McLaren's Lando Norris on his way to securing pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix. Getty Images
McLaren's Lando Norris on his way to securing pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix. Getty Images
McLaren's Lando Norris on his way to securing pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix. Getty Images
McLaren's Lando Norris on his way to securing pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix. Getty Images

Monaco GP qualifying: Lando Norris to start on pole in Monte Carlo


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Lando Norris put McLaren on pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix on Saturday with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc alongside on the front row for his home race.

McLaren's Formula One championship leader Oscar Piastri qualified third with Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton fourth and Red Bull's Max Verstappen fifth.

British driver Norris set a new record around the streets of Monte Carlo to beat local hero Leclerc to pole by 0.109 seconds.

Norris, who has bemoaned his qualifying slip-ups throughout the season, put it together at the death to clinch his first pole since the season-opener in Melbourne.

Verstappen, who clinched his second win of the season at Imola last weekend to close to within 22 points of Piastri, qualified fifth.

Leclerc, who sparked jubilation in the principality 12 months ago when he ended years of near misses to clinch his first home victory, topped all three practice sessions and looked well set to clinch a fourth Monaco pole in five years.

The Monegasque improved on his final run in qualifying but was undone by Norris’ blistering final lap.

Monaco is widely considered to be the most crucial qualifying session of the year, due it being nigh-on impossible to overtake around the narrow streets of the principality.

The FIA have introduced a mandatory two pit-stop rule for this season in a bid to create more strategy options for the race.

Hamilton crashed in the closing stages of final practice, losing control of his Ferrari at Massenet and spinning into the barriers.

Ferrari were forced into extensive work on Hamilton’s car, including changing the nose, front wing and gearbox.

The seven-time world champion had to pull together a fast lap to make it out of Q1 but was then placed under investigation for impeding Verstappen.

Ferrari appeared to inform their driver that the Dutchman was on a slow lap, with Hamilton saying: “You said he was slowing down!”

Hamilton was just over four tenths off Norris’ pole time.

Mercedes endured a miserable qualifying, with George Russell – fourth in the drivers’ standings – and Kimi Antonelli lining up 14th and 15th.

Antonelli crashed out at the end of Q1 in his first F1 Monaco qualifying. The 18-year-old blew his left front tyre when hitting the barriers on the entry to the Nouvelle Chicane.

Russell was on the radio at the start of Q2 to report that he had lost power, with his car coming to halt in the middle of the tunnel – bringing out an inevitable red flag.

The marshals pushed his stricken machinery out of the tunnel and into an escape road as Russell guided the car and banged his steering wheel in frustration.

ELIO

Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

The%20specs
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Seemar’s top six for the Dubai World Cup Carnival:

1. Reynaldothewizard
2. North America
3. Raven’s Corner
4. Hawkesbury
5. New Maharajah
6. Secret Ambition

Banned items
Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:
  • Drones
  • Animals
  • Fireworks/ flares
  • Radios or power banks
  • Laser pointers
  • Glass
  • Selfie sticks/ umbrellas
  • Sharp objects
  • Political flags or banners
  • Bikes, skateboards or scooters
The specs
 
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
MATCH INFO

New Zealand 176-8 (20 ovs)

England 155 (19.5 ovs)

New Zealand win by 21 runs

Match info:

Burnley 0

Manchester United 2
Lukaku (22', 44')

Red card: Marcus Rashford (Man United)

Man of the match: Romelu Lukaku (Manchester United)

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Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
VEZEETA PROFILE

Date started: 2012

Founder: Amir Barsoum

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: HealthTech / MedTech

Size: 300 employees

Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)

Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC

Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
  • Flexible work arrangements
  • Pension support
  • Mental well-being assistance
  • Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
  • Financial well-being incentives 
The biog

Name: Dhabia Khalifa AlQubaisi

Age: 23

How she spends spare time: Playing with cats at the clinic and feeding them

Inspiration: My father. He’s a hard working man who has been through a lot to provide us with everything we need

Favourite book: Attitude, emotions and the psychology of cats by Dr Nicholes Dodman

Favourit film: 101 Dalmatians - it remind me of my childhood and began my love of dogs 

Word of advice: By being patient, good things will come and by staying positive you’ll have the will to continue to love what you're doing

The specs

AT4 Ultimate, as tested

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

Power: 420hp

Torque: 623Nm

Transmission: 10-speed automatic

Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)

On sale: Now

Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
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England's all-time record goalscorers:
Wayne Rooney 53
Bobby Charlton 49
Gary Lineker 48
Jimmy Greaves 44
Michael Owen 40
Tom Finney 30
Nat Lofthouse 30
Alan Shearer 30
Viv Woodward 29
Frank Lampard 29

The Bio

Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”

Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”

Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”

Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”

Recent winners

2002 Giselle Khoury (Colombia)

2004 Nathalie Nasralla (France)

2005 Catherine Abboud (Oceania)

2007 Grace Bijjani  (Mexico)

2008 Carina El-Keddissi (Brazil)

2009 Sara Mansour (Brazil)

2010 Daniella Rahme (Australia)

2011 Maria Farah (Canada)

2012 Cynthia Moukarzel (Kuwait)

2013 Layla Yarak (Australia)              

2014 Lia Saad  (UAE)

2015 Cynthia Farah (Australia)

2016 Yosmely Massaad (Venezuela)

2017 Dima Safi (Ivory Coast)

2018 Rachel Younan (Australia)

The biog

Name: Greg Heinricks

From: Alberta, western Canada

Record fish: 56kg sailfish

Member of: International Game Fish Association

Company: Arabian Divers and Sportfishing Charters

Electric scooters: some rules to remember
  • Riders must be 14-years-old or over
  • Wear a protective helmet
  • Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
  • Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
  • Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
  • Do not drive outside designated lanes
Company Fact Box

Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019

Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO

Based: Amman, Jordan

Sector: Education Technology

Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed

Stage: early-stage startup 

Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.

Updated: May 24, 2025, 3:36 PM`