Qualifying facts and stats: Ferrari's first pole since 2019 sees them match McLaren at Monaco

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Sean Kelly
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GP MONACO F1/2021 - SABATO 22/05/2021 
 credit: @Scuderia Ferrari Press

On Saturday Charles Leclerc became the first Monegasque to take pole position for his home race in more than 80 years. But there were plenty of other interesting stats and facts from Monaco Grand Prix qualifying...

  • Ferrari's first pole since Mexico 2019 is their first top-three start in this decade, and their 11th Monaco pole (tying McLaren’s record)

  • Max Verstappen is on the front row in Monaco for the first time, although any Leclerc grid penalty would give Verstappen pole, a reversal of what happened for Ferrari’s last pole in Mexico 2019

READ MORE: Sainz 'struggling to accept' lost chance at P1, as Leclerc crash ends hopes of dream Monaco pole

  • Leclerc is the first Monegasque on pole in the Monaco GP since Louis Chiron in 1936 (he had previously won the race in 1931)

  • Mercedes start off the front row for only the second time since the beginning of 2020, the last occurrence being November’s Turkish GP when Lance Stroll and Verstappen started one and two

  • Carlos Sainz is out-qualified by a team mate in Monaco for the first time but starts fourth, his highest-ever qualifying position in Monte-Carlo and his best in 2021

MONTE-CARLO, MONACO - MAY 22: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Mercedes AMG

Not the happiest of days for Mercedes, with Hamilton starting P7 but Bottas starting P3

  • Lando Norris is fifth, which is McLaren’s best qualification in Monaco since Lewis Hamilton was third on the grid in 2012

  • Pierre Gasly qualifies in the top-six for the third time in five races this season

  • Hamilton is outside the top-6 on the grid for the first time since the 2018 German GP (when he won from 14th place)

READ MORE: Hamilton says car ‘felt terrible’ as he admits he's hoping for rain to make progress from P7

  • Sebastian Vettel’s P8 is the best performance for an Aston Martin in F1 since the 1959 British GP (Roy Salvadori p2, Carroll Shelby p6). But he only escaped Q1 by 0.018s on Saturday

  • Perez has never qualified in the top-six in Monaco

  • Giovinazzi puts Alfa Romeo into Q3 for the first time in 2021

MONTE-CARLO, MONACO - MAY 20: Antonio Giovinazzi of Italy driving the (99) Alfa Romeo Racing C41

Giovinazzi qualified 10th for Alfa Romeo

  • Daniel Ricciardo, a two-time pole-sitter here, fails to reach Q3 in Monaco for the first time since 2012

  • Stroll’s P13 is a career-best for him at the Monaco Grand Prix. He qualified 17th on his three previous two visits for Williams and sole GP for Racing Point

  • George Russell maintains his record of reaching Q2 at every race this season, as well as never being out-qualified as a Williams driver

  • For the first time since Brazil 2018, Fernando Alonso is eliminated in Q1

READ MORE: 'We didn’t have the pace' laments Alonso after Q1 Monaco exit

Monaco 2021

Qualifying results

PositionTeam NameTime
1LEC1:10.346
2VER1:10.576
3BOT1:10.601
4SAI1:10.611
5NOR1:10.620
View Full Results

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