Norris tips Ferrari for Monaco pole as McLaren targets repeat victory

Lando Norris has backed Ferrari to claim pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix, with the reigning world champion and his team principal Andrea Stella both pointing to the SF-26’s low-speed corner advantage as a decisive edge on the Monte Carlo street circuit.

Speaking after the Canadian Grand Prix, Norris was direct in his assessment of the threat posed by Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton’s machinery. “Honestly, I think that Ferrari will be on pole next weekend in Monaco,” he said. “Their low-speed performance is far better than everyone else. I look forward to Monaco because it’s Monaco. I had good success there last year and it was one of my best and most exciting weekends. But I think in the places we know we’re struggling, it’s not something that gives me confidence to say we’re going to be incredible. But you never know.”

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella backed his driver’s reading of the situation, pointing to GPS speed data as evidence of Ferrari’s chassis strength. “When we look at the overlay based on the GPS speed, we can see that Ferrari is definitely a competitive chassis in the corners, like in the first sector,” Stella said. “And it’s not only a low-speed sector, but it’s also a sector with kerbing. And normally these features tend to be rewarded on a track like Monaco. In addition to that, we see, for instance in Canada, that Ferrari lose time in the straights, but you don’t have much of that in Monaco. So I think Lando is pretty right in seeing Ferrari possibly as the favourite car for pole in Monaco.”

The Ferrari SF-26 has built on a long-standing characteristic of Maranello’s cars — strong traction and low-speed corner performance — while its horsepower deficit to Mercedes-powered rivals is expected to matter far less on a circuit where top speed rarely comes into play.

Despite ceding favourite status, Stella believes McLaren’s upgraded MCL40 can still be competitive. He noted that the car is currently best suited to low-speed corners rather than the medium and high-speed sections where Ferrari and Mercedes have shown superiority — a profile that should translate reasonably well to Monaco. However, Stella was careful to point out that the circuit is not exclusively slow-speed, with Casino corner taken at over 150 kph, Tabac at 170–180 kph, and the swimming pool section exceeding 200 kph.

“I definitely see Ferrari probably as the favourite, but McLaren can be competitive and we will try and repeat the achievement,” Stella said, referencing Norris’s victory at Monaco in 2024.