. The McLaren boys peak really well in the second session of qualifying. Max Verstappen,
of course, he rears his head and you think, oh no, Max at Monaco, we've seen this before.
And yet Kimmy Antonelli, who, as we've said before, struggled big time here, finally able to
realise the reality that he set in FP3, achieves that goal in qualifying, takes pole position.
Is it a done thing though, Ben? Is it definitely a win on the cards for him?
No. It might be a done thing after the first corner, but that is going to be a real interesting one.
We've often said that if you're on pole at Monaco, you've got a very good chance of winning. And
that still stands. But that's before this season, where we've had such a difference between the
sort of starting times from these drivers and these teams, like Charlotte Clare and Lewis
Hamilton, Ferrari have been so good at starts this year. They're going to be third and fourth.
I feel like they've missed out in that even with their good starts this year,
you kind of need to be on the front row here. One of them had to be second, right?
I think so. And Verstappen, I'm pretty sure if he sees half an opportunity into turn one,
he will probably back out and go, you know what, that's not for me.
Famously, that's what Max Verstappen does, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
He backs out. There's the sliver of an opportunity there. I'm going to leave it.
I'm going to leave it. They call me sliver of opportunity. Oh, thanks Verstappen.
It's just what I won't be doing into turn one. I'll be staying where I am.
That is maybe the only opportunity that Ferrari have, right?
An incident between the front two where Max Verstappen sees this. It's his only chance to win.
And Kimmy Antigelli sees this as his first chance to win Monaco.
Maybe those two are two immovable objects that come together.
They've got a hope that the advantage, in quotation marks, advantage that Ferrari have
is that within the top four, they are the only team with two drivers.
If one of them can do something a little bit different and strategically a safety car goes
their way, maybe something can happen. But that is going to be reliant on
both Leclerc and Hamilton sticking with Antonelli and Verstappen. We don't really know,
as it's usually the case at Monaco, what the race pace is going to be like,
because throughout practice, even though we've got three practice sessions,
they're so focused on one lap pace that it is difficult to draw conclusions until we get to
race day. But it is going to be reliant on, I think, something a bit different and getting a bit
lucky. Do you think there's a chance that we're seeing other Mercedes-Benz cars start, though,
and that actually Hamilton or Leclerc, because obviously Leclerc is directly behind Antonelli,
Hamilton might get caught up in this without the room to move, but Leclerc might be able to go
around the outside of Turn 1. It's tough. There's just not a lot of space. I know the cars are
slightly smaller, but as has kind of been alluded to all weekend long, it's not substantial to make
the racing that much different. I can't see a situation, and I can't wait to be wrong on this,
because it would be very exciting. I can't see a situation where the Ferraris aren't going to
be completely boxed in, even if they do get a good start. It does feel like that. I do think
it's going to come down to, as always, strategy. We heard a few complaints in qualifying about
rear tyres overheating. Now, the race pace is usually significantly slower than obviously
that one lap pace, so they're not stressing the tyres enough. But I do wonder if we might see
some long shots on a strategy or something to try and play into safety car, where
someone pre-empts it, maybe, and that's how it really mixes things up.
I wouldn't be surprised. Antonelli's nearest challenger today, of course, starting on the front
road with him tomorrow, Max Verstappen. I'm going to hold my hands up and say I was completely
wrong, because I wrote them off midweek. I did not think Red Bull were going to be competitive with...
What was your bold prediction?
My bold prediction was that there would be no Mercedes on the podium, I think.
For some reason, the whole week, I'd be going, Ben's predictive of staff and pole.
It's going to happen. No, no. That would see... Well, it would make sense,
given it was really close and didn't happen, that that would be my bold prediction.
But no, George Russell, at least, listened to me when I made that bold prediction, but not Antonelli.
That's true. He doesn't listen to us. He's the only one of the 22 that doesn't.
Look, it suits him well. He's winging. He's doing all right.
You are right, though. Overweight cars just didn't think they'd be in the mix.
