Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc will take the lead on the streets of his hometown and city after he finished in the lead in Saturday’s qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix, the seventh round of the Formula One World Championship.
The emirate’s son led the qualifying tests for a third race in a row and fifth of seven this year, hoping to be more successful than the last race in Barcelona, where he was forced to withdraw due to a mechanical failure. a failure that allowed Red Bull World Champion Dutch driver Max Verstappen to dislodge him from the top of the overall standings. He led by 6 points, 19 behind his opponent.
On Sunday, Leclerc is hoping to take advantage of the presence of his Spanish colleague Carlos Sainz on the starting line to keep Verstappen from getting past him, especially since the latter will also have to deal with his Mexican colleague Sergio Pérez, who finished right in front of the Dutchman in third place.
Although he races in his “home”, the streets of Monaco represent a complication for Leclerc as he was unable to complete any of the previous three races in which he competed in the first category among his fans and he did not even start in last year’s race. . , who led his qualifying standings, due to the discovery of a Ferrari malfunction before the start of the race.
And the third qualifying session started with great competition between Ferrari and Red Bull and Leclerc managed, thanks in part to his speed on the third stint, to set a best time of 1:11.376 minutes.
During this period of the third Test, the Ferrari driver was two tenths of a second ahead of the trio behind him, with Science taking second place ahead of the Red Bull duo.
Verstappen decided to come back early in the second set to give himself the chance to make two fast runs, but as Leclerc started another fast lap in which he flew the first section of the track, Pires’ car skidded as he came out of the corner. 10 and hit the rails.
Since none of the oncoming riders could see what was happening at that turn, Saenis was surprised, when turning, by the presence of Red Bull in the width of the track. Although he tried to avoid the collision, he failed and his left rear wheel hit the right front wheel of Pérez’s car, raising a red flag and deciding everything as there was not enough time to restart the session.
At the same time, Leclerc secured first place for the 14th time in his career, having his colleague in science and a direct threat to the Red Bull duo behind him, and British McLaren driver Lando Norris, who led his compatriot George Russell, took fifth place. .
After that, three champion drivers came out: Spaniard Fernando Alonso (Albin), Briton Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and German Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin), respectively, followed by Frenchman Esteban Ocon (Albin) in tenth place.
Ranking of the third qualifying session:
1. Charles Leclerc (Monaco/Ferrari) 1:11.376
2. Carlos Science (Spain/Ferrari) 1:11.601
3. Sergio Perez (Mexico/Red Bull) 1:11.629
4. Max Verstappen (Netherlands/Red Bull) 1:11.666
5. Lando Norris (Great Britain/McLaren) 1:11.849
6. George Russell (UK/Mercedes) 1:12.112
7. Fernando Alonso (Spain/Alps) 1:12.247
8. Lewis Hamilton (UK/Mercedes) 1:12.560
9. Sebastian Vettel (Germany/Aston Martin) 1:12.732
10. Esteban Ocon (France/Alpine region) 1:13.047
* The official trial hour is divided into three rounds.
In the first round, all cars are on the track for 18 minutes.
The top 15 riders remain in the race for a second 15-minute stage.
Finally, the top ten cars claim the lead in the 12-minute third round.
At the end of the first and second rounds, the time reached by each rider is reset to zero.
