Russell’s Q3 Streak Ends as Alonso Out-Qualifies Stroll for 20th Round in a Row
According to a report by RaceFans, George Russell was left frustrated with a technical problem with his Mercedes, which ended his impressive streak of consecutive Q3 appearances.
Change from Practice to Qualifying
The RaceFans report noted that, not for the first time this year, Red Bull’s Friday pace turned out to be far off what they were capable of. However, in a departure from the norm, McLaren found even more time from Friday to qualifying, which was enough for Lando Norris to snatch pole position from Charles Leclerc.
Gaps between Team Mates
The RaceFans report also highlighted that Lance Stroll being out-qualified by Fernando Alonso may be nothing new, but on this occasion, the gap between them was exaggerated by the circumstances. Stroll left his final run in Q1 to the last possible moment and had to abandon it when he encountered yellow flags for Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s crashed Mercedes at the Nouvelle Chicane.
As per RaceFans, Stroll clearly could have gone faster, but it is unclear if he would have been able to get into Q2 if he’d completed his lap. "I think so," said Stroll after qualifying. "I mean, I was up quite a bit." Alonso reached Q2 with a 0.228s margin, but Stroll was 0.165s slower than him through the first sector, so it’s far from a foregone conclusion.
Team Mate Battles Sequences
According to RaceFans, Stroll’s Q1 exit marked his 20th consecutive defeat to his team mate in a grand prix qualifying session. Stroll has by far the longest losing streak of any driver at present for grands prix, though he did out-qualify Alonso for one of this year’s two sprint races, in Shanghai.
The RaceFans report provided a comprehensive breakdown of driver streaks, including out-qualified team mates and out-qualified by team mates.
Q1 and Q3
As reported by RaceFans, Russell’s elimination in Q2 due to a technical problem was an especially bitter disappointment for Mercedes as they finally seemed to have unlocked some performance from the W16 in Q1. "I hit a bump on the run out of turn one and lost power," said Russell. "It felt like something electronic just disconnected.
"I tried everything I could to get the car back to the garage and then restart it when I stopped in the tunnel. Unfortunately, there was nothing more we could do," Russell added, as per RaceFans.
His streak of 18 consecutive Q3 appearances therefore came to an end. The last time he failed to reach Q3 was in Hungary last year, when he dropped out in the first round.
The RaceFans report also provided an update on drivers’ eliminated in Q1 and those who have reached Q3.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the RaceFans report highlighted the frustration of George Russell with a technical problem with his Mercedes, which ended his impressive streak of consecutive Q3 appearances. Additionally, Lance Stroll’s Q1 exit marked his 20th consecutive defeat to his team mate in a grand prix qualifying session.
The 2025 Monaco Grand Prix qualifying session has seen several drivers struggle with issues, underlining the highly competitive nature of the sport. Further updates and analysis on the 2025 Monaco Grand Prix can be found on RaceFans.
