Tough Saturday on the Streets of Monaco

The team made several overnight changes to the car following overnight work trackside at Lauda Drive; both drivers reported an improved car balance although were still focused on improving the tyre temperature balance between both axles.

Starting Qualifying, both George and Kimi ran the Soft tyre and had the pace to progress to Q2.

Unfortunately, Kimi clipped the barrier at the apex of Turn 10 on his final push lap, breaking his front left suspension and ending his session.

George’s Qualifying also came to a premature conclusion after losing electrical power after hitting a bump coming out of Turn 1 on his first push lap in Q2.

This marks the first time since the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix that the team has failed to have at least one car in Q3.

Starting from P14 and P15, the team will be looking to take any opportunities that present themselves in tomorrow’s two-stop mandated Grand Prix.

Saturday was no smoother for the team’s Junior Driver Noah Strømsted who had to retire his car from the F3 Sprint Race after contact at Turn One caused a puncture.

George Russell

Today was incredibly disappointing. I felt good in the car in Q1, and the team had done a fantastic job in turning it around after three difficult practice sessions. To not have the chance to show what was possible in Qualifying is both frustrating and a little heartbreaking. I believe we had a chance to get the car onto the front two rows of the grid. I had only used one set of the Soft tyres in Q1 and the Medium compound at the start of Q2 felt good. It was definitely coming towards us.

The issue itself was odd. I hit a bump on the run out of Turn 1 and lost power. It felt like something electronic just disconnected. I tried everything I could to get the car back to the garage and then restart it when I stopped in the tunnel. Unfortunately, there was nothing more we could do. Starting P14 tomorrow is obviously far from ideal. That is even more true in Monaco. It will be a struggle to score anything more than minor points but, with the two mandatory stops, let’s wait and see what happens.

Kimi Antonelli

I am gutted by how today's Qualifying session went. We are always close to the limit in Monaco and the line between getting it right and getting it wrong is thin. That is particularly true come Qualifying. I tried to find those missing tenths but ultimately had an unnecessary and costly mistake. I turned slightly earlier than usual in Turn 10 and clipped the barrier. I damaged the front, and I know there was nothing I could do from there and was a passenger into the barrier. I had enough pace to get through to the latter parts of Qualifying, so it was a costly error.

It is such a shame because we were coming back into a good place with the car and I was finding a good rhythm. We had struggled the entire weekend up to that point, but I kept improving lap after lap in Q1. I felt good in the car today and I can only say sorry to the team. Starting P14 tomorrow in Monaco means that we need to think differently. We did not expect to be starting this far back with both cars so tomorrow we will be looking to take any opportunities we can and chase all the positions possible.

Toto Wolff, CEO & Team Principal

Today was a difficult day and a very disappointing result - to finish P14 and P15 is a long way below our level. We were struggling for pace in practice and made some sizeable set-up changes going into Qualifying. For George in particular, this made the car come alive and he showed really strong pace to finish Q1 in the top five.

Unfortunately, it was a more difficult session for Kimi. He was right on the cut-off when he made a small mistake on the entry of the Nouvelle Chicane - but like always in Monaco, it had big consequences, and he finished in the barrier.

We therefore began Q2 with one car and George running the Medium tyre; he had found nearly one tenth of a second in the first corner when he suddenly lost power going up the hill to Massenet. We suspect an electrical fault, but the team is still working to track down the exact cause. As he came to a halt in the tunnel, and was unable to restart the car, it became clear that he would line up just ahead of Kimi in P14. It's all the more frustrating as George had the pace to fight for the front two rows today.

It goes without saying that it will be a long afternoon tomorrow - the mandatory two stops might open up more opportunities than usually happens in Monaco, but it won't be easy to make up places. Notwithstanding that, we will be giving it our all and racing hard to get the maximum from what has been a difficult weekend so far.

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

It is really disappointing to be this far down the grid with both of our cars for tomorrow’s race.

We’ve been struggling the entire weekend with our single laps, and it has not been easy on our drivers. That has put them under a lot of pressure this weekend to deliver fast laps at the critical moments and that definitely contributed to Kimi’s incident. Drivers are always on the limit here in Monaco and a little mistake can cost a lot. That was certainly true on his side of the garage and that left him P15.

On George’s side, he was pleased with the progress we had made since the end of FP3. We had been making significant setup changes from FP1 through to Qualifying and it felt like we had found a good pace by the start of Q1. That allowed George to only use one set of Soft tyres in that segment and would have been beneficial in the latter parts of Qualifying. In Q2, we decided to go for the Medium tyres as they appeared to be quick as well. Our session came to an end shortly after with a loss of power after hitting a bump. We're investigating the cause of that, but it looks like an electrical issue.

Starting P14 and P15, we will review all the strategic options for tomorrow’s race overnight. We know that starting so far back that it won’t be an easy Grand Prix. The silver lining is that with the mandatory two stops regulation, it should afford us more flexibility and create more opportunities. It hopefully will increase our chances to make progress, and we will stand ready to take advantage.

FP3 Result

Qualifying Result