Formula 1: Monaco Grand Prix TV, Start Time and Results

Monaco GRAND PRIX

Max Verstappen raced to the front in qualifying again, with Fernando Alonso right behind as usual, but danger is never far away on a tight Monaco circuit.

Credit...Andrej Isakovic/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A hairpin descent. Walls close enough to kiss. A dark tunnel and then a burst of blinding light along the waterfront.

The famed Circuit de Monaco, which first hosted a grand prix race in 1950, is one of the most iconic stops on Formula 1’s schedule. But the bling and the boats disguise an open secret: it is incredibly narrow, incredibly hard to pass, and an incredibly easy place to find trouble.

Just ask Sergio Pérez, who will start last on Sunday after crashing in qualifying. Just ask Lewis Hamilton, who saw his car lifted off the circuit by a crane after his own accident on Saturday. Or just ask Fernando Alonso, who qualified second but now must find a way to get past Max Verstappen if he is to taste victory. That’s not as easy as it looks. On Sunday, it may be harder than ever.

Ride onboard with @Max33Verstappen to relive the moment he took a monstrous Monaco pole ✨#MonacoGP #F1 @redbullracing @pirellisport pic.twitter.com/9ICBv65WF4

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 27, 2023

Time: The Monaco Grand Prix starts at 3 p.m. in Monte Carlo, which is 9 a.m. Eastern time. (Global start times are here.)

TV: The race will air on ABC in the United States. Coverage starts at 7:30 a.m. Eastern. Not in America? A full list of Formula 1 broadcasters, wherever you are, can be found here.

So that’s Verstappen and Alonso on the front row, which should come as no surprise. And that’s Esteban Ocon’s Alpine right behind them, which should come as a gigantic surprise.

Ferrari, starting fourth and sixth, and Mercedes, in fifth and eighth, will try to salvage what they can on Monaco’s narrow course. Sergio Pérez may be in for a long day looking at the back of other cars.

Can anyone catch Verstappen? You may have read this before. But with Pérez starting last, a win for Verstappen might blow open the points race.

Changes at Mercedes. The much-discussed and mostly agonizing (if you’re Hamilton or George Russell) wait for a Mercedes redesign has finally arrived. The biggest change that the team unveiled this week will be larger sidepods, but there are smaller ones here and there. Let a scientist or an engineer explain the aerodynamics of it all to you. Or just give it the eye test.

Home-track disadvantage? Monaco’s Charles Leclerc was the fastest qualifier at his home race the past two years, but an accident after winning pole position in 2021 and a stunning strategic blunder by his team in 2022 ensured he didn’t have a chance to win either race. He qualified third on Friday but clearly hasn’t shaken his bad luck: A penalty for impeding another driver during qualifying sent him back three places. He will start sixth.

• “We cannot take it for granted that all three cars will finish the race with no issues. This is Monaco.” — Fernando Alonso, who has seen some things.

• “I mean, I like to see Fernando win, but I also like to see myself win.” — Verstappen, asked about Alonso’s four third-place finishes this season.

• “When you are overdriving, it is the worst place to be, because the car doesn’t do what you want.” — Hamilton, caught between the need to push and the need to be careful. He crashed on Saturday after momentarily getting that calculus wrong.

• “It’s going to be a nightmare.” — Pérez, who won last year’s race but was predicting a back-of-the-pack finish after a qualifying crash sent him to the back of the grid.

There was no out last week after the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at Imola was canceled amid heavy rains and deadly floods in northern Italy. That makes it three weeks since Max Verstappen’s win in Miami.

After five starts, Red Bull’s only race remains the one against itself:

March 5: Bahrain Grand Prix. Winner: Max Verstappen

March 19: Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Winner: Sergio Pérez

April 2: Australian Grand Prix. Winner: Max Verstappen

April 30: Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Winner: Sergio Pérez

May 7: Miami Grand Prix. Winner: Max Verstappen

May 21: Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. Canceled.

June 4: Spanish Grand Prix, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.