F1 LIVE | Charles Leclerc on pole, Verstappen struggles in sixth
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Qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix is deemed the most important Saturday session of the entire Formula 1 season. Will Charles Leclerc manage to secure pole position at his home venue, or have Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing made the required changes overnight? McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will also be pushing hard, and Carlos Sainz can't be ruled out either. Lewis Hamilton also had a good Friday in Monte Carlo. This could be one of the most exciting qualifying sessions in 2024 and you can follow all updates in our liveblog.
F1 LIVE | Qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix
The weekend in the principality marks the eighth Grand Prix of the season. Max Verstappen managed to win the race last weekend at Imola, but Red Bull have two challengers close to them: Ferrari and McLaren. Therefore, Red Bull will have to be also efficient in Monaco to stay ahead of their rivals.
McLaren are coming off of a great weekend at Imola, where Lando Norris finished less than a second behind Verstappen. The two McLaren drivers were also close to taking pole position at the Italian track. Ferrari are also looking to recover after losing not only to Red Bull, but McLaren too in qualifying in Italy. Qualifying will have special importance this weekend, as overtaking is especially challenging in Monaco.
The circuit at Monte Carlo is 3.337 kilometres (2.074 miles) long and has 19 corners. The driver competing in his home GP will be Charles Leclerc, who has an unlucky track record in his home Grand Prix so far.
What has happened so far in Monaco?
Lewis Hamilton topped the first free practice session ahead of the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix. The seven-time World Champion demonstrated some good pace to top the session, edging out Oscar Piastri by less than one-tenth of a second. George Russell finished third to produce positive results for Mercedes.
But Mercedes shouldn't get too excited. Neither Red Bull nor Ferrari demonstrated their top performance on the soft tyres during FP1. The jump from medium tyres to soft proved significant for most teams, and so the soft tyre performance from Red Bull and Ferrari was highly anticipated going into FP2. Charles Leclerc then topped the second free practice session and looks favourite to take pole position in Saturday's qualifying for the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix. All teams will make changes overnight, but the man from Monaco was always the driver who raised the bar and even went quicker than Max Verstappen's pole time 12 months ago. Red Bull Racing struggled throughout the session with ride height and bouncing problems.
Lewis Hamilton completed a strong day for Mercedes with a P2 time. George Russell struggled with some vibrations and finished in P10. Fernando Alonso rounded out the top three.