Antonelli masterclass leaves Monaco chaos far behind

Kimi Antonelli dominated the Monaco Grand Prix from pole position despite two safety cars and a red flag to take a 66-point lead in the Formula 1 drivers' championship after teammate George Russell failed to score for the second grand prix in a row.

Antonelli was untouchable from the moment the lights were extinguished in Monte Carlo, even if his objective to hold the lead into Sainte Devote was assisted by Max Verstappen, starting from the second row, failing to get away from the grid due to an engine problem.

With clear air ahead of him, the Italian set off at a scalding pace, opening a 5.4-second gap to the trailing Lewis Hamilton by the end of lap 10. He held the margin as he lapped the first gaggle of backmarkers before opening it to more than 10s at lap 25.

Only higher than expected degradation threatened to derail Antonelli’s progress, and Ferrari, with no answer the Mercedes driver’s pace otherwise, rolled the dice on an early stop for Hamilton in a bid to capitalize.

The Briton exchanged his mediums for hards on lap 28, dropping from second to third behind teammate Charles Leclerc, but the hoped-for tire drop-off never eventuated, with Antonelli’s progress undiminished.

Leclerc pitted defeatedly on lap 35, dropping back behind Hamilton, giving Antonelli the gap he needed to make his sole pit stop two laps later without losing the lead.

Rejoining the circuit with a 13s advantage over the Ferrari drivers, the race appeared all but won. A pair of late safety cars, however, momentarily enlivened the grand prix by wiping out what had been a half-minute advantage.

The first was to collect Lance Stroll’s crashed-out Aston Martin at Antony Noghès on lap 60. He kept himself ahead of Hamilton at the restart on lap 66, but the race was immediately neutralized again when Leclerc crashed his Ferrari at the same place.

“Honestly, I’m not even going to take the f****** blame. These f****** brakes,” he fumed.

The circuit itself was at least partly to blame, with the track breaking up in the braking zone for the final two turns, triggering a red flag for repairs.

Almost 40 minutes later, the race got back underway with a standing start on lap 72. Antonelli again aced his getaway, leaving Hamilton to follow him into Sainte Devote for the second time of the afternoon.

Just as he had more than two hours earlier, the Italian easily opened a 6.3s lead to claim his fifth consecutive victory and his first career grand slam for leading every lap from pole and setting the fastest lap of the race.

“It’s been an incredible weekend,” he said after becoming the youngest Monte Carlo winner in history. “It was one of those days where we had such incredible pace.

“Once I got away [at the restart], I knew I was going to make it into P1 into the first corner, and from that point on I just enjoyed the last few laps.”

Hamilton finished a stubborn second to record his best Monte Carlo finish since his 2019 victory and tie Ayrton Senna’s record of eight Monaco podium appearances.

“We can’t quite keep up with [Mercedes] just yet, and it’s probably going to take a lot of work for us to get to their level,” he said. “But to get another second place is such a great feeling, especially in Monaco.”

The result moves Hamilton up to second in the drivers' championship, 66 points adrift of Antonelli and two points ahead of Russell.

Pierre Gasly executed a strong afternoon culminating in an around-the-outside pass of Isack Hadjar at Turn 1 for third place at the red flag restart, but a 10s penalty for speeding in the pit lane demoted him to seventh after the flag.

The penalty promoted Hadjar to an improbable third for his second career podium despite battling severe engine problems throughout the race that left him lapping multiple seconds off the pace for much of the race.

“Within the first 10, 15 laps I started having massive drivability issues, and if there’s one track you don’t want that, it’s here,” he said. “It was incredible challenging having to cover 60 laps like that.”

The Frenchman, however, will be investigated after the race for a red flag infringement.

Oscar Piastri salvaged fourth place on an uncompetitive afternoon for McLaren, though the Australian could be promoted to his third consecutive podium if Hadjar is penalized, having finished only 0.9 seconds behind the Red Bull Racing car.

Attrition among the front-runners opened the door to Liam Lawson finishing an equal career best fifth place ahead of Racing Bulls teammate Arvid Lindblad, who hadn’t made a pit stop before the red flag, which allowed him to change tires for free.

Gasly headed Alex Albon, who finished eighth ahead of Esteban Ocon in ninth.

Nico Hulkenberg took the flag 10th, but he did so after clattering into Carlos Sainz at the hairpin at the red flag restart, incurring a post-race 5s penalty that dumped him to 14th.

The penalty promoted Sergio Perez to 10th for Cadillac’s first points-scoring finish, but the Mexican is under investigation for a start infringement following the standing restart.

Should he be penalized, Fernando Alonso will be promoted to 10th to score Aston Martin’s first points of the season, with the Spaniard currently classified 11th ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto.

Russell finished a disastrous and penalized 13th on a miserable day for the Briton, who dropped to third in the championship standings behind Hamilton and 68 points adrift of his title-leading teammate.

His race unraveled after failing to correctly serve a 5s penalty for pit lane speeding; he entered pit lane unannounced during the first safety car period, and his pit crew began work on his car immediately rather than serving the penalty.

The stewards punished Russell with a drive-through penalty he was forced to serve after the red flag, dumping him out of the points and leaving him scoreless for the second consecutive grand prix.

Hulkenberg was classified 14th ahead of Franco Colapinto, who nudged Sainz into retirement at Portier after the restart.

Joining Sainz, Leclerc, Stroll and Verstappen among the non-finishers was Lando Norris, who retired with an engine problem for the second consecutive grand prix; Oliver Bearman, who retired with damage picked up on the first lap; and Valtteri Bottas, who had overheating problems.

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