Red flag, crashes
LIVE: Charles Leclerc crashes, red flag
Formula 1 rising star Kimi Antonelli continued his winning streak and triumphed for the first time on Sunday at the prestigious and completely crazy Monaco Grand Prix.
The Mercedes driver won the classic race—which was interrupted for an extended period in the final stages—ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the Ferrari and Isack Hadjar in the Red Bull. With his fifth consecutive victory, Antonelli further extended his lead in the World Championship. Hamilton is now second, as Antonelli’s teammate George Russell came away empty-handed.
The classic race turned into a disaster not only for Russell, who was knocked out of the points due to a penalty, but also for Max Verstappen, who had qualified second. The former world champion retired at the start due to a power unit failure in his Red Bull.
Antonelli, however, remained unfazed by the sometimes chaotic race and cruised to his next triumph. The 19-year-old wasn’t even slowed down by a race interruption lasting over half an hour, including a standing restart. “That was an incredible race. One of those days where everything clicks, where you have that incredible pace—I was able to control everything, which gave me the confidence to push hard,” said Antonelli, who replaced Hamilton as the youngest GP winner in Monte Carlo.
Stoppage ten laps from the finish
The race was interrupted because, in quick succession at Turn 19, accidents involving Lance Stroll and local hero Charles Leclerc—who was on course for the podium— had occurred. These were apparently caused by the brittle asphalt surface there. Race control therefore stopped the Grand Prix to clean and inspect the critical spot with ten laps to go, but then gave the green light again.
An unusually high number of five-second penalties for speeding in the pit lane also sparked much discussion. Among those affected were Hamilton and Russell, who received another penalty in the final stages. This ultimately knocked the Brit out of the points and dropped him behind Hamilton in the championship standings.
Antonelli on a roll
After six of 22 World Championship rounds, Antonelli already leads Hamilton by 66 points. “We have to make sure he doesn’t become Icarus; we have to keep him grounded,” commented Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff on the hype surrounding the young star, warning: “The season is long; we mustn’t get overconfident under any circumstances.” The next race takes place this coming weekend in Barcelona. “I have to keep pushing, but of course this is a nice moment,” said Antonelli.
Verstappen got off to a slow start in his Red Bull due to a powertrain failure, creeping away from his second position. Shortly thereafter, he gave up after one lap while sitting at the back of the field .
Here are the final results:
“The engine just cut out. I didn’t get any power back until after the first corner. The engine sounded really terrible; I couldn’t go full throttle, so we pulled into the pits. We still have no idea what exactly happened,” said the Dutchman, who most recently finished third in Canada—his first podium finish this year—and emphasized: “It’s obviously a shame to leave here without any points after a weekend like this.”
Here are the standings in the Drivers’ World Championship:
Last year’s winner and world champion Lando Norris retired after 45 laps with a suspected battery failure on his McLaren. His teammate Oscar Piastri finished fourth.
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