Lando Norris Clinch Maiden Monaco GP Pole, Edging Charles Leclerc For McLaren Front Row

 

McLaren's Lando Norris clinched his maiden F1 pole at the Monaco Grand Prix qualifying session, edging home-favotite Charles Leclerc to claim the position in 0.109 seconds.

Winning had eluded the Brit since Australian GP and set a new lap record to edge the Ferrari contender to the pole. He had posted the quickest time ahead of his teammate, Oscar Piastri to set a provisional one-two front row for McLaren before Leclerc surged into a provisional pole. 

The Ferarri duo put up a showdown against the F1 Championship leaders as Lewis Hamilton was in provisional third before his teammate leaped to first and later dropped to second. However, Hamilton was later served three-place penalty for impeding Max Verstappen. 

Mercedes could not contend favourably, failing to make the Q3 with Kimi Antonelli and George Russell to start in P15 and P14 respectively. Meanwhile, Verstappen will start in P4 instead of P5 due to penalty served Hamilton for impeding him. 

Monaco is often known for its wet weather condition and its narrow streets. The weather condition for the qualifying session was favorable and dry. The difficult circuit of Monte-Carlo will put rye McLaren duo to the test against much experience drivers like Hamilton and Verstappen.