2023 Monaco Grand Prix – qualifying "Our qualifying session was intense and eventful"

Circuit de Monaco, Saturday 27 May

Hear from McLaren Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Team Principal Andrea Stella after qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix.

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 FP3 1m13.396s (+0.620s) 21 laps 5th
 Q1  1m12.877s (Softs)   8th
 Q2  1m12.377s (Softs)   10th
 Q3 1m12.254s (Softs)   10th

“Disappointing qualifying for two reasons. One through my own fault, hitting the wall, I messed up on my side. The mechanics did a mega job to put everything back together, so a big thank you to them. Unfortunately, we then just got blocked completely in my fastest lap in Q3, which wasn’t our fault. It was a bit up and down, and sadly not the result we wanted. We probably wouldn’t have achieved a lot more, but maybe a P8 was possible, which around Monaco means a lot. Frustrating, but we did many things well, so we’ll hang on and try to get some good points tomorrow.” 

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 FP3 1m13.998s (+1.222s) 18 laps 19th 
 Q1  1m13.006s (Softs)   12th 
 Q2 1m12.395s (Softs)   11th  

“P11. Shame to have missed out on Q3 by so little but, happy with the improvement I made. We struggled through the practice sessions, so to get so close to Q3 in quali, I’m quite happy with. Only one spot out of the top ten and anything can happen tomorrow. We’ll work hard this evening and see what we can do to work our way in to the points tomorrow.” 

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Triple Crown Collection

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“Our qualifying session was intense and eventful, like most of the times we go racing in Monaco. We’re starting the Monaco Grand Prix in P10 and P11 and go into the race hoping to make progress with both cars. Oscar made a really good step from his practice performance, progressed through Q1 comfortably, and was only a fraction away from Q3. Lando’s session was disrupted by a contact with the barriers in Q2, after which his mechanics did a fantastic job to repair the car in time for a run at the end of Q3. Unfortunately, he hit traffic during his fastest lap and couldn’t improve his time. That’s a little disappointing but regardless, we’re in a decent position to score points and will be working hard this evening to ensure we can maximise our chances.” 

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