Leclerc profits with home pole after chaotic finish at 'typical Monaco'

By Sports Desk May 28, 2022

Charles Leclerc was "incredibly happy" to claim pole position in Monaco Grand Prix qualifying, leading a Ferrari one-two – although Carlos Sainz felt he could have pipped his team-mate if not for a dramatic crash.

Monegasque driver Leclerc qualified fastest at his home race after the final session was cut short due to a red flag.

Sergio Perez hit the barrier, prompting a yellow flag that Sainz saw only in time to brake as he careered into the Red Bull.

That brought a premature end to proceedings but ensured a fine result for Ferrari and, in particular, Leclerc, who secured a precious pole; while he has converted only four of his 13 previous poles into wins, some 15 of the past 17 winners in Monaco have started from the front row, including 12 from first place.

For Leclerc to add his name to the list of winners, he will have to overcome an awful record which has seen him never manage to finish the Monaco race. Despite taking pole last year, his car also crashed heavily in qualifying, and it meant Leclerc could not take an active part on race day.

This time it could be a different story.

"It is very special. I'm so incredibly happy," Leclerc said. "It's been a very smooth weekend until now – I knew the pace was in the car; I just had to do the job, and it went perfectly.

"That last lap, before the red flag, was really, really good, but it didn't change anything for us."

That may be true for Leclerc, but Sainz felt he was on course to top the timesheets prior to the collision with Perez.

"It's a shame – another year that a red flag cost us the end of a session, and we could not go for pole position," he said, "but it's typical Monaco."

Sainz added: "I think we are in a great position to score a great result for the team. The car has been amazing all weekend, so we'll go for it."

Perez still qualified in third, ahead of an out-of-sorts Max Verstappen, while Lewis Hamilton's practice woes shifted only enough for him to make eighth before his final flying lap was halted.

PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION

1. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1:11.376
2. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +0.225s
3. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) +0.253s
4. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.290s
5. Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.473s
6. George Russell (Mercedes) +0.736s
7. Fernando Alonso (Alpine) +0.871s
8. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) +1.184s
9. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) +1.356s
10. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) +1.671s

Related items

  • Guenther Steiner knows Red Bull’s dominance will come to an end at some point Guenther Steiner knows Red Bull’s dominance will come to an end at some point

    Guenther Steiner has warned Red Bull their dominance of Formula One will end just as Mercedes’ did.

    Red Bull have won the last three constructors’ championships with Max Verstappen completing a hat-trick of drivers’ titles, in the process breaking the strangleholds imposed by Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton in previous years.

    Seven-time world champion Hamilton has endured a miserable start to the new season with his car lasting just 17 laps of Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix as team-mate George Russell crashed out to leave the Brackley and Brixworth-based team 71 points adrift of Red Bull after just three races and pile the pressure on boss Toto Wolff.

    But asked about their difficulties, former Haas team principal Steiner said: “Obviously they are struggling a little bit at the moment. For me, they are a good team, I think they’re a good team. It’s just like it’s competition.

    “Mercedes was dominating for a long time and you cannot always be dominating, you shouldn’t expect that. Now we say Red Bull is dominating – it will come to an end, like Mercedes came to an end.

    “A lot of people are saying, ‘Mercedes is not doing well’ – Mercedes is still in the top four at the moment or top five, they just need to do a little bit better. But it’s how competitive this sport is and you cannot take anything for granted.

    “Obviously Toto would love to dominate the sport forever, but nothing is forever. I think it’s good for the sport and shows also how quickly it goes up and down.

    “Mercedes is still doing OK, they’re still scoring points. Sometimes you forget there are 10 teams and not only three which are allowed to win. I think all 10 should be allowed to win and those are the things you learn when you are outside of the sport like I am now.”

    Hamilton, who is in the midst of his worst start to a campaign, will join Ferrari ahead of the 2025 campaign, leaving a huge gap to plug.

    Steiner, speaking after being announced as an ambassador for May’s Miami Grand Prix, was asked if Carlos Sainz – winner in Australia just 16 days after undergoing surgery for appendicitis – would be at the top of his list if he was in charge at Red Bull or Mercedes.

    He replied: “Toto has no urgency to sign anybody because everybody is waiting until that seat is filled, but I’m sure a lot of people are speaking to Carlos at the moment.”

  • Barbadian F2 sensation Maloney eyes improvements after third-place finish in Melbourne Barbadian F2 sensation Maloney eyes improvements after third-place finish in Melbourne

    Barbadian driving sensation Zane Maloney is focused on consistently improving his performances, as he seeks to continue building on his sweep of the Formula Two season-opening events.

    Maloney’s comments followed another positive weekend in Melbourne, Australia, where he again made the podium after finishing third in the feature race, on the heels of a 10th place finish in the sprint a day earlier.

