Norris starts on pole for Monaco Grand Prix as Leclerc predicts strategy ‘chaos’

Lando Norris has his first Formula 1 pole position in more than two months at the Monaco Grand Prix. Now he needs his first win since then to boost his title chances.

There usually is no better place to be on pole position than Monaco, where overtaking is near-impossible, but a new rule change could shake up everything.

Drivers will have to change tires at least twice in Sunday’s race, adding an uncertain element of strategy to what was a one-stop procession last year.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, last year’s winner, starts second alongside Norris and is predicting a chaotic race.

“I think it’s going to be a bit of chaos tomorrow, but we’ll see how it plays out,” he said after qualifying.

“I think there’ll be a lot of strategy games, and we’ll see who comes out on top. But I think we might be under pressure from cars that we probably don’t expect, from the back, which might make everything interesting. We’ll see.”

Potentially, teams could seek to gamble by making two early stops and hope to leapfrog rivals later, or else take a chance on a safety car or red flag making it possible to change tires without losing places.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing