F1 Monaco GP live reaction (2024)

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After meeting with stewards, Haas driver Nico Hülkenberg has also been cleared of allegations he impeded during qualifying. Early in the session, Alpine driver Esteban Ocon radioed that the Haas driver had blocked him in Turn 3. Both cars were having issues with radio communications, hindering Hülkenberg from knowing Ocon was approaching. Here's more from the stewards:

"The team had attempted to warn Car 27 of the arrival of Car 31 on a fast lap but the radio communication system was not working reliably and the driver of Car 27 did not receive the messages. We heard the radio messages from the team to the driver but it appears that those messages did not go through to the car.

The driver of Car 31 confirmed that he too had issues with the communication system. We had similar reports of intermittent radio messages from another team today.

The driver of Car 31 acknowledged that, because the entry of Turn 3 is blind, the driver of Car 27 could not have known of his approach without the benefit of a radio warning. He also felt that, notwithstanding the fact that he caught Car 27, he was not materially impacted during that lap by Car 27 because Car 27 picked up the pace at Turn 4.

Given that the team had attempted to warn their driver appropriately of the arrival of Car 31; in the light of the technical issues with the radio communications; and the fact that the driver of Car 31 said that he was not materially impacted, we took no further action."

After both drivers met with the race stewards, Carlos Sainz will not be penalized for allegedly impeding Alex Albon during qualifying at Monaco earlier today. Sainz admitted to stewards that he knew Albon was coming on a push lap, but didn't have enough room at the exit of Turn 16 to give the Williams driver proper space. The stewards' judgment reads:

"The driver of Car 55 (Sainz) stated on hindsight that he could perhaps have gone off the track and thereby given Car 23 (Albon) more room but felt that he did not unnecessarily impede Car 23 as he took the necessary steps on the track to give him space.

The driver of Car 23 was able to complete his push lap and although he may have lost a tenth and a half in terms of time and was therefore affected, he said it was, in his mind, "grey" as to whether or not he was unnecessarily impeded by Car 55. He did not think this was a clear case of impeding. He acknowledged that the part of the circuit was particularly difficult at it is a sequence of blind corners and that Car 55 could not have seen Car 23 approaching any sooner.

In the light of the above, we took no further action."

According to a report from Jo Bauer, the FIA Formula One Technical Delegate, "The uppermost rear wing element adjustable positions were checked on car numbers 20 and 27. The LHS and RHS outermost area of the of the adjustable elements were exceeding the maximum allowed 85mm on both cars.”

The matter was referred to the stewards as it was not in compliance. If the stewards decide to issue a penalty, both Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hülkenberg will be excluded from qualifying.

Max Verstappen could have qualified higher had he not clunked a barrier on his final shot at pole in Q3. But that wasn’t so much a case of being unfortunate, as a result of his Red Bull's lack of grip.

And he doesn't expect to enjoy his race day either starting P6.

💬 "It's not something that came as a surprise to me because I knew our limitations already, coming into this weekend. But it's been bad. I can't take any curbs and it honestly feels like I'm driving a go-kart with no suspension and no damping.

“I felt really comfortable in the high-speed corners. At least that was enjoyable. But the low speed we're just losing too much.

"Looking at tomorrow, I mean, if it's just a straightforward race then there's not that much you can do. We don't have the fastest car, so it's not like we qualified out of position. We'll see what happens."

Earlier this week, while Pat looked at how the 99 per cent can enjoy the Monaco Grand Prix, I did a bit of digging into how the ultra-rich do it, particularly those who want to watch from the water.

If you’ve got your own yacht, expect to cough up about $22,000 to park it in the harbor for the Thursday to Monday stretch. And that’s only if you’ve got a piddling 80-footer. The Monaco Yacht Club lists prices for boats up to about 230 feet — that would be $92,240, merci beaucoup. But hey, at least:

1. there’s a high correlation between yacht owners and people who can afford such prices; and
2. that parking spot includes access for two people to the marina’s clubhouse between Friday and Sunday.

If you don’t own a yacht but want to be on one, fear not: multiple outfits offer viewing packages that should scratch your itch. Irvine Consultancy hosts a Sunday post-race yacht party for 750 € ($814) that includes a “VIP buffet” and open bar (no liquor).

Senate Grand Prix’s “Surf and Turf” package includes viewing from various land-based points on Friday and Saturday, and access to a triple-decker yacht for Sunday’s race. Prices start at $8,540 per person, and include a three-night hotel stay, lunch, drinks, and souvenir lanyard.

You can read and rub your eyes more with the link below.

A few drivers are meeting with race stewards about alleged impeding incidents during qualifying that could change the race order. We'll hear rulings within the hour, most likely.

