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Lando Norris blasts Monaco Grand Prix over stickers issue as Red Bull come unstuck once more

kieran crichard
·28 min read
1
Lando Norris on track during qualifying
Stickers were ripped off the barriers by cars whistling past during qualifying - Getty Images/Mark Thompson

Lando Norris hit out at Monaco Grand Prix race organisers on Saturday for what he labelled an “unacceptable” attempt to sort out a bizarre issue with stickers at the street circuit, which are being ripped off the barriers by cars whistling past. The issue almost cost the British driver his entire Monaco weekend as he scraped through Q1 on Saturday en route to qualifying fourth for Sunday’s race.

But it is Red Bull whose season continues to come unstuck on the evidence of a fascinating qualifying session. Championship leader Max Verstappen could only put his car sixth on the grid in the most important shootout of the year as Red Bull’s suddenly skittish car continued to bounce and slide all over the place.

Verstappen was beaten not only by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who took pole for the third time in four years, and by Leclerc’s team mate Carlos Sainz, but also by both McLarens and even – horror of horrors – a Mercedes in the shape of George Russell.

Charles Leclerc celebrates claiming Monaco pole
Charles Leclerc celebrates claiming Monaco pole - Getty Images/Rudy Carezzevoli

No wonder the triple world champion looked baffled by the end of the day. “It feels like I’m driving a go-kart with no suspension,” Verstappen said. Not words one expected to hear about the RB20 four weeks ago when the Dutch driver was striding to his fourth victory in five races in Shanghai.

In truth, this qualifying result had been coming. Verstappen experienced similar car struggles in Miami and Imola but somehow managed to find answers, partly through his own genius. But as the saying goes, if you keep sticking your head in at the hairdressers sooner or later you are going to end up with a haircut.

Verstappen has not looked comfortable all weekend. A difficult session ended when he hit the wall coming out of Sainte Devote at the start of his final lap, and had to abort.

“We tried a lot of things and nothing made it better so I was stuck, there is nothing you could do,” he complained afterwards. “You can see in the second sector we are so bad because when I touch the kerbs it upsets the car. It was incredibly difficult.

“It is jumping around a lot and not absorbing the bumps or kerb strikes. In the last corner, the amount of times I almost jumped into the wall was incredible. We have had this problem since 2022, so it is not something new. For the past few years we have had a car advantage so it gets masked. But with everyone catching up, when you don’t improve your weakest point you get found out. It is a fundamental problem so it will not get fixed in weeks.”

Max Verstappen cuts a disconsolate figure after qualifying
Max Verstappen cut a disconsolate figure after qualifying - Getty Images/Peter Fox

This will be music to the ears of those hoping for a championship fight this year. Could there be shades of Brawn GP in 2009, when Jenson Button raced into an early lead and then clung on as his rivals gained ground? Probably not. Red Bull are seasoned competitors whereas Brawn did not have two pennies to rub together. But still, Red Bull’s rivals are undoubtedly gaining ground.

Leclerc has been the form driver all weekend and the locals will be praying the Monegasque can lift his home race curse. He should do so, starting from pole. Mind you, Leclerc has twice taken pole here before and twice he has failed to convert. If he does make it third time lucky, the Ferrari driver would be only the second Monegasque to win his home race and the first since the World Championship was created in 1950. Louis Chiron, whose bust stands by the swimming pool, won here in a Bugatti in 1931.

McLaren will push Ferrari. Oscar Piastri produced a brilliant lap to take second on the grid, while Norris declared himself “happy with fourth” behind Carlos Sainz. The Briton was more concerned about the advertising ‘stickers’ which have been coming off the barriers this weekend as the cars whoosh past and which got stuck under his car in Q1.

Race marshalls remove stickers from the track safety rails
Race marshalls remove stickers from the track safety rails - AFP/Nicolas Tucat

“I had to pit to get them off,” he complained. “It just shouldn’t happen in Formula One. We complained yesterday and they said they were going to fix it. But it obviously wasn’t fixed. It’s a shame when you’re just having to get lucky. And I was lucky I had enough time otherwise it would have ruined my whole qualifying. It’s unacceptable. But I think it was a good day for us. I’m looking on the bright side.”

