F1 Monaco GP live commentary and updates - race

Tyres for the start of the Monaco GP

We've got a real mix of compounds - even the C6 is in play!

Medium: Norris, Leclerc, Piastri, Hadjar, Ocon, Hulkenberg, Bortoleto, Gasly, Bearman

Hard: Verstappen, Alonso, Hamilton, Sainz, Russell, Antonelli, Colapinto, Stroll

Soft: Lawson, Tsunoda.

Starting grid for the Monaco Grand Prix

Your reminder of the order of our 20 drivers on the grid!

Main Information Additional Data Driver Info

1

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3

Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Time	Tyres	km/h
1	L. Norris McLaren	4		McLaren	Mercedes	1'09.954		171.729
2	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	+0.109 1'10.063		171.462
3	O. Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	+0.175 1'10.129		171.301
4	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1		Red Bull	Red Bull	+0.715 1'10.669		169.992
5	I. Hadjar RB	6		RB	Honda	+0.969 1'10.923		169.383
6	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14		Aston Martin	Mercedes	+0.970 1'10.924		169.381
7	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44		Ferrari	Ferrari	+0.428 1'10.382		170.685
8	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31		Haas	Ferrari	+0.988 1'10.942		169.338
9	L. Lawson RB	30		RB	Honda	+1.175 1'11.129		168.893
10	A. Albon Williams	23		Williams	Mercedes	+1.259 1'11.213		168.693
11	C. Sainz Williams	55		Williams	Mercedes	+1.408 1'11.362		168.341
12	Y. Tsunoda Red Bull Racing	22		Red Bull	Red Bull	+1.461 1'11.415		168.216
13	N. Hulkenberg Sauber	27		Sauber	Ferrari	+1.642 1'11.596		167.791
14	G. Russell Mercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes
15	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12		Mercedes	Mercedes
16	G. Bortoleto Sauber	5		Sauber	Ferrari	+1.948 1'11.902		167.077
17	P. Gasly Alpine	10		Alpine	Renault	+2.040 1'11.994		166.863
18	F. Colapinto Alpine	43		Alpine	Renault	+2.643 1'12.597		165.477
19	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18		Aston Martin	Mercedes	+2.609 1'12.563		165.555
20	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87		Haas	Ferrari	+2.025 1'11.979		166.898
View full results

Five minutes to go!

Norris and Leclerc will be jostling for that crucial track position into Turn 1. 

We can't wait to see how this race is going to play out.

Hadjar: "Fifth is the target"

Rookie Isack Hadjar has been a revelation this year, especially in qualifying - he put his car sixth on the grid, and moves up to fifth following Hamilton's three-place penalty.

He's aiming to keep hold of fifth, which would register as his best finish in his short F1 career so far.

Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls

Photo by: Peter Fox / Getty Images

We've already had two first-corner pile-ups in the support races today - F2 and Porsche Supercup began the day with considerable damage done at Sainte Devote. 

You'd expect F1's drivers to be a bit more sensible, but let's see if the red mist descends...

Monaco's national anthem now rings out - and the home fans will be very much hoping that this isn't for the only time this weekend.

Charles Leclerc will have a clear view of the first corner - he's just got to get past Lando Norris to give himself the best opportunity of hearing again.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

A huge day of motorsport beckons

MotoGP's British Grand Prix is currently ongoing at Silverstone, and F1's about 20 minutes away from getting going.

Then we've got the Indy 500 later on, and then NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600. And you can follow it all across Autosport and Motorsport.com, as we've got teams at each of the big four races. 

Mercedes 14th and 15th after qualifying nightmare

A crash for Antonelli and an electrical problem for Russell ensured that neither Silver Arrow made it out of Q2, which makes its chances of a decent result this weekend incredibly low.

Russell, whose engine appeared to switch off after hitting a bump (much like Antonelli at Imola) believes the weekend is now over for the team.

“I really feel we would have been in the top four today. Now, we're not. It was clicking in Q1," he said after qualifying.

"We were one of the few drivers not to take any new tyres. I did one corner in Q2 and I was already almost two tenths up already, that would have been plenty enough to be into Q3 with two sets - we had the two hard tyres.

“We had a real chance this weekend, but now it's up in smoke. Weekend over, so it's pretty deflating.”

George Russell, Mercedes

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images via Getty Images

30 minutes until lights out at Monaco

We're at the point in the afternoon where the grid is chock-full of celebrity figures, sporting icons...and probably our own journalists, soaking up a little bit of atmosphere before they return to their media centre desks.

Dua Lipa poses with a Porsche Supercup car. Wonder if she's a fan of Monaco's New Rules?

Want to know more? Check out our top F1 stories

How will Monaco's new 'two-stop' rule play out?

In a new twist for 2025, all drivers must use three sets of tyres in the Monaco GP (for clarification, this does not mean all three compounds). Without safety cars, this would mean that all teams would be required to perform two conventional stops.

In the event of a red flag, changing tyres here would fulfil the brief. And then there's the effect of safety cars, VSCs...there's opportunities to get relatively cheap tyre stops here.

So is it worth the early gamble for a backmarker? Probably; if there's no first-corner pile-up (like we saw in F2 earlier) then they could go for it. But the leaders will remain in lock-step, and it will depend on what Norris does at the start.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images via Getty Images

Post-qualifying penalties and starting grid

As we said earlier, Lewis Hamilton was given a three-place penalty for impeding Max Verstappen in qualifying, and starts from seventh.

Lance Stroll collected two separate penalties - a one-place drop for causing contact with Charles Leclerc in FP1, and a three-place drop for impeding Gasly in Q1. This moves him from 19th to...well, 19th.

Bearman received a 10-place grid drop for overtaking Sainz under a red flag in FP2, and thus starts last.

Starting grid for the Monaco GP

Main Information Additional Data Driver Info

1

 - 

3

Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Time	Tyres	km/h
1	L. Norris McLaren	4		McLaren	Mercedes	1'09.954		171.729
2	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	+0.109 1'10.063		171.462
3	O. Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	+0.175 1'10.129		171.301
4	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1		Red Bull	Red Bull	+0.715 1'10.669		169.992
5	I. Hadjar RB	6		RB	Honda	+0.969 1'10.923		169.383
6	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14		Aston Martin	Mercedes	+0.970 1'10.924		169.381
7	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44		Ferrari	Ferrari	+0.428 1'10.382		170.685
8	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31		Haas	Ferrari	+0.988 1'10.942		169.338
9	L. Lawson RB	30		RB	Honda	+1.175 1'11.129		168.893
10	A. Albon Williams	23		Williams	Mercedes	+1.259 1'11.213		168.693
11	C. Sainz Williams	55		Williams	Mercedes	+1.408 1'11.362		168.341
12	Y. Tsunoda Red Bull Racing	22		Red Bull	Red Bull	+1.461 1'11.415		168.216
13	N. Hulkenberg Sauber	27		Sauber	Ferrari	+1.642 1'11.596		167.791
14	G. Russell Mercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes
15	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12		Mercedes	Mercedes
16	G. Bortoleto Sauber	5		Sauber	Ferrari	+1.948 1'11.902		167.077
17	P. Gasly Alpine	10		Alpine	Renault	+2.040 1'11.994		166.863
18	F. Colapinto Alpine	43		Alpine	Renault	+2.643 1'12.597		165.477
19	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18		Aston Martin	Mercedes	+2.609 1'12.563		165.555
20	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87		Haas	Ferrari	+2.025 1'11.979		166.898
View full results

GPS analysis: Norris' pole lap

How did Norris overturn Leclerc's margin at the final moment? We've taken a look at the data across his lap.

Formula 1

Analysis: How Norris beat Leclerc to pole for F1's Monaco GP

Formula 1’s most anticipated qualifying of the season delivered with a thrilling battle for pole position between Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc. Here’s how the tussle swung between the pair and why the McLaren driver came out on top

Monaco GP qualifying recap

Q1: Charles Leclerc was quickest in the opening session, which ended earlier than expected when Andrea Kimi Antonelli put his Mercedes into the wall at the Nouvelle Chicane.

Bortoleto was denied a Q2 appearance at the last minute by Hadjar, as Bearman (encumbered with a 10-place penalty), Gasly, Stroll, and Colapinto went out.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Q2: Both Mercedes drivers took an early bath as George Russell's electrics packed up and the Briton came to a stop in the tunnel.

This left three relegation spots, which was occupied by Sainz (who was unable to improve late on softs), Tsunoda (in the old-spec Red Bull) and Hulkenberg. Norris headed the session over Leclerc by 0.011s.

Q3: Lando Norris struck at the death of the session to snatch pole from Leclerc by 0.109s. The two McLarens chose to double-stint their second set of soft tyres at the end of the session, and thus went out early.

Norris set a 1m10.125s benchmark, but Leclerc followed this up with a 1m10.063s to take provisional pole. After a cooldown lap, Norris went again - breaking the track record to do a 1m09.954s.

Piastri placed third on the grid, while Verstappen moved up to fourth when Hamilton was penalised post-session for impeding the Dutchman.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

F1 Monaco Grand Prix at 2pm BST/3pm local

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images via Getty Images

Hello everyone, and thanks for joining us - in just over an hour's time, Monaco will roar into life as 20 F1 cars get the lights-out and pounce out of their grid boxes.

And there should be a lot to unpick as we go along - sans safety cars, everyone will have to do two stops, so expect some wild strategies from those towards the back. We're excited, and we hope you are too!