Kimi Antonelli Becomes the Youngest Race Winner at Monaco

Race day arrived in the streets on Monte Carlo for the Monaco Grand Prix. It was Kimi Antonelli who secured pole position in front of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. It was fourth place for the home hero, Charles Leclerc, following a disappointing qualifying. George Russell was also not too happy with his qualifying performance, and lined up in 6th place ahead of the McLaren pair.

It could have been bad news for Liam Lawson who was looking at facing a start from the pit lane. But the VCARB team pulled through, and the Kiwi was able to line up in p10 alongside Pierre Gasly. However, it wasn’t all good news for another driver. Gabriel Bortoleto wasn’t quite as lucky as Lawson, and he ground to a halt at the pit exit. This forced him to abandon his P16 qualifying position and begin from the pit lane.

This year saw the mandatory two-stop rule being scrapped. With good track conditions, only a one-stop was predicted. The majority of the grid started on medium tyres – except Bortoleto, Perez, and Bottas, who stuck on the soft compound tyre.

The lights finally went out on the street circuit, and Antonelli got a perfect start and maintained the lead. We were probably all expecting a fierce challenge to the first corner, but that never came as the Dutchman failed to get off the line and had to watch all 21 cars go into the distance.

The opening lap was mostly clean! Gasly got in front of Lando Norris, whilst Ollie Bearman came into the pits for a new front wing. Verstappen was retired from the race and had to watch from the side lines.

George Russell was noted for a false start but nothing came of that – all good news for the Brit! Unluckily for Sergio Perez, he did not have the safe fate and his infringement ended up with a drive-through penalty. The Mexican was out of position at the start of the race after mistakenly driving into Bortoleto’s absent grid slot.

It wasn’t long before those competing at the front of the pack began to come across backmarkers. Some drivers had pitted in the early stages of the race. An example of one was Esteban Ocon.

Lewis Hamilton was struggling on his tyres, claiming the rears were “very hot”. Despite coming on the radio to alert his team of his struggles, he was reduced Antonelli’s lead out in front and the seven-time World Champion was suddenly looking at ways to try and pass the young Italian.

Hamilton wasn’t the only one looking to make moves. Russell had caught up to Hadjar (who was struggling with his front left tyre) and found the confidence to pile on the pressure. But Russell being in his mirrors was the last of Hadjar’s problems. He came on the radio reporting an engine issue.

Russell was increasingly eager to pass Hadjar as he was adament his pace would be at least 1s greater in clear air. Which, ironically, his Mercedes teammate Antonelli was enjoying at the front of the field, leading by over 10s by Lap 26.

Even with the last remaining red Bull having car troubles, Russell still could not find a way past and resorted to practically sticking his W17 to the rear of the Red Bull, following remarkably closely through the Nouvelle Chicane.

Gasly was managing to keep Norris behind him even though the McLaren had consistently been in his wheel tracks for nearly every lap, hoping to recover some positions after a difficult qualifying. But it was a lonely race for Piastri who was in no man’s land in P6, having a calm Sunday drive along the prestigious streets.

There was a shakeup at the top of the race standings when Ferrari brought Hamilton in for his first pit stop, sticking on the hard compound from Lap 29 onwards. It was an impressive 2.1 second stop, and helped him to emerge behind his team mate, with the top three drivers having built a comprehensive gap back Hadjar who was still suffering from engine problems and not being able to use first gear.

It didn’t take long for another DNF, and Bearman became the third retirement of the event as he was ordered to box to retire the car, which Bottas also had to do earlier on due to his continued brake issues.

After being stuck behind Hadjar since the beginning of the race, Russell pitted on Lap 32 for fresh tyres, with him emerging behind his compatriot, Norris. Due to pitting first, when Hadjar finally did come him, Russell was able to get in front of him. Norris was reporting power issues behind Gasly, but now had Russell to be wary of in his mirrors.

Unluckily for Hamilton, he was given a 5-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane. But with a sizeable time advantage over Leclerc, the Brit was still on track for a podium. However, it wasn’t just Hamilton who was dealt bad luck in the pit lane. Russell and Colapinto were both penalised for the same reason. With their pit stops being complete, the 5-second time disadvantage would be added to their total race time after the chequered flag had fallen.

Russell was hit with another stroke of bad luck when he was noted for crossing the line at the pit exit. But he didn’t have time to focus on that! He managed to get past Norris whose speed was dropping. He was then ordered to retire his McLaren (making it a back-to-back DNF for the reigning World Champ).

Williams team orders allowed the pair to switch positions. Albon had a difficult time when Arvid Lindblad found a way past him, dropping the Thai out of the top 10.

Drama in the pit lane continued to unfold as Gasly and Piastri were the latest victims to be given a 5-second time penalty for speeding. Lance Stroll was given the same time penalty for exceeding track limits.

There was a tentative moment for our young race leader as he claimed there was “something weird with the engine”. After that comment, he set the fastest lap of the race, and Bono confirmed there was nothing to worry about and to focus on his now almost 30-second lead.

This was then thrown into jeopardy when Stroll crashed into a wall – bringing out the Safety Car that meant a lot of the drivers came into the pits for a second stop. Those who had time penalties given to them were able to serve them.

Due to Stroll’s crash, all cars were ordered to travel through the pit lane. The Mercedes pit crew got stuck changing Antonelli’s left rear tyre which cut a chunk of time out from the lead he built up on track. Russell had a penalty to serve, but didn’t, and left the outcome of the race up in the air.

It was horror for the home favourite! As racing resumed, he replicated Stroll’s crash into a wall. This resulted in a red flag for barrier inspection. The Monegasque stated “I won’t even take the blame”.

During this pause in the race, it was revealed that Gasly, and more importantly Russell, would receive further penalties. The Alpine driver received 5-second for speeding in the pit lane. Russell was hit with a drive through penalty for failing to serve the original one when he came into the pits during the Safety Car period.

Before racing continued, Antonelli backed up the pack. The traffic became too much towards the mid-end of the pack as Hulkenberg clipped Sainz, sending him bumping into the wall. That wasn’t it for Williams though! Sainz then collided with Colapinto before the tunnel, spinning and ending up facing the wrong way. Ultimately, he retired from the race.

After the restart, Mercedes called Russell into the pits to complete his drive through penalty, tumbling down the order for P14, and another race without scoring any points.

In happier news on the other side of the Mercedes garage, Kimi Antonelli won once again! Also getting the fastest lap of the race! Hamilton followed him, finishing in second place. There were so many penalties and investigations left until after the race, so the complete podium was an uncertain one, but despite having engine issues, Hadjar was awarded third place.

The top 3 were followed by Piastri, Lawson, Lindblad, Gasly (after his penalties), Albon, Ocon, and Alonso. There was 7 retirees from this years’ Monaco Grand Prix – 3 with crashes, and 4 with mechanical issues.

Kimi Antonelli had this to say after the race: "It’s been an incredible weekend, an incredible race. It was one of those days where we had incredible pace and it was just coming all so naturally. The car was feeling incredible and it was just giving me the confidence to push, so it was a very enjoyable day."

Formula 1 is back at Barcelona next time round! Will we finally get a race winner that isn’t a Mercedes driver? Will Norris actually be able to finish a race? Let’s see what the first European race of 2026 will bring…

contact@hittingtheapex.co.uk