More than Verstappen, certainly. Asked what he could do from sixth on the grid, at the toughest track for overtaking in Formula One, the Dutchman was nothing if not blunt. “F--- knows,” he replied. “I am pushing flat-out. The car is super tricky. It is on a knife edge.” This season is getting more and more interesting.

Final positions after qualifying

  1. Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1min 10.270secs

  2. Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren 1:10.424

  3. Carlos Sainz Jr (Spa) Ferrari 1:10.518

  4. Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1:10.542

  5. George Russell (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:10.543

  6. Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:10.567

  7. Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:10.621

  8. Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) RB 1:10.858

  9. Alexander Albon (Tha) Williams 1:10.948

  10. Pierre Gasly (Fra) Alpine 1:11.311

  11. Esteban Ocon (Fra) Alpine 1:11.285

  12. Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Haas F1 1:11.440

  13. Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) RB 1:11.482

  14. Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin 1:11.563

  15. Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 1:11.725

  16. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Aston Martin 1:12.019

  17. Logan Sargeant (USA) Williams 1:12.020

  18. Sergio Perez (Mex) Red Bull 1:12.060

  19. Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Kick Sauber 1:12.512

  20. Guanyu Zhou (Chn) Kick Sauber 1:13.028

Monaco Grand Prix qualifying: As it happened

05:12 PM BST

Celebrations for Leclerc and Ferrari

05:10 PM BST

A disappointed Max Verstappen speaking to Sky

05:07 PM BST

Hitting the wall

Max Verstappen will start tomorrow’s race in sixth and his final flying lap was ruined at turn one as he made contact with the wall:

05:04 PM BST

Lando Norris speaking to Sky

05:01 PM BST

A happy James Vowles

The Williams team principal will be happy with Alex Albon’s qualifying performance but will be hoping that his lead driver does not receive a penalty.

05:00 PM BST

Lewis Hamilton a little confused

It felt great yesterday. We have been working really hard to improve this car and from the get-go it felt great. We obviously benefitted yesterday and this morning. We are not making any drastic changes or anything like that.

The team have worked really hard back at the factory to bring an upgrade to the last two races and also an upgrade this weekend but we only have one, which George has.

I anticipated it would be difficult to outqualify George because he has the upgraded component but it’s great to see we are bringing upgrades.

Once we got to Qualifying, I don’t understand. I already know automatically that I’m going to lose two tenths going into Qualifying. That’s definitely frustrating and something I don’t have an answer for. I’m not driving any different. The laps were great. Just lacking for some reason.

04:54 PM BST

The thoughts of Alex Albon

The Williams driver will start ninth tomorrow, although he has been summoned to the stewards over potentially impeding Carlos Sainz. Here he is speaking to Sky:

04:48 PM BST

Toto Wolff speaking to Sky

04:42 PM BST

The thoughts of Red Bull team principal Christian Horner

It’s been a struggle all weekend. The car hasn’t suited the characteristics of this circuit. Up until that last run, anything between second and sixth was on but unfortunately we didn’t get that last run in.

The first sector was strong for us. It was mainly the tight hairpin, then Turn Five and Turn 10. The race is pretty much done barring Safety Cars. But we will come back fighting.

Our race pace has been pretty good but whether we can demonstrate that, I’m not sure depending on how the traffic plays out.

04:36 PM BST

Ferrari team principal Fred Vassuer talking to Sky

The race is tomorrow, you don’t score points on Saturday, we just have to stay calm and prepare for tomorrow.

It’s a good statement, a pole in Monaco is always the best position for the race, and in itself a good challenge and a good reward. But now, the most important thing is tomorrow and we have to do a job tomorrow.

The challenge is to continue to improve with the track and this is not easy because when you are leading the field you have quite a different sensation that it is going well and you don’t have to push much more.

But with the evolution, you have to improve ever single lap and be like this until the end.

