The qualifying session for the 78th Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix was eagerly awaited and kept all its promises: Charles Leclerc, the local hero, will start the race from pole position on Sunday at 3:00 p.m., in a Ferrari, and even if he finished this session by hitting the rail at the swimming pool corner, he fulfilled his contract, after several frustrating outings in the streets of Monaco, in F2 and in F1 in recent years.

The ideal scenario had already emerged in free practice on Thursday, when Charles set the fastest time after completing just four laps in the morning due to a reluctant gearbox. And as Carlos Sainz also seemed to be in very good shape, high expectations were set for the three-way fight between Scuderia, Red Bull and Mercedes. In the end, the Black Arrows did not find the ideal settings and Lewis Hamilton, the 7-time World Champion, will start on Sunday from… 7th place on the grid, on the 4th row.

By setting a fantastic time of 1: 10.346 at the start of Q3, just two tenths off Sir Lewis’s record pole in 2019 (1: 10.166), Charles had done the hardest part. But as Verstappen was only two tenths back (1: 10.576), a second attempt was necessary, still on soft tires, to be definitively safe from a bad surprise. So the Monegasque added a little more push and hit the barriers at the Pool, in his favorite portion of the track, exactly like Nicholas Latifi this morning in free practice, in his Williams.

Red flag, end of the session, and back to the pits, on foot, a little disappointed. Hopefully his gearbox will not have suffered too much from the impact against the rail and will not have to be changed, which would result in a penalty of 5 places on the starting grid. It’s the 8th pole position of his F1 career, but the first since Mexico in 2019. Like coming out of a long tunnel for Leclerc and Ferrari.

Behind Leclerc and Verstappen, the two torchbearers of the new generation, there will be Bottas and Sainz on the 2nd row on Sunday, Norris and Gasly on the 3rd row, and two World Champions on the 4th row, Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, in his Aston Martin. It already promises to be an interesting start, especially if the weather gets in the way to confuse the issues a little more …

Frenchman Théo Pourchaire (ART GP), starting on pole position, won Race 3 of the Formula 2 schedule, the Feature Race (42 laps) without a hitch, becoming the youngest winner in the history of Formula 2 (ex-GP2) while succeeding on the prize list to another Frenchman, Anthoine Hubert, the winner in 2019 and then tragically killed in an accident at Spa-Francorchamps.

Pourchaire, who debuts in F2 this year, had well prepared his case by finishing 7th in Race 1 on Friday, then 4th in Race 2 this Saturday morning. He made no mistake whatsoever and waited until Lap 30 to change tires, at a time when his lead was enough for his team not to panic and do whatever it took, in order, without losing any time.

This was not the case with the Prema team of his main rival, Russian Robert Shwartzman, who missed this crucial and obligatory tire change when the driver, for most of the race, had put intense pressure. on Pourchaire, staying one or two seconds behind him, at the mercy of a potential mistake that never happened.

Because of the failure of his team, the Russian had to settle for 4th place, behind Pourchaire, Australian Oscar Piastri (Prema) who finished three seconds behind the French ART GP driver, for his second podium in two days, just like Brazilian Felipe Drugovich (Uni-Virtuosi) who finished 14 seconds back. Chinese Guanyu Zhou (Uni-Virtuosi) is still leading the series thanks to his win in the Sprint Race on Friday. He waited until the last moment to change his tires and finished 5^th. He now leads the title chase ahead of Piastri and Pourchaire: the French rookie is now 3rd and an obvious title candidate, in only his first Formula 2 season.

It was a perfect day for the French and Monegasque colors: pole position for Charles Leclerc in F1 and two Marseillaises for Pourchaire in F2 and Isack Hadjar in Formula Alpine. Roll on Sunday for the last day of this already historic weekend, from all points of view …

There will be three more occasions to celebrate, on Sunday, in the streets of the Principality: the 78th Monaco Formula One Grand Prix, with a Monegasque driver in pole position for the first time since Louis Chiron in 1936, long before the World Championship was created in 1950. Charles Leclerc, the local hero, will start at 3 pm for 78 laps with Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull) next to him.

