Oscar Piastri qualifies third for Formula One Monaco Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton gets grid penalty

Oscar Piastri has his work cut out for him if he’s going to win the Monaco Grand Prix, with an eventful qualifying session opening the door for his main title rival.

Oscar Piastri has his work cut out winning Formula One’s jewel in the crown and keeping his lead in the world drivers’ championship after qualifying third for Sunday night’s Monaco Grand Prix.

The Australian struggled to produce his absolute best during a dramatic qualifying session on the famed French Riviera track, lucky not to come to grief after swiping the steel barriers but still managing to qualify on the second row.

“It’s just been a very messy weekend. I think I’ve hit more walls this weekend than I have in my whole career,” Piastri said.

“It’s not been that straightforward, but to come out with this result is quite positive. The laps I did at the end of qualifying felt pretty good. Obviously not quite enough, but at a track like this when you’ve had a messy build-up, you’re always going to leave a little bit on the table.”

Piastri’s British teammate and main title rival Lando Norris claimed pole position when he broke the Monaco track record with his final flying lap on his last set of soft tyres, stopping the clock at a sizzling 1:09.954.

Last year’s Monaco winner, Charles Leclerc, split the two McLarens to qualify second and put his Ferrari on the front row for the fourth time in the last five years.

Oscar Piastri qualified third for the Monaco Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen will start alongside Piastri on the second row after initially qualifying fifth, unable to extract the most out of his Red Bull on the narrow street circuit after winning the last race at Imola.

But the Dutchman got promoted to fourth after Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton was slapped with a three-place grid drop for impeding Verstappen during the first phase of qualifying.

Hamilton was on a slow lap with the Red Bull approaching from behind when he was incorrectly told by his engineers that the reigning world champion was not going flat out, so he sped up, causing Verstappen to hit the brakes, ruining his qualifying lap.

While it made no difference in the end and Hamilton was not to blame, the stewards said getting the wrong information was not considered a mitigating factor so they imposed the penalty, meaning he will start from seventh.

“The team told him that I was driving slowly, while I was clearly driving fast, so it’s not Lewis’ fault,” Verstappen said. “I quickly chatted to Lewis about it already. That’s the team’s mistake.”

Lance Stroll and Oliver Bearman were also given penalties for rule breaches while the hour-long qualifying session was twice red flagged after Kimi Antonelli crashed into the barriers and his teammate George Russell came to a complete stop in the high-speed tunnel after his Mercedes engine blew up.

While Piastri won the Miami Grand Prix three weeks ago starting from fourth spot, the Melburnian knows he faces a much tougher challenge winning in Monaco, where overtaking is virtually impossible.

He can take some comfort in knowing Sergio Perez took the chequered flag at Monaco from the second row in 2022 but history is still weighed against him with 13 of the last 15 winners having started on the front.

“I want to win the race too,” Piastri said. “I think it’s going to be a pretty chaotic race, but we’ll see what happens.”

Oscar Piastri congratulated his McLaren driver Lando Norris after taking pole position.

With four wins from the first seven races this season, Piastri has genuine cause for optimism though, thanks in part to a new rule forcing all drivers to use at least three sets of tyres during the race, which means making at least two pit stops instead of the mandatory one used at all the other races.

The idea is to stop the glitzy race from turning into a 78-lap procession in front of the rich and famous who turn up to watch, although no-one is really sure how the strategies will play out.

“We have thought about it but a lot depends on where you qualify,” said Piastri.

“We’re in good positions but it’s still going to be an exciting race with the two-stop, so let’s see what happens.“

Oscar Piastri leads the world championship after the first seven races.

Norris is currently second behind Piastri in the championship standings, trailing by just 13 points, but with two-thirds of the 24-round season still to go. Verstappen is third, a further nine points adrift, and looming as the only other real contender.

Norris claimed pole for the 12th time in his career but isn’t counting his chickens yet after converting just four of the previous 11 poles into race victories.

One of those was this season’s opening race in Australia, which was his last pole and race win, after he has battled to repeat that level of performance when the pressure ramps up during the critical third phase of qualifying.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Norris said.

“I don’t think you realise how good this feels with quite a few struggles over the last couple of months, especially here in Monaco, it’s a beautiful place and the hardest track probably to do it.”

McLaren's British driver Lando Norris celebrates after taking pole position

Normally, the driver starting on pole position has a huge advantage in the race but the rule change has added an element of uncertainty around how the race will unfold and Norris is no fan.

“That’s what Formula One has done to just try and put on more of a show,” he said.

“Of course, in my position now, I probably don’t agree with what’s been done but I’m not the one who makes the rules.

“Whether you are starting on pole or if you’re starting last, you can be more optimistic, which is great for you guys. Not so good for me.”

Born and bred in Monte Carlo, Leclerc knows every twist and turn on the circuit like the back of his hand and looked on course to claim pole in front of his adoring home crowd only to be pipped by a tenth of a second.

“Obviously, I’m frustrated,” he said. “Starting second it’s going to be tricky to then get that first place.

“I think it’s going to be a bit of chaos. I think there’ll be a lot of strategy games. We might be under pressure from cars that we probably don’t expect, from the back, which might make everything interesting.”

Originally published as Oscar Piastri qualifies third for Formula One Monaco Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton gets grid penalty