In a few hours, one of the most dramatic events of the Formula 1 season will begin.
Qualifying at the Monaco Grand Prix.
While the race itself has become something of a procession, as overtaking is rather difficult on the narrow Monte Carlo streets, Saturday’s qualifying session rarely fails to deliver drama. The lack of overtaking — which the sport’s governing body hopes a new mandatory two-stop rule will change — means qualifying up front takes on greater importance in Monaco.
That means each driver is going to push their cars, and themselves, beyond the limits. But with the walls, and danger, looming around every corner disaster is lurking with every turn of the wheel.
What drama awaits us on this Saturday? We are about to find out. SB Nation will have full, live coverage of today’s qualifying session, so come back throughout the day as qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix unfolds.
Here is the grid, which will be filled in as qualifying develops:
2025 Monaco Grand Prix Starting Grid
| Row | Position | Driver | Team | Position | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Row | Position | Driver | Team | Position | Driver | Team |
| Row 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| Row 2 | 3 | 4 | ||||
| Row 3 | 5 | 6 | ||||
| Row 4 | 7 | 8 | ||||
| Row 5 | 9 | 10 | ||||
| Row 6 | 11 | 12 | ||||
| Row 7 | 13 | 14 | ||||
| Row 8 | 15 | Kimi Antonelli | 16 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | |
| Row 9 | 17 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 18 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine |
| Row 10 | 19 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 20 | Oliver Bearman | Haas |
Note: All updates are in Eastern time.
Q2
10:50: Norris jumps into P1 thanks to a strong third sector. He has been dialed in over that portion of the lap all week.
10:48: Both Hamilton and Leclerc put a set of soft tires to good use, as Leclerc goes up to P1, followed by Hamilton in P2. Just over six minutes remain in Q2.
10:45: Notably, Alonso is on a set of C5 medium tires. Aston Martin used the C5 medium compound a week ago to get both Alonso and Stroll into Q3, helping eliminate Leclerc and Hamilton in Q2 at last weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
10:44: A green flag is out and Q2 is back underway. Hülkenberg is the first driver out, followed by the Williams duo of Albon and Sainz.
10:40: Q2 will resume at 10:44 Eastern/4:44 local time. With an official resumption time, cars are free to line up on pit lane. The Ferrari’s are back on the C6 soft compound as they wait.
10:38: If you’ve ever wanted to see an F1 car pushed around the track at the Monaco Grand Prix, you might want to turn on qualifying on either ESPN or F1TV. Marshalls are pushing Russell’s car back to pit lane at the moment.
10:36: Russell slams both hands on the steering wheel, he cannot get the car restarted, and he eventually climbs out of the Q16. As things stand he’ll start in P14 and Antonelli P15.
10:34: The yellow flag is out as Russell has lost power to his W16 in the tunnel. Now the red flag is out with just over ten minutes left in Q2.
A brutal day for Mercedes, as Russell tries “Control-Alt-Delete” according to Alex Jacques in the booth on F1TV.
10:29: We have a green flag for Q2, with 15 minutes on the clock.
Also notable is the fact that both Leclerc and Hamilton are on the C5 medium compound as Q2 begins.
10:27: Q2 will begin momentarily, but cars are already lining up on pit lane. Some drivers, notably the Williams pair of Sainz and Albon, are on the C5 medium compound.
10:26: Antonelli technically qualified for Q2, but his hard shunt at the end of Q1 has brought an end to his day and for now he slots in at P15.
Q1
10:24: Replays on F1TV show the potential impeding incident between Hamilton and Verstappen, and in the booth they believe the Ferrari driver is in line for a three-place penalty for impeding the Red Bull driver.
10:23: As noted in the above starting grid, while Bearman was P17 he will drop to the back of the field due to his ten-place grid penalty.
10:19: Yellow flags are out, followed by red flags, as Kimi Antonelli has found the barrier at the Nouvelle Chicane.
Bortoleto, Bearman, Gasly, Stroll, and Colapinto are the five drivers eliminated.
10:19: The checkered flag is out, and Verstappen is first to take the checkered flag. He is up in P3 for the moment.
10:18: One minute remains and your top five drivers are: Leclerc, Piastri, Norris, Albon, and Sainz.
Race officials have also noted an incident involving Hamilton and Verstappen for potential impeding. This is one race weekend where the grid is certainly not set in stone until a few hours after qualifying, given potential impeding penalties.
10:17: Gasly pumps in a lap good enough for P12, but the times continue to tumble.
10:16: Three minutes remain in Q1 and the five drivers in the drop zone are Yuki Tsunoda, Stroll, Lawson, Colapinto, and Gasly.
We also have some surprises in the Top 10, including Esteban Ocon in P6 and Hülkenberg in P8.
10:12: Replays show a view from Gasly as he comes out of the tunnel, and encounters Stroll right on the racing line. Stewards have already noted that incident for investigation for a potential impeding penalty.
Stroll already has a one-place penalty after an incident Friday in FP1 involving Leclerc.
10:11: Laps continue and times are tumbling. A few minutes ago Sainz was in the top five, but then he was dropped all the way to the elimination zone. But he completes another lap and is back up in P7.
The five drivers in the drop zone right now are Liam Lawson, Isack Hadjar, Nico Hülkenberg, Colapinto, and Gasly. Perhaps those C5 mediums are not working right now.
10:09: F1TV currently discussing the massive ten-place grid drop Bearman was given on Friday, for overtaking under a red flag. We discussed that penalty here if you are looking for more information.
If not, carry on with your day. It’s a Saturday, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.
10:08: Every driver has now completed at least one lap, and Max Verstappen is up in P1, followed by Leclerc, Hamilton, Piastri, and George Russell for your top five.
10:07: Early times are in and for the moment it is Lance Stroll in P1, followed by Oliver Bearman just behind him.
That does not last long as first Lando Norris goes P1, only to be nipped moments later by teammate Oscar Piastri.
10:04: In the piece that went up hours ago about the big questions heading into Saturday we talked about tire strategy. Between some drivers lacking confidence in the new C6 soft compound — which debuted last week at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix — and the new two-stop mandate from the FIA for this race, we might see some interesting tire strategies here in qualifying.
Both Alpine drivers (Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto) are out on the C5 medium compound.
10:01: We have a green light in Monaco and the Williams pair of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz Jr. lead the drivers out. For those new to F1 qualifying we have three segments — Q1, Q2, and Q3 — and we have 18 minutes here in Q1 to eliminate the five slowest drivers. Five more are eliminated in Q2, building to a ten-car shootout in Q3.
9:59: Cars are already queued up on pit lane ahead of the green flag.
Pre-qualifying notes
9:54: Brundle taps Lando Norris to take pole position, while Ruth Buscombe picks Leclerc.
9:50: Alex Brundle on F1TV stressing the importance of banker laps during qualifying at Monaco.
9:33: FP3 is in the books and Charles Leclerc has completed a practice sweep, topping the timing sheets in all three sessions.
It was not all good news for Ferrari, as Lewis Hamilton hit the barrier through Massenet, which brought out the red flag with just two minutes remaining.