Two other races are planned, as curtain-raisers in the morning: the first round of the 2021 season in the glamourous Porsche Supercup (10:30 am, 17 laps), with Dorian Boccolacci on the second row, and Race 2 of Formula Regional by Alpine (12:00 pm, 30 minutes), with three French drivers in the race including Isack Hadjar, who won Race 1 on Saturday, and two very fast young girls, Spaniard Mari Boya and Swiss Lena Bühler.

It will surely be another day to remember for motor racing fans in Monaco.

Liam Lawson (Hitech GP) has been disqualified four hours after winning Race 2 on the Formula 2 schedule, early Saturday morning, and Briton Dan Ticktum (Carlin) has been declared the winner, ahead of Australian Oscar Piastri (Prema), Estonia’s Juri Vips (Hitech GP) and Frenchman Théo Pourchaire (ART GP) who will start from pole position at the end of the afternoon (5.15pm) for Race 3.

« A defined throttle pedal progressivity map programmed in position 1 of the steering wheel throttle map rotary knob must be used during all formation lap starts and race starts until the car speed reaches 50 km/h. Car 07 used a different throttle map at the race start » : this is the official explanation given by the Race Direction after examining all the data of Lawson’s car.

Ticktum is the most experienced of the F2 drivers, entered in his 4th F2 season. He never managed to pass Lawson but finished ahead of Piastri who then managed to resist the assaults of Vips until the end of the race. Pourchaire had not even tried to resist Vips, preferring instead to continue accumulating experience in preparation for the Main Race, late Saturday afternoon.

China’s Guanyu Zhou (Uni-Virtuosi), the leader of the championship when arriving in Monaco, made history by winning Race 1 on Friday. He therefore started 10th (inverted grid) equipped with rain tyres, just like all of his comrades, because the track was wet. He then made a daring bet by switching on super-soft tires shortly before half-race, on a track which was gradually drying out. But a failed bet, so he returned to the pit to put on some wet tires again and then wisely decided to give up, with no hope of taking any points.

Race 3 is scheduled for Saturday afternoon, at 5:15 pm, for 40 laps. A Frenchman will start on pole position, Théo Pourchaire, and he will do everything he can to succeed the late Anthoine Hubert on the winners list.

Young Frenchman Isack Hadjar, aged 16 only, won Race 1 of the Formula Regional by Alpine on Saturday, starting from pole position and leading from start to finish in front of his teammate at R-Ace Racing, Zane Maloney, from Barbados, who finished seven seconds back despite a last safety car having nullified the efforts of Hadjar to take cover.

It was a total demonstration for the young Parisian who went through karting then followed the courses of the famous Winfield driving school (winner of the Winfield Trophy 2019) and finished 3rd last year in the French Formula 4 Championship. He never doubted, he made no mistake, so he deservedly stepped on the podium of the princely lodge to be presented with a superb trophy from the hands of Michel Ferry, the vice-president in charge of Sport for Automobile Club de Monaco (ACM).

Behind Hadjar and Maloney, who aspires to succeed one day Lewis Hamilton, from the Grenada island next to Barbados, a nice duel pitted Estonian Paul Aron, currently 2nd in the championship and closely followed by Mercedes, against another Frenchman supported by Alpine, Hadrien David, who had set the best time in free practice Thursday morning.

David tried everything but Aron didn’t give up and deserved his podium. Young Spaniard Mari Boya started 9th and finished 9th scoring a couple of points, ahead of 18 boys. She will be 5th on the grid on Sunday morning for Race 2 and aiming at a podium which would be historic in the Principality. Last but not least, the leader of the championship before Monaco, Switzerland’s Grégoire Saucy, had an anonymous race. He was stuck in 10th place when he went straight at Sainte-Dévote, which ended his hopes of scoring a consolation point behind Mari Boya. He will have a second opportunity to shine on Sunday morning.