04:31 PM BST

George Russell speaking to Sky

04:28 PM BST

Starting grid for tomorrow

  1. Charles Leclerc

  2. Oscar Piastri

  3. Carlos Sainz

  4. Lando Norris

  5. George Russell

  6. Max Verstappen

  7. Lewis Hamilton

  8. Yuki Tsunoda

  9. Alex Albon

  10. Pierre Gasly

  11. Esteban Ocon

  12. Nico Hulkenberg

  13. Daniel Ricciardo

  14. Lance Stroll

  15. Kevin Magnussen

  16. Fernando Alonso

  17. Logan Sargeant

  18. Sergio Perez

  19. Valtteri Bottas

  20. Zhou Guanyu

04:24 PM BST

Relive Leclerc’s pole lap

04:22 PM BST

Quotes from Carlos Sainz, who will start third tomorrow

It was an improvement for me. I’ve been struggling all weekend with confidence and feeling with the car, so overall to step it up and be P3 is a step forward.

I’m not entirely happy because I wish I could have been fighting for pole position but the truth is Charles has been doing an outstanding job.

The car has been amazing all weekend and he managed to extract the most from it, so I’m happy for him.

On the car’s long run pace:

I looked very quick on the long runs. For some reason I’ve bee struggling on the short runs but the long runs have been better. I’m confident tomorrow the pace on the long run will be good.

It’s just a matter of track position here and we lost it with not a great Qualy position.

It’s Monaco. Anything can happen and we will give it our best shot. The priority will be to win with Charles tomorrow.

Carlos Sainz drinking after qualifying
Carlos Sainz will start tomorrow from third - Anna Szilagyi/Shutterstock

04:17 PM BST

Second place Oscar Piastri

I think if you took the second half of my first lap in Q3 and the first half of my second one, it would have been enough.

A couple of mistakes at the end, but credit to Charles. He’s been quick all weekend and at certain points I thought we were going to get close to him.

It’s nice to be starting on the front row...and what better colours to do it in than these.

As optimistic as I want to be, overtaking around here is not easy. We’re starting from a good spot and have a chance for a good day tomorrow.

Oscar Piastri walking after qualifying
Oscar Piastri will start on the front row alongside Charles Leclerc tomorrow - Claudia Greco/Reuters

04:12 PM BST

The thoughts of pole-sitter Charles Leclerc

It was nice. The feeling after a Qualifying lap is very special here. 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, we need to put everything together for Sunday’s race. In the past here we didn’t manage to do so, but we are in a stronger position and we are a stronger team. I’m sure we can achieve great things tomorrow and the win is the target.

On what he needs to do tomorrow:

I need a good launch off the grid, then once we do that, hopefully Carlos can have a great start and follow me into Turn One.

If we are one-two, we can manage that as a team. That would be the perfect scenario. But whatever happens we need to bring that victory home.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc celebrates after qualifying in pole position
Charles Leclerc will start his home race tomorrow on pole - Benoit Tessier/Reuters

04:07 PM BST

Great performance from Piastri

He came very close to pole and the Australian will start on the front row alongside Leclerc.

04:05 PM BST

Live from Monaco

Great grid. Can Charles Leclerc lift his Monaco curse? The received wisdom here is that the pole man always wins but Leclerc has twice taken pole here and twice he has failed to win. If he can make it third time lucky, the Ferrari driver would be only the second Monegasque to win his home race and the first since the world championship was created in 1950. Louis Chiron, whose bust stands by the swimming pool, won here in a Bugatti in 1931. Either way, it’s a fun grid with both Ferraris, both McLarens, and even a Mercedes, ahead of Max Verstappen whose run of consecutive poles (8) is over. It looks as if his championship lead will be cut tomorrow but let’s see.

04:05 PM BST

Top 10

  1. Leclerc

  2. Piastri

  3. Sainz

  4. Norris

  5. Russell

  6. Verstappen

  7. Hamilton

  8. Tsunoda

  9. Albon

  10. Gasly

04:02 PM BST

Verstappen hits the wall

Going into turn one on his fastest lap, the Dutchman hits the wall and has to abort his lap. He will start tomorrow’s race down in sixth. He has not been comfortable all weekend and his issues continue.

04:01 PM BST

Leclerc takes pole

Sainz and Norris go third and fourth respectively, so they cannot deny Leclerc from a home pole position. He has been rapid all weekend, having topped all three practice sessions and now qualifying on pole. Will the Leclerc Monaco curse end tomorrow?

04:00 PM BST

Leclerc improves

The Monegasque driver improves his time and stays ahead of Piastri.

