zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Racing
/
Kimi Räikkönen's Ludicrously Fast Pole-Winning Lap Of Monaco Is Surreal
Kimi Räikkönen's Ludicrously Fast Pole-Winning Lap Of Monaco Is Surreal-February 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:11:22

You know that part in Star Wars where they go speeding through a narrow channel to blow up the Death Star? That’s what the Monaco Grand Prix circuit feels like at speed, except with Formula One cars. It’s absurdly tight and narrow, and you should enjoy its ridiculousness in this onboard of Kimi Räikkönen’s pole-winning lap.

The 2017 cars were to be wider, meaner and faster, and they nailed it.

Believe it or not, this 1:13.117 pole-setting flyer wasn’t even Räikkönen’s fastest lap. Räikkönen set a new fastest lap ever—1:12.178—of the Monaco Grand Prix Circuit in the second qualifying session, per .

This is Räikkönen’s first pole position after a 129-race drought, and we couldn’t be happier to hear him quietly um through a post-qualifying interview. Räikkönen’s Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel starts alongside him, having qualified second with a time only 0.043 seconds off of Räikkönen’s.

What’s fascinating, though, is to look at how smooth Räikkönen’s lap looks when compared with one of Ayrton Senna’s famous runs at the 1990 Monaco Grand Prix:

Senna’s lap looks so much more violent and jarring in comparison. That’s 27 years of progress for you.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Racing
Räikkönen and Vettel Are The Least Enthusiastic Fiat Spokesmodels Ever
Räikkönen and Vettel Are The Least Enthusiastic Fiat Spokesmodels Ever
For some reason unbeknownst to non-marketing mankind, this photo of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen sharing a Fiat 500X is the top news story on website right now. Ferrari claims that heavy snow has given its drivers the change to have fun in the car, but I don't see evidence...
Feb 11, 2026
There's A Senna Back In A McLaren For 2015
There's A Senna Back In A McLaren For 2015
Ex-Formula One driver Bruno Senna will be joining the McLaren GT team as a factory driver for selected events this year. Fans of Ayrton's nephew, rejoice! Senna will help with development of the 650S GT3 and 650S Sprint race cars, so most of his work with McLaren will be behind...
Feb 11, 2026
Hipster Infiltrates Nissan GT-R LM Nismo Le Mans Race Car Tests
Hipster Infiltrates Nissan GT-R LM Nismo Le Mans Race Car Tests
We knew something like this would eventually happen due to Circuit of the Americas' close proximity to East Austin. The eastern half of the town is home to craft cocktails, old-timey facial hair, artisanal toilet paper, and the like. Hipsters. One such fellow apparently infiltrated Nissan's preseason LMP1 testing. The...
Feb 11, 2026
Alex Zanardi Hits Guardrail; Guardrail Probably Lost
Alex Zanardi Hits Guardrail; Guardrail Probably Lost
Double amputee racing driver, paracyclist and guy who's officially Alex Zanardi accidentally hit a guardrail in training today. Of the two, the guardrail probably lost. Zanardi posted a photo of the collarbone that smashed into said guardrail on Twitter today: I mean, look at the guy. Of course the rail...
Feb 11, 2026
Valentino Rossi, Fernando Alonso Had Money In Secret Swiss Bank Accounts
Valentino Rossi, Fernando Alonso Had Money In Secret Swiss Bank Accounts
The Swiss arm of HSBC was one of the most private banking institutions in the world until systems engineer Hervé Falciani from his employer. Motorsports stars Valentino Rossi, Flavio Briatore, Fernando Alonso and Heikki Kovalainen were on the list of hacked accounts. According to , HSBC is one of the...
Feb 11, 2026
How Porsche Killed The Last Great GT Racing Era At Le Mans
How Porsche Killed The Last Great GT Racing Era At Le Mans
There was a time , when the fastest road cars in the world competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Here's the story of how the Porsche 911 GT1 killed the series and homologation specials it spawned. I'm talking about the BRP series, which I've written about before in...
Feb 11, 2026
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved