A charging Spaniard and a flying Dutchman: What to expect in the Monaco GP

Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix promises to be one for the books as Max Verstappen seeks a second Formula 1 win around the streets of the Principality.

The Red Bull driver secured his first pole here on Saturday with a blistering lap, snatching the position from Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso.

Coming into the race weekend, Alonso earmarked Monaco as one of a few venues where the team's AMR23 could be competitive, and it was exactly the case. Though Verstappen cleared him by 0.084 seconds, the Spaniard remains positive.

READ: Fernando Alonso ready to exploit Max Verstappen 'inconsistent' race starts in Monaco

Alonso is hoping that Verstappen will have another bad start when the lights go out, and him the opposite as they make their way into the very technical and victim-taking Turn 1.

"It's a very short run into Turn 1. We normally have a good start. Max is a bit inconsistent, so maybe he has one of those bad ones," Alonso said.

"We will try to win. We need some help from Max, but I am not going to take it for granted."

Damage limitation

Over at Ferrari, the team hopes their strong form in qualifying will result in a good race pace. Making things more difficult is Monaco's challenging overtaking nature. The circuit has the lowest average speed of all the tracks on the F1 calendar - around 150km/h - so expect a concession as the cars go around the 3.3km circuit for 78 laps.

Making things more difficult is Charles Leclerc being hit with a three-place grid penalty. The Monegasque impeded McLaren’s Lando Norris in Q3, and will start the race in sixth place. His teammate, Carlos Sainz, is in fourth.

READ: 'Pole position means a lot here' - Top drivers react to superb Monaco GP qualifying

Despite the penalty, the race stewards found that