But the crazy rear wings that we're seeing, the adaptions that we're seeing,
and we haven't got any movable aero going on here. Max Verstappen at Monaco is a duo
made in heaven. It makes sense that he's a challenger. I wasn't expecting him to be
the challenger, being that close to Antonelli. The Red Bull doesn't feel like it should suit
this track right now, yet Archibald had Jarrus backed up the point that it does. He's still
nowhere near Max Verstappen, but he's close enough that he's a challenger of something
that's going to happen with him, right? It's three and a half tenths Verstappen to
Adjar. It's not massive. Yeah, fair play to Verstappen. It's almost as if you shouldn't
write him off, or if you do want to write him off, you do so at your peril. He was brilliant.
And coming into qualifying, I didn't think he had much of a chance of poll, but the only way
I could see it happening based on the gaps that we were seeing, Verstappen and Red Bull were losing
way too much in the middle sector. The first and final sectors were looking pretty good,
but the middle sector was just too far off. And I was thinking the only way Verstappen's
going to challenge for poll is if he absolutely lights up the first and final sectors and just
doesn't lose too much in the middle sector. And that is pretty much exactly how it played out,
just not quite enough for him. He's giving up a couple of attempts to Antonelli in that middle
sector. He couldn't quite find enough in the first and final sectors as good as he was in both
of them to, I don't know, negate that damage that was being done. The bit that made me realise it
was real in Q3 was when the clerk had set that initial time to go back to the top again after
he made that mistake. And then Max started his poll to run. And he goes through the first sector
and it's against the clerk's time at that point. And you see purple appear. It's not purple 0.003
or 0.009. It's 0.25, I think it was. And you think, how have you taken two tenths out of this
in Monaco? It's only 18 and a half seconds. Where have you found that? The man is just pulling out
his backside at this point. A fair play to you because it was a fantastic lab. I think he'll
be a little bit, you know what? I think he'll be proud of that. I think he'll look at Kimmy and
go, fair play, but you beat me in that lap because I put everything into it. I mean,
Verstappen's done nearly two tenths on anyone not named Antonelli. It's a great lap from him.
For me, it was the 12-5, I think it was, that he did in Q2. Because even at that point, I was
like, no, he might get second row or something, but he's not in the fight for poll. And I'll play
you my exact reaction to that 12-5 as soon as he crossed the line. I just went,
because I knew at that point it was game on. We're in. We're here. It did feel like this could have
gone six different ways very easily. It feels like if both McLaren's picked up a lap, they were in
both Ferrari, they could have had it. Kimmy, Max, it felt like at any point you could have had a
different postage. And that is what we want in qualifying. What about Ferrari, the reigning
FP2 champions coming into qualifying today? Couldn't quite unlock the same pace that maybe we
thought they would have going into this weekend and what they showed in the earlier parts of
practice this weekend. Hamilton just over two tenths away from the poll time. Charles Leclerc
exactly three tenths away. Of course, Leclerc somewhat hampered by not being able to get a first
run in. Well, pretty massively hampered by that, meaning his run, his second run was altered somewhat.
It felt like chassis wise, this could have happened for them. Who knows, maybe something
weird happens tomorrow that it still does. But I did not think going into today's qualifying
session that neither of them was going to be on the front row. No, I agree. You know when,
this is a strange analogy folks, but stick with me, you're at the beach, you've got to try and get
some water from the sea over to your little sandcast that you're making, but you've got a
bucket, so you gather it up with your hands and you're running over the beach, get into your
little moat that you're building. And as you're running, it's slowly falling between the cracks
in your fingers. That's kind of what it felt like for Ferrari this weekend. They scooped up the FP1
FP2 sessions thinking, hey, we've got all this water, look at us go, we're running. And as they get to
the end of qualifying, their little moat, it's all just falling away between their fingers.