The last free practice session for F1 ended, two hours before qualifying began, with a red flag caused by a massive crash by Mick Schumacher. The frame of his Haas was too damaged after Casino and he will not be able to participate in the qualifications. Before that, he had huge merit in signing the 14th time in these qualifications, in front of a trio made up of Fernando Alonso (Alpine), a former double world champion, Russian Nikita Mazepin in the other Haas and George Russell, in his Williams.

Schumi Junior got out of this big accident unscathed, on his own, but the session was stopped for good by a red flag, time for the ACM marshals to evacuate the car swiftly. Earlier, the other Williams driver, Nicholas Latifi, had hit the rail at the end of the Swimming-Pool Esses causing a quick neutralization of the session.

In terms of pure performance, it was long believed that the Ferraris would manage to finish in the lead, like Thursday afternoon, until Max Verstappen (Red Bull) completed a great lap in 1: 11.294, one second from pole position by Lewis Hamilton in 2019 (1: 10.166). Although the cars have lost nearly 20 km/h in top speed at the exit of the tunnel: 280 km/h instead of 300 km/h two years ago, in the same spot.

At Ferrari, Carlos Sainz (2nd) was a little faster than Charles Leclerc (3rd) but that doesn’t mean that the red cars will be beaten in a qualifying session that promises to be thrilling. As expected, the Mercedes stayed a little behind, Valtteri Bottas setting the 4th fastest time, just ahead of Sergio Pérez’s Red Bull (5th), Lando Norris’s McLaren (6th) and the other Black Arrow driven by Sir Lewis Hamilton (7th).

The Top 10 was completed by another world champion, Kimi Räikkönen in his Alfa Romeo (8th), Pierre Gasly in his Alpha Tauri (9th) and Sebastian Vettel, in his Aston Martin (10th). As for Fernando Alonso’s Alpine (15th) and Esteban Ocon (20th), they obviously did not find the right settings …

Young Frenchman Isack Hadjar will start from pole position Saturday morning (10:15 am) for Race 1 of the Formula Regional by Alpine, while Zane Maloney, a driver from Barbados, took pole position Friday morning for Race 2, scheduled for Sunday at noon. The R-Ace Racing team, which acts as ART Grand Prix Junior Team, made the double with two of their drivers, in the two groups of single-seaters defined to distribute the 33 drivers entered, including two girls. In Group A, 16-year-old Hadjar clocked his fastest lap in 1: 29.727, ahead of Estonian Paul Aron, currently 2nd in the series, who is closely followed by Mercedes. Young Spaniard Mari Boya took a superb 5th place, faster than many boys in both groups. She will definitely aim at an historical podium in the Principality.

In Group B, Maloney, 17, the British Formula 4 champion in 2019, did a little better than another Frenchman, Hadrien David, who had set the fastest time in free practice on Thursday. The leader of the series, Switzerland’s Grégoire Saucy, had to satisfy with 6th place, while his female compatriot, Lena Bühler, did not manage to qualify. The two races will be two ideal occasions to shine … in order to be spotted by Formula 2 and Formula 1 team bosses.

The defending Porsche Supercup champion, Larry ten Voorde, will start from pole position Sunday morning for the first round of the 2021 edition and the return to Monaco of the most spectacular of the single-brand formulas, created in 1993 by the German manufacturer. In his superb 510hp Porsche 911 GT3 sporting the famous Oranje made famous by Dutch footballers, ten Voorde dominated the qualifications and completed his fastest lap in 1: 33.099, 175 thousandths better than Jaxon Evans, the New Zealander from the Martinet by Almeras team.

The top trio of this beautiful qualifying session was completed by Frenchman Dorian Boccolacci, the former Formula 2 driver who starts in Supercup after having shone in the Porsche Carrera Cup last year. He will therefore start on the second row, Sunday morning at 10:30 am, with a real chance of podium and alongside German Christopher Zoechling, another serious customer.