03:59 PM BST

Hamilton across the line

Lewis crosses the line in fourth, but he will not stay there. Russell then goes third.

03:57 PM BST

Pole at stake

Who will grab pole position for tomorrow?

03:56 PM BST

Albon seventh

The Williams driver goes out before everyone else and puts his car into seventh for the time being, but that will probably be it for Albon.

03:54 PM BST

Top five with five minutes left

  1. Leclerc  1:10.418

  2. Piastri   +0.026

  3. Verstappen  +0.149

  4. Sainz   +0.255

  5. Russell  +0.500

03:53 PM BST

Leclerc fastest

After the first runs, Leclerc sets a 1:10.4 and Piastri is just under three hundredths behind. Verstappen is the last man across the line on his first run and goes third. Advantage Leclerc so far.

03:50 PM BST

No traffic issues

With only 10 drivers remaining there should be no complaints of any traffic.

03:49 PM BST

Two new sets

A number of the drivers challenging for pole have two new sets of soft tyres for Q3 but one man who seemingly does not is Norris.

03:48 PM BST

Q3 under way

The green light appears at the end of the pit-lane and the final part of qualifying is go, go, go!

03:46 PM BST

Albon and Gasly in

The Williams and Alpine drivers are into the final part of qualifying, with Gasly pulling out a good late lap to move out of the danger zone and into Q3. They will not be challenging for pole but it is a great effort from both to be here. As we know, starting position is vital around Monaco.

03:42 PM BST

Norris quickest in Q2

Lando was fastest in the second part of qualifying, just ahead of Verstappen and his teammate Piastri.

McLaren's Lando Norris on the track in Monaco
Lando Norris fastest in Q2 - Peter Fox/Getty Images

03:41 PM BST

Five out in Q2

11. Ocon

12. Hulkenberg

13. Ricciardo

14. Stroll

15. Magnussen

03:40 PM BST

Gasly through

The Frenchman was in trouble but he goes fifth fastest and makes it into Q3.

03:39 PM BST

No shocks?

With under a minute remaining, it does not look like we will get a huge shock in Q2.

03:38 PM BST

McLaren one, two

Piastri had gone fastest but Norris has just pipped in at the top of the timesheets. Piastri has reported on the team radio that he has hit a wall. There are just two minutes remaining in Q2.

03:35 PM BST

Hamilton into P3

The seven-time world champion is into third place but he will know that with the track ramping up, he is not assured of his place in Q3 just yet.

03:34 PM BST

Danger zone with five minutes to go

11. Stroll

12. Albon

13. Magnussen

14. Hulkenberg

15. Ricciardo

03:31 PM BST

Verstappen back ahead

It was Verstappen, then Sainz, now Verstappen is back into first. The two Mercedes come across the line at the bottom end of the top 10.

03:30 PM BST

Sainz top

Verstappen has been usurped at the top by Sainz, who goes a couple of hundredths ahead of the Dutchman.

03:29 PM BST

Verstappen fastest

The Dutchman goes to the top of the timesheets with a 1:11.1 He is just ahead of Leclerc and Norris.

03:26 PM BST

Q2 go, go, go!

We are under way in the second part of qualifying.

03:26 PM BST

Russell fastest in Q1

The man from Kings Lynn was quickest in the first part of qualifying, with Piastri and Hamilton just behind him in second and third respectively.

03:25 PM BST

Live from Monaco

Always love reading AA Gill’s ‘The Scumball Rally’ over the course of Monaco weekend. Enjoyed it again this morning. “Monte Carlo is a money puddle. A cash delta. It is as if all the wealth from the rich northern European pastures has run down the Continent and found its way here, to form a sort of mangrove swamp of avarice, before running into the Mediterranean. Maybe swamp is the wrong term. Maybe some of you like swamps. Perhaps sewage outlet would be a better description.” Haha. Brilliant. Whatever your view of Monaco, the GP is an extraordinary experience. Had a fun morning checking out all the boats and the punters, the poseurs and conspicuous consumption. The celebs. You do have to double-take sometimes. Think I saw Jack Nowell on the floating Red Bull paddock home earlier. Definitely saw Steve McManaman yesterday.