That's what it felt like for Ferrari. It felt like they started so strong, full of optimism,
full of momentum, motivation, and they get there once again bested by the Silver Arrow and Max
Verstappen. I can just imagine now this dry moat and Charles Leclerc looking at it crumbling and
going, where can I sign? Another five years? Is it under the sandcastle? It just didn't work
out for them, did it? Lewis Hamilton said in his post-qualifying interview that they felt so
confident throughout practice, and then they came into qualifying and the car felt completely
different for them. We even saw the reemergence of the blue thingy from a Ferrari mechanic as
Hamilton comes in and demands a wing tightening, an angle change on his front wing to get more
front wing, more downforce. It just couldn't seem to get the car set up to the point where,
of course, in the final moments, we see Charles Leclerc thrashing the car through the second
sector only to come into contact with the wall and give himself a puncture. You can see how much
it means to the lad. Oh, of course. I mean, he didn't hit the wall on the previous run,
where he very briefly got provisional pole. I do not know how. You could see this happening in that
he must have been millimeters away on that first run, and you think, well, if he's going to give
the exact same percentage into the next lap or more, there is serious danger that he's going
to crash this car. Now, of course, we know he's done that before. That was when he actually did
get pole position, but on his second run and put it in the wall and wasn't able to start the next
day, it's not going to be the same situation as that, I don't think. But I think, look,
it's self-inflicted for Leclerc to an extent, like that first run that he couldn't get done,
but that altered everything that happened after it. It is a horrific domino effect,
and there aren't many tracks where you could get away with mucking up your first run,
but Monaco is one of the tracks that you have to get your first run in. The banker
is almost as important as your push-lap, because you can only have your push-lap if you've got
the banker, because if you go for your push-lap and you push it too hard, you hit the wall,
and you're even further back. So the fact that he was on the back foot for the entirety of Q3,
it just meant that Monaco's son was never really going to have the ability to rise up.
Yeah, I'm not certain the pace was quite there for Ferrari anyway, even if it comes together.
It was close. I don't think it was quite there with what Antonelli and Verstappen were able to do.
Lewis Hamilton is here this weekend, so is Kim Kardashian apparently,
not that we've seen her at all. I've not noticed her at all.
No, no. You know what my favorite thing about Q3 at Monaco is, one of the most
exciting qualifying sessions of the year? Being able to go away to Kim Kardashian,
four minutes to go in the session. Brilliant. Love that.
To be fair, the only thing I'll say about Kim Kardashian, she doesn't choose to have the
camera put on her, and there were other girlfriend slash partners put on the camera as well.
So I don't need it. We don't need it, but I don't need any of them. So that's all I'm saying.
I don't need any of them. They're looking at me. I'm better off without them.
Don't worry, Sam. We're fine without you two. Lewis Hamilton, he seemed fairly on it throughout
this session. He's ended up two temps back, and in all honesty, nearly all of that two temps is in
that first sector, the middle and final sectors, pretty much on par with the two drivers ahead of
him. Yeah, he looks solid. He looks comfortable, but I'm glad that he built into this qualifying
session. So often we've seen him be on par with Leclerc in Q1, and actually it slipped away
throughout qualifying, but I think it was the opposite here. In Q1, he was, I think, four or
five tenths off what Charlotte Clair was able to do, who I think topped the first session.
And then we go into Q2. Again, the gap is slightly closer, but he's still behind Charlotte Clair in
Q2. Still two temps-ish. Exactly. And then Q3 arrives, and okay, I know Leclerc makes the
mistake. I'm sure if he finishes that lap, we might see a difference. I don't think Leclerc
is getting onto the front row, but at most, it would have been half a tenth, I think, between
the two of them. And it shows that Hamilton became more and more comfortable after the session went
on. And yeah, what turns out, he doesn't hit the wall. He beat Charlotte Clair, and he's got
the favorable starting position for tomorrow. There's every chance he can win that Ferrari
Jull at Monaco. Yeah. I think a pretty good effort from Lewis Hamilton on the whole.
What about two drivers, Isaac Kajar, George Russell? They're going to start on the third row
together. Two drivers that weren't able to match what their teammates have been able to do.