• Nico Hülkenberg (P12) will meet with stewards about allegedly impeding Esteban Ocon (P11) in Turn 3.
• Carlos Sainz (P3) will meet with stewards about allegedly impeding Alex Albon (P9) in Turn 15. Albon was also summoned to discuss the incident, as is standard protocol.

Obviously either could affect the grid for tomorrow's grand prix.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella was happy with his team's Saturday, as Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris pocketed P2 and P4 respectively on the provisional grid.

Each is behind a Ferrari, while ahead of everyone else as they prepare for the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix. Here's Stella:

💬 "This is above where we hoped to be because at times, during qualifying as well, we saw many teams had the potential to be up for the first couple of rows of the grid.

"For Lando, the day was actually decided by the mechanics and the team responding in time to the problem we had with part of the advertising ended up in the under the car."

It's been a good period for McLaren. Let's see what the lean, mean yellow and green machines can do from those starting slots tomorrow.

Charles Leclerc got a new race engineer as of the last race at Imola, with Bryan Bozzi taking over from Xevi Marcos Padros, and I could hear a huge difference in their interactions during qualifying.

Bozzi is far chattier on the radio, particularly warming up for qualifying laps, providing information on the gaps between the cars and the tire usage.

Here's one for you caption competition fans out there. No prizes I'm afraid, short of our enduring respect, but our inbox is open for all your suggestions over this one involving Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri.

Ping them in an email to: livebloguk@theathletic.com

It felt a little more unfortunate than anything for Fernando Alonso, who also exited Q1 in his Aston Martin. Here's the Spaniard's reaction from the media pen:

💬 “A lot of traffic. That was a killer for our qualifying. I lost three-tenths with a car just in front. And then another two tenths in the last corner. There were three cars parked there. No one to blame. They cannot vanish. This is Monaco and the cars are very big.

"But yeah, we found ourselves in the wrong place at the wrong time today and this is very painful here in Monaco.

"It's going to be a parade of cars tomorrow, but we can do you it. We need to do the job on Saturday. We didn't manage it so we need to do better next time."

Monaco is not the place to botch your qualifying, so there's a little bit of extra sympathy due to Sergio Perez as his Red Bull sits P18 for tomorrow's grid. Here's how the Mexican reacted after the Q1 exit:

💬 “I got into traffic on my lap, enough to lose a couple of tenths. We didn’t hook it together and this is the result. It's quite a bad day for myself; there’s nothing we can hope for tomorrow.

“We had the pace to get through but like always, you have to put it together when you have the chance.”

Going into tomorrow’s race Leclerc is surely the favorite, but as the Ferrari driver noted qualifying isn’t quite everything in Monaco —
and he’ll have the McLaren sophom*ore starting beside him on the front row.

Oscar Piastri has been knocking on the door lately, but has been held back by some rotten luck: a penalty bumped him off the front row at Imola last week, and an encounter with Sainz knocked him out of the running in Miami before that.

If he benefits from a clean race tomorrow, he’s got a really good shot at securing his maiden win, and McLaren’s second of 2024.

Charles Leclerc couldn’t hide his grin while speaking after taking pole position in Monaco. But he’s been here before.

This is his third Monaco pole in F1, repeating the feat from 2021 and 2022, yet he’s never finished his home race on the podium. He said:

💬 “Really, really happy about the lap. The excitement is so high, it feels really good. However, now I know more often than not in the past that qualifying is not everything.

“As much as it helps for Sunday’s race, we need to put everything together for Sunday. In the past years we didn’t manage to do so.”

Here's how Q3 finished in the end, and that sharp end of the grid for tomorrow's Monaco Grand Prix:

• 1: LECLERC (FER) 1:10.270
• 2: Piastri (MCL) 1:10.424
• 3: Sainz (FER) 1:10.518
• 4: Norris (MCL) 1:10.542
• 5: Russell (MER) 1:10.543
• 6: Verstappen (RBR) 1:10.567
• 7: Hamilton (MER) 1:10.621
• 8: Tsunoda (RB) 1:10.858
• 9: Albon (WIL) 1:10.948
• 10: Gasly (ALP) 1:11.311

So that's official then – if Max Verstappen is to win tomorrow, he'll be just the fourth driver to ever win Monaco starting outside the top five.

The odds are certainly against him.

It was only a small improvement by Charles Leclerc, but enough to ensure he got pole ahead of Oscar Piastri.

He's now got the perfect chance to try and finally win on home soil in Monaco. A brilliant performance.

⏰ 10/12mins: The final two minutes. The final runs. Here's the current top three but that could - and probably will - all change:

• 1: Leclerc (FER)
• 2: Piastri (MCL)
• 3: Russell (MER)