Behind them, Turkey’s Ayhancan Güven will start next to another French driver, Florian Latorre. It was a really tough session, as ten drivers finished in less than one second, including another Frenchman, Steven Palette, in 10th place. There will be 8 Supercup rounds again this year, always as curtain-raisers for F1 on Sundays, and always in Europe.

Guanyu Zhou made history this Friday in Monaco by claiming the first ever win by a Chinese driver in the streets of the Principality. He also strengthened his early lead of the F2 Drivers’ Championship by winning Sprint Race 1 (30 laps), surviving a late Safety Car to win over Brazilian team-mate Felipe Drugovich, who benefitted from Denmark’s Christian Lundgaard retirement from second with mechanical issues.

The podium was completed by Israel’s driver Roy Nissany, his first ever podium in F2, after the DAMS’ racer held off Campos’ Ralph Boschung until the chequered flag. Russian Jüri Vips came on top of a race-long  battle with Dan Ticktum for 5th, while French poleman for Race 3, Théo Pourchaire, continued his hot form by making up three places to 7th, ahead of Prema Racing’s Oscar Piastri.

One of just four drivers to have experienced the streets of Monaco in a Formula 2 car before, Zhou enjoyed a near-perfect getaway off the line, coolly pulling off into the distance when the lights went out. The Chinese racer was expecting to go head-to-head with his UNI-Virtuosi teammate Drugovich, but instead it was his Alpine Academy rival, Lundgaard, who was breathing down his neck at the exit of Turn 1. The ART ace had taken the inside curb to pass Drugovich for second at the start.

Having bridged a 3s gap between himself and Zhou, Lundgaard’s podium was suddenly under threat as smoke bellowed from the back of his ART. The Dane slowed significantly and began to drop down the order, before coming to a stop and bringing out a yellow flag. Also eyeing a maiden rostrum in F2, Boschung, after securing his best qualifying position at this level on Thursday,was pushing his Campos in pursuit of Nissany but couldn’t bridge the gap and settled for P4, his highest finish in F2.

Qualifying on the front row on Thursday, Robert Shwarztman experienced contrasting fortunes, pushing too hard and whacking the wall of Casino Square. The Russian limped back to the pits with half a front wing and attempted to get back out, but was eventually forced to retire.

The points’ scorers all stayed out of trouble until the closing lap, but just behind them Marcus Armstrong was closing in on Jehan Daruvala. The DAMS’ driver deemed the move a risk worth taking and dramatically dove past the Carlin driver at the finish line. He will then be on reverse grid pole for Sprint Race 2, early Saturday morning.

The only Frenchman entered in Formula 2 this year, and a rookie as well, Théo Pourchaire took a sensational pole position for Race 3, on Thursday, and could well be leading the pack for Sainte Dévote, Saturday at 17:15. In a beautiful manner, in his very last qualifying lap, by clocking a superb 1: 20. 985 which then revealed to be untouchable by the drivers involved in the second qualifying session.

The ART Grand Prix driver was rather discreet in free practice, in order to properly learn the Monegasque circuit on which he had never raced. This cautious bit of training paid off and he was half a second ahead of Australian Oscar Piastri (Prema Racing) and Russian Juri Vips (Hitech GP).

FIA Formula 3 runner-up last year, for a handful of points, Théo from Grasse, the perfume city, only had to wait for the result of the other session, led until two minutes from the end by Chinese Guanyu Zhou (Uni-Virtuosi), the championship leader after the opening of the F2 season in Bahrain. Until Russia’s Robert Shwartzman (Prema Racing), who had set the best time in free practice and finished 4th of the series last year, with 4 wins, achieved his best lap in 1: 21.403, just ahead of Briton Dan Ticktum (Carlin) that he had already beaten this morning in free practice.

This is the first pole position for 17-year-old Pourchaire in Formula 2, after an 8th and 6th place in Bahrain at the start of the season. A real feat for this absolute “rookie”, a member of the Sauber Drivers Academy. French fans will surely follow him closely during the three F2 races scheduled for this weekend in the streets of the Principality. Starting tomorrow at noon …