The Monaco Grand Prix is a unique event on the Formula 1 calendar and that proved to be the case in Saturday’s qualifying session.
Charles Leclerc took pole position at his home race and Damon Hill believes everyone is desperate to see him finally earn his first victory in the principality.
Martin Brundle was commentating on the race for Sky Sports F1 and was stunned by how quick one team suddenly was on the narrow street circuit.
There were two shocks in Q1 in Monaco, with Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez both eliminated and almost certainly ruining their weekends.
The margins between each driver were minuscule which meant that any small mistake was punished by the rest of the field.
One team that took full advantage in Monaco was Alpine and Martin Brundle was seriously impressed with the steps forward they’ve taken this weekend.
Esteban Ocon was left slightly disappointed that he didn’t reach the top-ten shootout, but Pierre Gasly had comfortably his best qualifying session of the campaign so far.
Martin Brundle amazed by Alpine in Monaco after Pierre Gasly stars in qualifying
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It’s safe to say that Alpine have had a torrid 2024 season up to this point.
Ocon secured the team’s only point in Miami after a long battle with Fernando Alonso during the closing stages.
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However, during the first five Grand Prix, Alpine looked way off the pace and a shadow of the team that finished 4 in the Constructors’ Championship in 2022.
Gasly has four podiums and a Formula 1 race win to his name but couldn’t look further away from replicating that success this season.
The 28-year-old sits 19 in the Drivers’ Championship and has struggled in a car that appears to be very difficult to drive.
However, Brundle and the rest of the F1 paddock were very surprised to see Gasly’s Alpine car in Q3 in Monaco racing in the pole position shootout.
Seven different teams will be starting in the top ten in Monte Carlo on Sunday which could spell bad news for the likes of Haas and Sauber who might be left behind in the Constructors’ Championship as a result.
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Halfway through Q2, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly were flying and Brundle said: “I have to say, the Alpines are going to upset some people today because they’ve suddenly, magically found a really good qualifying pace.
“Fourth and sixth at the moment and we saw a little bit of that in Q1, that’s what caught out the likes of [Fernando] Alonso and [Sergio] Perez who were struggling, but somehow both the Haas’s and both the Alpines have a turn of speed.”
Pierre Gasly has a brilliant chance of scoring his first points of the season for Alpine in Monaco and as Brundle suggested, they took full advantage of some higher-profile teams having an off day.
Overtaking is so difficult in Monaco and Gasly will know that if he can stay out of trouble then he’s got a brilliant opportunity to earn some points for Alpine.
However, considering the team were celebrating a podium with Ocon last season, it shows how far they’ve fallen in the grand scheme of things over the past 12 months.
The post ‘Going to upset some people’: Martin Brundle amazed by one-time F1 winner ‘magically’ getting faster in Monaco appeared first on F1 Oversteer.