F1 loses it over Oscar Piastri’s six-word sledge after Monaco GP masterclass

Oscar Piastri has produced a moment of class during qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix as Max Verstappen was left fuming.

Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri.

It was a very, very good day for the Leclerc family at the Monaco Grand Prix as the hometown hero scorched his way to pole position for Sunday night’s race.

What has made the result extra special is an inside joke from Oscar Piastri that has seen him adopted by the family after he produced a lap of absolute class to take the other spot on the front row.

Every qualifying session and race from the 2024 FIA Formula One World Championship™ LIVE in 4K. New to Kayo? Start Your Free Trial Today >

It was a very different story in the Red Bull garage as world champion Max Verstappen was left fuming after a Q3 disaster.

Verstappen compared his Red Bull car to “a go-kart with no suspension” after he qualified sixth on the grid.

The world championship leader complained his car was “jumping like a kangaroo and gave him a headache” and he failed to take pole for the first time this season.

“I’m not disappointed with the position, but with the performance the whole weekend,” said the three-time world champion.

“But it’s no surprise. I knew our limitations coming into this weekend. We can take kerbs and it’s like driving a go-kart with no suspension and no damping.”

In a closely-contested session, Ferrari’s Monegasque hero Leclerc took pole position and was well ahead of Piastri’s McLaren. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was third ahead of Lando Norris in the second McLaren.

Mercedes’ George Russell and Verstappen will start from the third row.

Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri.

Piastri had F1 commentators and fans losing it when he spoke about his family connections after finishing on the front row in qualifying for just the second time of his career.

It was the first time Pastri has qualified on the front row in Monaco.

He wrote on Twitter after the session: “Good day for the Leclerc family.”

He took it to another level again when sharing a photo of himself and Leclerc, while writing: “Two locals on the front row. Who’d have thought?”.

Leclerc also had a laugh when asked about the challenge of racing Piastri.

“I mean, we are family,” he said.

“Starting on the front row, both of us, we’ll have a meeting with my Mum tonight, and hopefully she’ll calm us down.”

Leclerc’s brother Arthur Leclerc also referred to Piastri as his “nephew”.

Leclerc was not getting carried away with the result when speaking after the final qualifying session.

“I know very well that more often than not qualifying is not everything, as much as it helps for Sunday’s race, and we need to put everything together,” he said. “In past years, we didn’t manage to do so.

“But we are a stronger team now and in a stronger position so I am sure we can achieve great things tomorrow and a win is the target.

“I need a good launch off the grid and once we do that — and hopefully Carlos (Sainz) can have a great start and follow me into Turn One and be 1-2 — we can manage it as a team.

“That would be a perfect scenario. Whatever happens, we just need to bring that victory home.”

McLaren's Australian driver Oscar Piastri drives around the harbour. Photo by NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP.

Leclerc, who has failed to convert any of his last 12 pole positions into a win, clocked a best lap of one minute and 10.270 seconds to outpace nearest rival Piastri of McLaren by 0.154 seconds.

“Credit to Charles he’s been incredibly quick all weekend and at certain points, I don’t think anyone thought we were going to get close to him,” said Piastri.

“It’s nice to be starting on the front-row, it feels like it has been a good weekend in terms of building momentum - and what better colours to do it than this?” he added, referring to the special green and yellow livery to commemorate Senna sported by the team this weekend.

“A good start always helps and if you can get into the lead then you can control it very easily,” continued the Australian, “because, as optimistic as I want to be, overtaking around here is not easy”.

Leclerc’s lap ended Verstappen’s run of seven poles this year and a record-equalling eight in succession, shared with three-time world champion Ayrton Senna.

“We tried everything this weekend to come up with a successful plan but nothing has worked,” said Verstappen.

“The car is just so difficult to drive.

“I don’t think there’s much we can do in the race to pass anyone. We just have to stick with them.”

To add more pain to Verstappen’s misery, his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez qualified 18th.

“We lose so much speed in the low-speed corners where it is bumpy and the car jumps all around,” said the Dutch driver, who had taken pole position in the previous seven races this season.

“I don’t think there’s much we can do in the race to pass anyone. We just have to stick with them. Anyway, we don’t have the fastest car and we are not really out of position.

Poleman Ferrari's Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc (C), second placed McLaren's Australian driver Oscar Piastri (L) and third placed Ferrari's Spanish driver Carlos Sainz. Photo by ANDREJ ISAKOVIC / AFP.

“We tried everything this weekend to come up with a successful plan, but nothing has worked.

“The car is just so difficult to drive. When you look at Checo (Perez), that says it all. He is normally great on street circuits but today shows we have some pretty dramatic problems.”

Since 2018, when he made his debut with Sauber, Leclerc has suffered bad luck in Monaco.

He crashed and did not finish his maiden home race, retired with a damaged right rear after hitting the barriers in 2019 and then took pole in 2021, but did not start the race due to a driveshaft failure on his way to the grid.

In 2022, he was on pole again, but Ferrari’s botched strategy cost him a near-certain win. Last year, having taken a three-place grid penalty, he started and finished sixth.

Grid for Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix

Front row Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari), Oscar Piastri (AUS/McLaren)

2nd row Carlos Sainz (ESP/Ferrari), Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren)

3rd row George Russell (GBR/Mercedes), Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull)

4th row Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes), Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/RB)

5th row Alex Albon (THA/Williams), Pierre Gasly (FRA/Alpine)

6th row Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine), Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/RB)

7th row Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin), Fernando Alonso (ESP/Aston Martin)

8th row Logan Sargeant (USA/Williams), Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull)

9th row Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Sauber), Zhou Guanyu (CHN/Sauber)

10th row Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Haas), Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Haas)

*Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen were disqualified from qualifying for technical non-compliance and relegated to the back of the grid:

Originally published as F1 loses it over Oscar Piastri’s six-word sledge after Monaco GP masterclass