Antonelli’s record-breaking charge continues in Monaco as Verstappen, Leclerc DNF in red-flagged race

Kimi Antonelli’s record-breaking charge continued in Monte Carlo as the Mercedes driver extended his streak to five Grand Prix victories, winning a penalty-strewn Monaco GP ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

Max Verstappen’s race ended on the opening lap as he lost power off the line, while a late Safety Car for Charles Leclerc’s crash – the second in seven laps at the final corner – brought out the red flags as the tarmac was breaking up. Antonelli was forced into a second restart but stood firm against Hamilton.

Kimi Antonelli wins the Monaco Grand Prix

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There was pre-race drama in Monaco as Liam Lawson’s car developed an unspecified technical issue upon fire-up. The team was able to resolve it, and he took his place on the grid, P10. One driver who didn’t take his place on the grid was Gabriel Bortoleto, whose car “shut off” on the way to the grid. Audi was able to reset the systems, but he had to start from the pit lane.

On the grid, Kimi Antonelli lined up on pole position ahead of Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. The entire grid was on the medium tyres, except the Cadillacs, on the hard Pirellis, and Bortoleto on the softs.

Antonelli made a brilliant start from pole position, but Verstappen stalled on the grid and crept off to the side of the track to avoid an accident. “Nice! Completely ****,” was the Red Bull driver’s radio to his team. Verstappen dropped all the way down to P22. Hamilton was second ahead of Leclerc and Isack Hadjar.

Oliver Bearman, needing a new front wing, as well as Valtteri Bottas and Bortoleto were into the pits at the end of Lap 1. So too was Verstappen. “Just bring it home,” was the message to Verstappen, his race over.

George Russell was noted for a false start, being out of position. The stewards ruled no further investigation. Sergio Perez was also noted for the same potential infringement and was given a drive-through penalty.

After 2024’s Monaco GP proved the entire race could be run on one set of tyres, Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll and Perez joined the list of early stoppers – in before Lap 5.

Antonelli led Hamilton by 5.5s after 10 laps, Hamilton was four seconds ahead of Leclerc, who was three seconds clear of Hadjar. Russell, Oscar Piastri, Pierre Gasly, Lando Norris, Lawson and Alex Albon completed the top ten.

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Esteban Ocon pitted, Perez served his penalty with Antonelli into traffic on Lap 11 already, and Bottas retired with cooling issues. Backmarkers saw Antonelli’s lead reduced to three seconds, only for the Mercedes driver to pull it back out to five seconds 20 laps into the race.

Hamilton and Hadjar both complained about the state of their Pirelli tyres. Russell was all over Hadjar’s rear wing, but Monaco is not the easiest place to pass. Hadjar complained about his engine braking problem and that first gear was “not usable”. The other close battle was Gasly and Norris, with the McLaren driver stuck behind the Alpine for more than 10 laps.

Hadjar vented: “Something is about to explode!” Red Bull told him that “currently there is no fix, we are working on a solution, but currently no fix”. Despite his issues, he valiantly kept Russell behind him.

Russell tried to attack into the Nouvelle chicane on Lap 26 but was thwarted by Hadjar. At the front, his teammate was 10s up on Hamilton, and 41s ahead of Russell, who was stuck in fifth. Two laps later, Hadjar ran straight on at the chicane. Russell: “That’s a lasting advantage.”

Hamilton was the first of the frontrunners to pit, stopping on Lap 29 for hard tyres. He came out behind Leclerc in third place. Russell was in on Lap 32, calling time on his battle with Hadjar. Meanwhile Bearman added his name to the retirement list, pulling into the Haas garage to retire his VF26. Hadjar was in on Lap 32 and came out behind Russell.

Hamilton was under investigation for speeding in the pit lane. It was immediately confirmed. There were also issues for Norris, who reported “no power” and “no battery”. It, however, looked to be a brief issue.

Leclerc was the next of the frontrunners in, stopping on Lap 36. He rejoined nine seconds behind Hamilton. Antonelli pitted a lap later and retained the lead. His teammate Russell was given a five-second penalty for speeding into the pit lane, so too was Franco Colapinto. Pierre Gasly joined the list.

Norris’ race ended on Lap 46, McLaren telling him to retire the car. He had told the team, “Somethings wrong. I’ve got nothing. I’ve got no battery.”

Williams told Alex Albon to give a position to Carlos Sainz. Albon slowed down, letting Sainz through and then backing up the pack to give Sainz time to build a pit stop window. Arvid Lindblad wasn’t playing the game and shot past Albon up to 10th. Sainz was able to make his stop and come out P10 ahead of Albon.

Lance Stroll was penalised five seconds for track limits, with Piastri the fifth driver penalised for speeding in the pit lane,

With 20 to go, Antonelli was leading 29s but told Mercedes that there was “something weird” with the engine. Hamilton was three seconds in front of Leclerc but facing a five-second penalty.

Safety Car! Stroll binned it in the barriers at the final corner. Antonelli continued on his way, Hamilton, Leclerc and Piastri all pitted, with Hamilton taking his five second penalty. Leclerc wasn’t impressed, “Why the hell are we pitting?” A sluggish stop meant he was seven seconds behind Hamilton after the stop.

Antonelli did stop on the next lap. Russell was potentially facing another five second penalty as he didn’t take his five-second penalty when he stopped. It was confirmed, a drive-through.

Racing resumed on Lap 66, with Antonelli twitching all over the place as he came to the line as were the Ferraris.

Safety Car! Leclerc crashed at the final corner. “I’m not even going to take the blame,” said an angry Leclerc. “These f***ing brakes!” The drivers initially had to go down the pit lane, and Gasly got another five-second penalty for speeding.

Red flag! With two crashes at the same corner, Turn 19, within seven laps, the race was suspended with the FIA checking the surface of the racetrack that appeared to be breaking up. The race resumed on 5:12pm local time, with Race Control also announcing Hamilton was under investigation for a Safety Car infringement. He was cleared.

The racing resumed on Lap 71 with a standing start, Antonelli on pole alongside Hamilton with Hadjar and Russell on the second row. Antonelli made another good start to run ahead of Hamilton, Russell, Gasly and Hadjar. Sainz was out, tagged by Colapinto. Russell pitted to serve his penalty, and returned to the track in 14th place, second last ahead of Colapinto.

Antonelli’s lead was up to five seconds as he began the final lap ahead of Hamilton and Gasly, who was facing a ten-second place. However, behind him was Hadjar, who was under investigation for a Safety Car infringement that will be investigated after the race.

Antonelli took the win, making it five-from-five in turning pole position into a Grand Prix victory. The Italian won by seven seconds ahead of Hamilton, Gasly third at the time but dropping to seventh with his penalty.

Hadjar was promoted to the podium ahead of Piastri, Lawson and Lindblad. Sergio Perez scored Cadillac’s first point in 10th place.

F1 Results: Monaco Grand Prix

1 Kimi Antonelli winner
2 Lewis Hamilton +6.2
3 Isack Hadjar +23.3
4 Oscar Piastri +24.2
5 Liam Lawson +26.5
6 Arvid Lindblad +29.0
7 Pierre Gasly +30.3
8 Alex Albon +33.4
9 Esteban Ocon +37.1
10 Sergio Perez +39.1

Check out the full results from the Monaco Grand Prix.

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