I guess it makes sense to start with George Russell, because all throughout the day,
this isn't a surprise. George Russell has not been on it versus Antonelli really. I was going to say,
he was a little bit better yesterday, maybe, but all of today, it's not the case.
Woeful. Genuinely, really woeful, really poor. Q1 comes along, and we already see the weaknesses
of the car with Russell. It's sliding. He's 10 kph slower through key parts of the track in the
third sector. The eight of nine tenths down on Kimmy Antonelli in the first session, which is
scary, but he's gotten away with it because the car's behind you just so slow that it doesn't
matter. We're getting to Q2, and you think, okay, this is all right, but Russell was in P8, and I
think he's about seven tenths away from Kimmy Antonelli at that point, which, again, is so poor,
and he's so lucky that, again, we're in this part of Formula One, this new era, where those
midfield cars, because they can't get into that top eight unless it's an absolute glory run,
they can't disrupt the top eight. If that was last year, I think George Russell would have been
14th, 13th. I think he easily would have been displaced. He's gotten away with it,
and yet we get to Q3. I'd argue this is the best of a bad situation for George Russell,
the fact that he's beaten McLaren's, the fact that he's not right at the very back of his Q3
session. He just hasn't got the confidence. He's not got the belief in the car. He can't seem to
extract the time. He's so far off his teammate. I think if you get sent to George Russell,
you're going to rock up to Moico, 40 points down in the championship, and your teammates
can be on pole again, and you're not also on the front row, you're going to be devastated,
absolutely devastated. It's a nightmare scenario for Russell.
A bit of a headscratcher as well, in that it's not in one corner. It's not in one sector.
It's pretty much evenly spread out throughout the lap. I know there were instances where
he had an issue coming out of sector one, for example, and then he had some instability going
through the swimming pool section. It's almost like it's trying to say, well, that's part of the
reason, or that is the reason why he's slower than Antonelli. In most of those instances,
it explained maybe 40% of why he was slower, because you could take away the maybe three
temps that he lost there, and he's still got another three temps to find elsewhere in the lap.
It was just so well balanced in not a good way that it's very difficult to know what to do about
it, because it's just a general lack of pace. Yes, it is worrying for George Russell. I think
if he could get out of the car and point to one thing, then he would be able to kill that one
thing, or come away from this weekend and go, right, this X thing is bothering me. We need to
alter it. I know I can come back stronger, but when it's pretty much every corner on a racetrack,
you start to question at what point am I just not quicker than my teammate.
And crucially for HR, he's qualified just ahead of Russell,
not a million miles away from Verstappen, at least in the context of Verstappen's
previous wins over teammates in the last few years. It seems fairly reasonable.
One set of teammates that we're evaluating, you look at and go, this is devastating for one of them.
The other ones, Verstappen and HR, you go, you know what? This is what you expect. He's the junior
teammate. It's still only his fifth Grand Prix in the team. The car has been unstable. It's over
weight. It's difficult to drive. He's going up against full-time world champion Max Verstappen,
Kimi Andageli, who's only his fifth race of his first fully competitive season.
And you think, all right, three tenths. That's not too bad. You're in the mix. You're well
inside the top 10. You're embarrassing yourself in any way. If there's an incident up front,
you can capitalise here. I think he could be all right with this. I'm not sure he'll be happy,
but I think he'll be all right. Yeah, I think that's fair. Let's take a quick break. On the other
side, we've got McLaren and the rest of the top 10 before we delve into Q2 and Q1.
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Welcome back, everyone. McLaren not really on the pace. Oscar Piastri just under six
temps back from the poll time of Antonelli. Lando Norrish just over seven temps back.
It felt like going into Q2, Sam, that they were starting to get into the mix a little bit,
but whereas some of those other teams have found an extra gear, McLaren couldn't.
Yeah, they slipped away quite quietly towards the end of Q3. They emerged brilliantly in Q2.
It felt like they found their feet, like the confidence had come to them. Lando Norrish
in particular at one point looked like he was really on the pace, and he did jump to the top
of the timing screens during Q2, which made you think, okay, we've got another challenger here,
McLaren are able to pull out the bag. You think the compliments we were giving them
in the preview episode that we do in the middle of the week. We were saying that without the
Mercedes engine being the hamper against Mercedes, you didn't think, okay, that may be with a superior
chassis potentially, but McLaren might be able to step up. They might be able to supersede Mercedes
here, not to be the case behind both of the Merck guys, especially surprising to see how
Paul Russell was. Actually, this is the first time in any session that Russell was in front of any
McLaren, both of them. It's a real surprise that both Piastri and Norrish have fallen this far
back. I am surprised that Norrish is behind Piastri as well. Piastri was doing well through the
sessions, but I think Norrish had the ultimate faster pace here. You can see him behind Piastri
was a bit of a surprise. This is essentially last place for the top four teams.
I felt Piastri and Norrish were fairly well matched throughout the session, so I'm not overly
surprised that Piastri is the one that's finished ahead, but ultimately, I think seven for eight
is the best they could have hoped for, which is a shame for the team that it's not more than this.
But where we're talking about Q2 to Q3, the likes of Antonelli. Antonelli found seven
temps between those two sessions. Hamilton found six tenths. LeCloire Verstappenbeau found around
four temps of a second. Lan O'Norris, it was about a temp for a half. Piastri, a bit more about
three tenths, but both of them couldn't find that same jump. There were reasons to believe
that McLaren could be confident with the shorter wheelbase that they have, and again,
what you're referencing in terms of the engine. But ultimately, a very comfortable fourth place here,
which will annoy them. Gasly and Lawson made up the rest of the top 10. Good session for both,
because I'm not massively convinced either of those cars was the fifth fastest.
No, I think they've driven really well here. Gasly back to what feels like normality,
though, after a couple of weeks where it felt a little bit touch and go as to his position
inside the top 10, of course, beaten by Colin Pinto most recently. And yet, here he is ninth
place. I think it's the best position he could have asked for. I don't think any of these cars
were getting in front of the top eight barring a red flag or a crash or whatnot. Lawson, though,
I think he could really pat himself on the back. He clearly does well around Monaco and he likes it
around here. But I think to be that far in front of his teammate, Limblud, who sits all the way
down in, what was it? 16th place? 15th place? 15th, yeah. To be in front of the two Williams guys,
we've seen race after race are improving. To be Holkenberg, who, again, looked really strong in
Q1, actually, and could not carry that through, I think he'll be really pleased. Disappointed
to not be ghastly, but really pleased to be inside the top 10. Yeah. I'm very impressed by both,
because the Alpine, whilst we've been accustomed to seeing it as this fifth best team really all
season long, I just don't think that's the case this weekend. I think Alpine racing balls, Haas,
and Williams, those four teams, incredibly similar pace. So it was going to take something special
from one of those drivers from those teams or two of those drivers from those teams
to really elevate themselves above the middle of the pack. And that's what both of them have been
able to do. Ghastly's time in Q2 wasn't particularly special in that he was still about three tenths
slower than Lawson in Q2, but ultimately just the head of everyone else behind him. And then he's
able to capitalize on that in Q3 to get ninth place. And like you say, the McLaren's in seventh
and eighth, I don't think they were within touching distance of Ghastly. So it will depend on how many
retirements that we get inside that top eight as to how far up the likes of Ghastly and Lawson can go.
There is a very realistic chance that where they're sat now is where they will finish, and it will be
good for two points or one point, which would be a shame for both of them. But ultimately,
even if overtaking was easier at Monaco, they aren't going to be challenging the eight cars
in front. So they'll just be praying for maybe something similar to what happened with Colopinto
in Canada, where there is actually a retirement for Russell and some other things going on that can
lead to a seventh or a sixth place finish. But a great effort from both of them.
Agreed.
Williams just missing out, 11th and 12th Albin ahead of Sines. Could have been a lot worse for Sines,
though he was very much in the Q1 drop zone when the red flag came out for Bortoletto.
Do you think they'll be all right with that?
I think they will be happy with this. I don't think Monaco suits their car at all. They're still
chunky. They're still very much overweight. So the fact that they've been able to
pulling 11th and 12th out, because the result does not tell the story either.
At first, they're only good props to Alex Albin. We've kind of given him a little bit of
criticism over the last few weeks that he hasn't been on the same wavelength, the same ability
as Carlos Sines. And he's been regularly beaten by Sines quite handily. And yet here, it felt like
he was one of the more comfortable of the qualifiers and I think secured quite a positive P11.
Carlos Sines had to get to P12 in a much more difficult manner, where of course,
before the red flag that came out due to Bortoletto's crash, he was in the drop zone.
He was all the way at the back and looking a little bit shaky for getting out of the session.
And yet gets the lapping, gets all the way through and jumps up right behind his teammate under
pressure. Pretty much the only driver there to properly improve and knocks out, of course,
Estaman Ocon in the process. So I do think that fair play to Sines for getting the lapping.
But Alex Albin got the job done nice and early.
Yeah. And with Alex Albin, as mentioned, like he has been struggling versus Carlos Sines in
recent races. And it looked like it was heading exactly the same way. Carlos Sines had a significant
advantage over his teammate earlier on today, earlier part of qualifying. And then you get Q1
and there's circumstances around that with Carlos Sines needing that lap at the end.
But then in Q2, it is Alex Albin that's able to pull it out the bag. And I know Carlos Sines
wasn't particularly happy with his lap. We don't know how happy Alex Albin was with his to be fair.
But he's got the job done in qualifying with something that I don't think he's done all year
if you take out the Australian GP where where Carlos Sines didn't even start qualifying.
But Sines has been the one consistently ahead. And that's not the case here.
But I also want to give credit to Sines because with the way track evolution works,
as soon as you know, as soon as cars start circulating the track, like those times will
come down, they'll come down. You know, we were looking at 113s and 114s in Q1 and suddenly
we're nearly in the 111s in Q3. Like track evolution is massive here. But as soon as you
don't have cars circulating around the track, it does work the other way. Like it becomes more
difficult to find the time. And whereas the likes of Olly Bearman, for example, couldn't find that
lap time at the very end of Q1 after the Bortoletto red flag, Carlos Sines is the one that is able
to find something. And it wasn't all that close. Like he got to about 11th or 12th place as a result
of that lap. So yeah, full credit to both of them. I think 11th and 12th is is pretty okay.
Whether that actually leads to any points tomorrow, who knows.
It's Monaco. If it all goes perfectly, nothing will happen.
Permission to be annoyed. Yeah, you're welcome to be annoyed, sir.
Audi, what are you doing? It could have gone so well.
They were looking so quick. Genuinely, I think they had a chance of beating the McLarens.
I think WQ3 was almost a given at one point. Oh, 100%. Like all the way throughout practice,
Audi looked better than all of the other midfield cars to the point where
they weren't really a midfield car. They were competing with the times of
Isacaja and the McLaren duo. And maybe that goes away a little bit when you get to qualifying and
the likes of McLaren start to turn the wick up. But even if that happens, that's enough at least
for 8th and 9th or 9th and 10th. And what do we get instead? Gabrielle Bortoletto, Cardinal
Sin of crashing it at the end of Q1, which again, he's not as penalized for it as he probably
should be, but he'll start 16th place. And then Hülkenberg in Q2 just cannot find the lap time
that he needs to progress. Whereas everyone else is massively improving Q1 to Q2, Hülkenberg
doesn't. And I'm not quite sure the reason why, but he had the pace that looked like it was 7th,
4th, 8th place. But Amonico, what are you going to do from 13th and 16th?
I'm sitting in the pool probably. Yeah.
Pringlesworth trying. Yeah, that crash is maybe one of the most
iconic places to crash in all of Formula 1. It's claimed so many attire as that.