    This latest podium adds to the 20-year-old’s sprint race and feature race victories on the opening weekend of the season in Bahrain.

    “Satisfied but of course we just need to keep making steps forward. I think we have showed the last three rounds that Bahrain wasn’t a fluke. We have had the pace each round. We just need to keep working on it,” Maloney said in a post-race press conference.

    “I think qualifying from my side is much better than last year. I just need to keep improving that. We have always been fast in the race and made good moves, so we just need to keep going. Everyone is catching up, so we need to keep performing well,” he added.

    In the feature race in Melbourne, Maloney, who drives for British team Rodin Motorsport, finished third behind 19-year-old French-Algerian driver Isack Hadjar and 20-year-old Estonian Paul Aron.

    Two weeks ago in Jeddah, Maloney trailed in seventh in the feature and just missed out on a podium place in the sprint race when he ended fourth.

    He was left ruing his luck again last Saturday when a costly error left him down the field instead of near the podium.

    “Should have been a podium. From my side, I made a big mistake which lost me lots of places. But the second half of the race was really good from my side, so I am pleased with that. Happy to be back on (the podium after a) bit of a chaotic race. For sure the pace has been good all year so far. I think we have proved that each round. It is cool to have a clean Feature Race,” Maloney reasoned.

    The Bajan sensation’s next assignment will be the May 16-18 Grand Prix at Imola.

  • France 3-2 Chile: Mbappe matches Henry record in comeback victory France 3-2 Chile: Mbappe matches Henry record in comeback victory

    France got back to winning ways as they came from behind to beat Chile 3-2 at Stade Velodrome.

    Les Bleus endured a poor start for the second time in as many games, falling behind after just six minutes in Marseille through Marcelino Nunez's finish.

    However, they turned the contest on its head before half-time with Youssouf Fofana equalising and Randal Kolo Muani heading them in front.

    Olivier Giroud ultimately got the winner for Didier Deschamps' side who, despite Dario Osorio's late strike, completed their Euro 2024 preparations with a ninth victory in 12 games since their 2022 World Cup final defeat to Argentina.

    France, who conceded after just seven seconds against Germany on Saturday, were punished for another slow start as a neat one-two down the right flank enabled Mauricio Isla to pull the ball back for Nunez to drive home.

    Despite losing Jonathan Clauss and Eduardo Camavinga to injury during the first half, Les Bleus responded well and levelled in the 19th minute when Kylian Mbappe teed up Fofana, who found the net from 20 yards via a slight Igor Lichnovsky deflection.

    Mbappe went close himself before the hosts turned matters around when Kolo Muani rose to head home Theo Hernandez’s deep cross.

    However, France survived scares either side of the break with Eduardo Vargas twice failing to hit the target from inside the six-yard box, heading against the post with his second attempt.

    The hosts capitalised on their good fortune to go 3-1 up in the 72nd minute. Kolo Muani turned provider with a wonderful jinking run into the area from the right wing, before pulling the ball back for Giroud to sweep in his record-extending 57th international goal.

    Chile threatened a dramatic fightback when Osorio drilled home eight minutes from time, and it took William Saliba's superb last-ditch sliding challenge to deny Ben Brereton Diaz an equaliser right at the death.

    Mbappe moves level with Henry to lead France revival 

    Deschamps' team had not suffered successive defeats since June 2015, though it looked a possibility when they fell behind in the sixth minute.

    But the revival began when Mbappe set up Fofana, who continued his fine scoring streak with his third international goal in four appearances.

    Although Mbappe did not find the net himself, he still managed to achieve yet another milestone courtesy of his 27th assist for Les Blues, moving him joint-second with Thierry Henry on France's all-time list, he now has Antoine Griezmann's record of 30 in sight.

    The skipper could well surpass that at Euro 2024, where France will be among the favourites when they launch their quest for a third title against Austria in Group D on June 17.

    Chile's rapid start proves academic on Sanchez's record-breaking night

    Having begun Ricardo Gareca's reign with a morale-boosting 3-0 victory over the in-form Albania, Chile built on that momentum with their fast start this time around.

    Nunez's strike after just five minutes and 12 seconds was their quickest goal since Alexis Sanchez found the net one second earlier against Germany in the 2017 Confederations Cup.

    Speaking of Sanchez, the Inter forward enjoyed a momentous night, as he surpassed Gary Medel to become Chile's most-capped player.

    One of three players to feature in his nation's last meeting with France in August 2011 – along with Claudio Bravo and Mauricio Isla – it was quite fitting that his landmark 162nd appearance came at the home of Marseille, for whom he scored 18 goals in 44 games last season.

    Chile now switch focus to their forthcoming Copa America campaign, which begins against Gareca's former employers Peru on June 22.

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.