Verstappen and Hamilton target Antonelli’s Monaco weakness with cheeky advice

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton have offered Kimi Antonelli some tongue-in-cheek advice ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix start — advice that would certainly work in their favour.

Antonelli secured his fifth successive Grand Prix pole position for the season in Monaco on Saturday when he beat Max Verstappen by 0.043s in qualifying.

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton offer Kimi Antonelli cheeky advice

Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust

But despite his stellar qualifying pace, the Mercedes driver has yet to lead into Turn 1.

The Italian has lost positions off the line at every Grand Prix, and although he has recovered as the races have progressed, team principal Toto Wolff says it is “not acceptable”.

Mercedes introduced a revised clutch paddle for Antonelli at the Canadian Grand Prix, the Italian revealing it was “just a different shape”. However, even then, he lost a position to Lando Norris.

The championship leader is hoping to put an end to that trend in Monaco, where he will start ahead of Verstappen and Hamilton.

“I mean, starting in Montreal, for the first time I didn’t lose, well, I still lost a place on Sunday, but for the first time I didn’t lose like six or seven places,” he said.

“So, it was a step forward.

“It’s a pretty short run into Turn 1 in Monaco, so just need to get a clean start, don’t try to do the magic start, and then we’ll see from there.”

Verstappen and Hamilton were asked what advice they had for the 19-year-old ahead of Sunday’s start.

However, it probably won’t benefit Antonelli. At all.

“So, when the lights go out,” said Verstappen, “you wait one second. That’s my advice!”

Hamilton felt that wasn’t quite long enough.

“Yeah, I’m one step behind, so two seconds,” the Ferrari driver chipped in.

Good news for them, Antonelli was on board: “Two seconds, okay!”

More from Qualifying at the Monaco Grand Prix on PlanetF1.com

Kimi Antonelli snatches Monaco pole as Charles Leclerc crashes out

F1 starting grid: What is the grid order for the 2026 Monaco Grand Prix?

Pole not enough as Antonelli faces Verstappen-Hamilton threat

On a serious note, Antonelli acknowledges the talent of the two drivers behind him.

Between Verstappen and Hamilton, they have won 11 world championships and have dominated the last decade in the sport.

Antonelli hopes that with a good start, he can be the one who controls the pace throughout the 78-lap Grand Prix.

“I know who is behind and I know they’re very good, so for sure they’re going to push me and they’re going to try to put pressure,” he said. “But yeah, first of all, I’ll try to get a good start.

“You still need to have a good pace in hand because tyre degradation might be bigger than what we anticipate. I mean, we didn’t really try any long runs. We did only a few laps, so we don’t really have as much data.

“But for sure we know that it’s very difficult to overtake, but you still need to have the pace because in case of something happening, you need to push.”

But worryingly for the Italian, Verstappen, a huge critic of today’s engine formula, says the nature of the Monaco circuit means he’s finally happy in his Red Bull RB22.

“Of course, if you can go flat out and you can just select the gears that you want to use in the corners, it’s always going to be better,” he said.

“So, I finally felt just myself again in the car, let’s say like that, with the way you want to use the gears.

“Unfortunately, of course, we can’t do that in too many places on the calendar, but that’s what then makes it more and more natural to drive for sure.”

Hamilton has also warned that he has no intention of holding back.

“I mean, we know how these races go,” said the Ferrari driver. “It’s very difficult. I don’t think there’s overtaking. I hope that we can get a really good start and maybe apply some pressure to the two.

“Kind of need rain probably, but nothing’s impossible. I’ll keep applying the pressure. It’s going to be very hard to beat these two. You’ve got two great drivers who are in quick cars and have been very quick all weekend.

“I’m going to give it absolutely everything and try and hassle them as much as I can and try and force them into not making certain corners.”

Antonelli leads the Drivers’ Championship on 131 points, 43 ahead of George Russell and a further 13 up on Charles Leclerc.

Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.

You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!

Read next: Antonelli’s magic, Russell’s growing problem: Monaco qualifying winners and losers