And it is marginal. It is so marginal. He maybe clips it by a centimeter at most.
And you know what? He even stops it before it hits the barrier on the opposite side of the track.
Fair play to you on three wheels. But nonetheless, you did clip it. You did take yourself out.
And any chance of exercising that Audi pace, which did look so positive in practice,
has been ruled out. I don't understand what happened to Hülkenberg.
I am baffled by what happened to Hülkenberg. So quick in Q1. It looked like he was really
challenging for what looked like maybe at best, maybe 5th place, if everything really went well.
But worse, maybe 8th or 9th. And he's suddenly falling the way back here,
all the way down to where Colin Pinto is. And an Alpine that we don't think is particularly quick.
So Audi will be gutted again. It's another weekend that feels like it's just gotten away from them.
And the only positive I think they can take away from this is the track is so narrow
that actually, even with their terrible starts, surely they can only fall back so far.
No, that's the annoying thing. If they'd started well in 9th and 10th,
this might be the one track where they don't fall back and they can score points.
They just make a roadblock and not let anyone else come past. But no,
they'll be in 9th and 10th in 20th.
Come on, man. Yeah, just a waste. And both drivers looked fairly on it as well.
There wasn't a clear, maybe Hülkenberg was marginally quicker,
but it looked like both of them were on it. I had this after FP3 as a,
this will be an Audi double Q3. Q1, three teams made up of Q1, the two hash drivers,
the two Aston Martin drivers and the two Cadillac drivers. Thoughts on that?
I would call out Perez. Perez beat Bearman. Perez is beating a Haas car here.
He's on it at the moment.
He's qualifying. He's really good. Because assuming that actually,
I would put that down as his weakness in Formula One. He's thrashing Bottas.
He is thrashing Bottas.
He's thrashing Bottas. There's tents between them.
And the fact that he is beating Ollie Bearman, you can see the blood, sweat and tears coming
out of Ollie Bearman to get that lapping. It was all over the place, that car sliding across
the whole track. He's closer to Ocon, I think, than he is to Bottas. It is overall lap time.
Oh, easily. Yeah. So Perez was 1.454 away from the fastest timing in Q1,
which I think was about a tenth or so away from actually making it through to Q2.
But he is five and a half temps ahead of Valtteri Bottas. It's pretty substantial.
Yeah. Bottas has come out this week quite angrily. I'm not going to say the words on the show,
but he's called it a bit poo-poo with the comments in the press to say that he's
driving. He's already at risk and up for grabs. So he's saying that it's rubbish.
But with qualified performances like this at Moico, where he has previously done very, very well,
you would argue that maybe they're shooting the other way round. And the fact that Perez
is closer to Ocon, a car that is far superior, and beating a Haas, which I think is a great job
by him, this is not good from Valtteri Bottas. No. But I also wanted to give credit to Perez.
Yeah. That's definitely one of my takeaways from the lower part of the grid.
That's the Martin 21st and 22nd. Okay. Fernando Alonso has managed to go seven temps faster than
his teammate. And that has got him one place. Seven tenths. So he's still 21st.
Seven tenths faster than his teammate. And he's over two seconds slower than the fastest time.
Well, at least I look pretty... Oh, no, they don't. It's all right. We won't see them at all.
No. Well, we'll see them when they get lapped.
I'd be annoyed if I was doing a special livery for Aston Martin at the moment,
because you're not getting any coverage. Yeah. I'd be like, just wait. I'll just
save them up. I'll make some really good ones. They take this one that's rubbish,
because the paint's heavy, and apparently it changes colour under the sun.
I have that one now. I'll do the pretty ones when we win titles.
Maybe when you're getting lapped, you can convince people that actually you're leading.
And it's them, you know, oh, Antonelli's nearly getting past Lance Stroll for the leader of this
race. Little do they know, he's three laps down at this point.
No one's ever got to believe that. Even if there's a joke, no one's believing that.
Some of these sponsors don't necessarily know a lot about F1. Maybe you can get away with it.
Sure. Fine. They cut it in very specific ways to make it look like he's in front.
I think Alonzo's patience is running out.
What's he going to do? What's he going to do?
No, but I just... Not in terms of what he's going to do about it, but in terms of
some of the comments that he's had this weekend where he's just outright said that
hybrid cars should not be allowed to race or something like that.
I love how Alonzo gets angry because all reason seems to just leave.
Yeah. The thing is, like, I know these cars aren't brilliant everywhere. Here,
they looked pretty much the same as they have done in the last few years.
I would argue that actually at Monaco, they're better than what we've seen over the last few
years. They're less on rails. The battery doesn't matter at all. They seem like they're closer to
the walls and more unstable. They look fun here at Monaco.
But I get it from Alonzo's perspective in that he can't call out the things that he wants to
call out. He can't just call out the team or the car or the engine, which, by the way,
engine don't matter much around Monaco, and they're still pretty slow. It kind of tells
you the car might be somewhat the issue. But he can't call out those things. So instead,
he's got to target hybrid cars. It just picks something he hates and goes,
that's the problem. He'll pick something irrelevant next week, like, I don't know,
I really hate seagulls. So that's the problem. Honestly, that's very valid, though.
Incredibly valid, Alonzo. Yeah. Driver of the session, did you have anyone noted down?
I mean, Antigale, that's pole position. It's Monaco. So he gets a fair shout. I can't believe
I'm doing this. I'm giving to Sergio Perez. Yeah, big up, Perez.
Destroyed your teammate. That was sensational. I am going to go with Antonelli. Perez deserves
a shout. Gasly and Lawson both deserve shouts as well for Stappen for being so close on the
front road, too. So there are a number of contenders here, but I will go boringly for
the pole man, that being Antonelli. The question turns to Sam. Can he hold that pole
and turn it into a win tomorrow? Well, the only way to find out is to watch the Grand Prix,
and then you have to come and listen to this show afterwards as well. That's the rules,
and then once you've done that, you'll know who actually won the Grand Prix, because we get to
announce it at the end of the show. It's not optional. You have to be here, by the way.
Formula One called us. Stefano Domingo Carli. He called us and went,
you guys get to reveal the podium. Wow. So well done to Ocon for your win.
We haven't agreed that yet. We've got to fight that out. Sorry, mate.
Ocon, this is Gasly to the death.
Join us. Join us tomorrow when we will discuss everything, and hopefully,
there is everything that goes on at the Monaco Grand Prix, and hopefully,
there's lots to discuss. Let's all do a little dance of fingers crossed for a really exciting,
fun time in Monaco that we're going to love it. Yay. It won't be rubbish, I promise.
Follow us on social media, late-breaking F1. If you want to see some fun bits, some silly clips,
get involved in a few questions of the weeks, we've got that coming up soon. Make sure you
get involved. And then, join us on Discord as well, because I'm in the Discord chat.
I know the guys jump in as well. We've got the race review going on, where we're talking about
through the race the whole time. All the sitting and still the fun in the build-up as well.
Get in there and have a chat with us. There's over 4,000 people having a really good time in there.
We appreciate the love. We'll see you tomorrow. In the meantime, I've been Samuel Sage.
And I've been Ben Hawking. And remember, keep breaking late.
About this episode
Monaco qualifying is framed as a consistency-and-timing puzzle, with Kimmy Antonelli taking pole by delivering a late lap that lacked a single fastest sector—yet still put him just ahead of Max Verstappen. The hosts dig into why Monaco’s undulations, banker laps, and track evolution swing outcomes, plus how Verstappen’s Turn 1 approach and safety-car timing can reshape the race. They also cover Ferrari/McLaren/Mercedes issues, including aero changes, sliding, and rear-tyre overheating complaints.
If there’s one thing Monaco always delivers on, it’s qualifying. What a session! Ben and Sam break down all the action, from Audi’s disastrous day in the Principality to a spectacularly thrilling Q3 that had us all on the edge of our seats...
