Adrian Newey has leapt to the defence of under-fire Aston Martin racer Lance Stroll, claiming the Canadian has a “bad rap” outside of the team.

Aston Martin hope Adrian Newey can design title winning cars for Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll in the coming years and the Brit insists the latter is better than many give him credit for

Adrian Newey has jumped to the defence of Lance Stroll, insisting he receives undue criticism. The driver is the son of Aston Martin team owner Lawrence Stroll, the billionaire with a dream to conquer Formula 1. The team owner attracted two-time champion Fernando Alonso to Aston Martin, and more recently convinced Newey to jump ship from Red Bull.

Norris took pole position from Ferrari’s home favorite Charles Leclerc, with Sunday’s iconic grand prix next up in Monte Carlo

Lewis Hamilton and Lance Stroll have both been slapped with three-place grid penalties for impeding during Monaco Grand Prix qualifying. The verdicts mean that Stroll will start from the very back of the grid and Hamilton will line up in P7 at a notoriously difficult track to overtake on.

Oscar Piastri, who leads McLaren team-mate Norris by 13 points at the top of the championship standings, will start Sunday’s race from third. Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton qualified in fourth but was hit with a post-session three-place grid drop for impeding Max Verstappen.

Leclerc ended the day just 0.038 seconds quicker than McLaren's Oscar Piastri, the world championship leader, with Lewis Hamilton third fastest in the second Ferrari. Before practice started, he said his chances of repeating his victory in his home race last year were "low".

The Monaco Grand Prix may be “the jewel in Formula 1’s crown” but the race itself is rarely must-see TV. Sometimes, it’s downright dull.

Not only Lewis Hamilton was investigated after qualifying for impeding another driver, but also Lance Stroll. The Canadian picked up his second grid penalty of the weekend on Saturday. Stroll finished in P19 in Q1,