03:24 PM BST

Albon under investigation

03:21 PM BST

Bottom five in Q1

16. Alonso

17. Sargeant

18. Perez

19. Bottas

20. Sargeant

03:20 PM BST

Alonso and Perez out

Two big shocks as Red Bull’s Perez and Aston Martin’s Alonso are knocked out in the first part of qualifying.

03:19 PM BST

Norris into ninth

Not the best lap but Lando is out of the drop zone.

03:18 PM BST

Alonso and Norris at risk

The Spaniard cannot improve on his time for 13th, so he is at serious risk of being knocked out in Q1. Norris starts his final lap, starting it in 18th. A yellow flag now would be disastrous.

03:16 PM BST

Track getting faster

The time are always improving so plenty of drivers will be wanting to make sure they cross the line as late as possible. Norris and Perez are in the danger zone with just two minutes left.

03:14 PM BST

Leclerc fastest

The Monegasque driver goes top of the timesheets with a 1:11.6.

03:12 PM BST

Drop zone with five minutes left

16. Tsunoda

17. Ricciardo

18. Sargeant

19. Bottas

20. Zhou

03:11 PM BST

Perez struggling

One man who is in a little trouble with seven minutes left is Perez, who is down in 15th, just one place above the drop zone.

03:10 PM BST

Piastri goes fastest

The Australian has just set a 1:11.8 and is currently top of the timesheets.

03:09 PM BST

Bottom five as it stands

16. Ricciardo

17. Sargeant

18. Perez

19. Bottas

20. Zhou

03:08 PM BST

Top 10 with ten minutes to go

  1. Verstappen

  2. Russell

  3. Sainz

  4. Hulkenberg

  5. Hamilton

  6. Ocon

  7. Magnussen

  8. Norris

  9. Piastri

  10. Albon

03:06 PM BST

Ferraris out there now

Leclerc and Sainz came out a little later than everyone else. Leclerc goes seventh whereas Sainz’s first effort is not representative.

03:05 PM BST

Verstappen goes fastest, only temporarily

The Dutchman goes to the top of the timesheets with his first flying lap of a 1:12.7. However he is immediately usurped by the two Haas drivers and Piastri

03:03 PM BST

Everyone out there

All 20 drivers are now on track, meaning there will be plenty of traffic out there.

03:02 PM BST

Remaining patient

Ferrari have decided to stay patient and have not sent either driver out there, whereas Mercedes have got their duo out first. The risk of waiting is that yellow and red flags are so frequent in Monaco.

03:00 PM BST

Green light

Here we go, qualifying is under way. Plenty of drivers have been lined up in the pit-lane for a few minutes before the session officially got going.

02:57 PM BST

Ready for qualifying in Monaco

02:55 PM BST

Drivers getting ready

02:50 PM BST

10-minute klaxon

We are just 10 minutes away from arguably the most important Saturday of the season.

02:49 PM BST

Leclerc warming up with a bit of footie

The Monegasque driver does not look too stressed ahead of qualifying:

02:47 PM BST

Stars out in Monaco

Red Bull have two very special guests with them this weekend in the form of Liverpool and Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk and South Africa rugby captain Siya Kolisi.

Virgil van Dijk arrives at the Red Bull motorhome
Big Virg at the Grand Prix! - Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
South Africa rugby captain Siya Kolisi posing for photos with the Red Bull crew
Siya Kolisi is with the Red Bull team this weekend - Benoit Tessier/Reuters

02:38 PM BST

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur speaking to Sky

02:30 PM BST

Warning for Verstappen

The stewards have decided to give Max Verstappen a warning after driving unnecessarily slowly in practice three. Here is the full statement from the stewards:

The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 1 (Max Verstappen), team representative and reviewed video, team radio and in-car video evidence and determined that Car 1 was on a fast lap and had to abort the lap due to traffic at Turn 17.

He was then told to take the chequered flag by the team. There remained some time between the instruction and the chequered flag. He said that he also saw on the TV screens that there were 20 seconds left till the end of the session. He then proceeded to move off the racing line at the exit of Turn 19 and stayed to the extreme left, well off the racing line till he took the chequered flag for the session. While doing so, he travelled extremely slowly, at times at speeds as slow as 20 kph.

While what he did was not dangerous and did not impede other drivers, he was driving unnecessarily slowly on the start finish straight and that is a breach of Article 33.4 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations. We therefore issue a warning to the driver of Car 1 for this breach.

02:24 PM BST

Reprimand for Norris

We have some news from the stewards room. Lando Norris has been given a reprimand for causing a potentially dangerous situation by moving over on George Russell at the exit of the tunnel in final practice. Here are the full quotes from the stewards on the incident:

The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 4 (Lando Norris), the driver of Car 63 (George Russell), team representatives and reviewed video, team radio and in-car video evidence and determined that Car 4 deliberately moved towards Car 63 to express his displeasure at his lap being affected by Car 63 at the exit of the tunnel on the approach to Turn 10.

While in this instance the move was not dangerous, this sort of action could potentially lead to a dangerous situation and should be avoided. We therefore impose a reprimand on the driver of Car 4.

02:17 PM BST

Can Mercedes challenge for pole?

Toto Wolff has been speaking to Sky about Mercedes’s chances of a pole position this afternoon:

02:11 PM BST

McLaren’s special Senna livery

McLaren's Oscar Piastri driving out on the Monaco circuit
McLaren are paying tribute to Ayrton Senna this weekend with a special livery - Emmanuele Ciancaglini/Getty Images
McLaren's Lando Norris on the track during final practice
Ayrton Senna won five times for McLaren around the streets of Monaco - Clive Rose/Getty Images

02:04 PM BST

Verstappen and Russell with the stewards

Mercedes’ George Russell is currently under the spotlight with the stewards after impeding McLaren’s Lando Norris going into turn ten coming out of the tunnel. Here is the incident:

Max Verstappen is also under investigation for driving unnecessarily slowly in final practice.

01:56 PM BST

The jewel in F1’s crown

Qualifying at Monaco; one of the most iconic days in the F1 calendar. The sun is shining on the Côte d’Azur and this is a day all drivers dream about from a very young age, pushing it to the very limit without ending up in the wall. Going into the weekend, it felt like it was wide open for pole and the race win and that definitely feels the case going into qualifying today.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, at his home circuit having grown up in Monaco, was fastest throughout both sessions on Friday and then fastest again in practice three this morning. Local boy Leclerc has never finished on the podium in any race around the streets of Monaco and the home fans will be cheering him on. He grew up in the city, taking the bus to school from Sainte-Dévote (turn one) up the hill towards Casino Square.

Leclerc has been on pole at Monaco before but not managed to convert it into a race win and the Monegasque driver understands the importance of qualifying today.

“I’ve had two poles in the past, but then the Sunday result wasn’t the one I wanted,” he acknowledged. “So if we manage to do [that], so which is the best starting place for Sunday, we’ll have to focus well on Sunday in order to put everything together to finally get that win.”

It has been a challenging weekend so far for Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who was complaining about bouncing during the practice sessions on Friday. Verstappen has not been happy with his car all weekend and, speaking yesterday after second practice, he explained the issues he has been experiencing.

Charles Leclerc walking through the paddock
Can Charles Leclerc win around his home streets for the first time this weekend? - Emmanuele Ciancaglini/Getty Images

“It is not something I didn’t expect but it’s definitely at the higher end of the worst possible outcome of the weekend so far.
It’s just very difficult. There are a lot of bumps and kerbs and camber changes in the track and for us that is basically impossible to take. Every time we go over it, we lose a lot of lap time just because the car doesn’t ride well. There is also no really clear direction or solution to try and solve something like that.”

“Imola was completely different - different issues you can solve with set-up. These things you cannot solve with set-up because it is how the car is designed and there things you cannot change overnight, so we are kind of stuck with it. We will try to make it a little better but I don’t expect any miracles. (Ferrari) are miles ahead so I’m not even thinking about that, just want to solve the issues we have.”

Verstappen did finish second in practice three this morning, with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in third. It has been a difficult start to the season for Hamilton, who will be joining Ferrari next season, but he has a good start to the weekend.

McLaren, who should be in the running for pole position this afternoon, are running a special livery this weekend in tribute to Ayrton Senna, who won around the streets of Monaco five times for the team and six in total.

Today is the most important qualifying session of the season. Who will come out on top?

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