In a race where many of his fellow F1 drivers tripped up, Kimi Antonelli put in a flawless drive to win the 2026 Monaco GP, and extend his championship lead to a whopping 66 points over his nearest rival, which is now Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.
The 19-year-old Italian managed to thread his way through the tight streets of Monte Carlo to secure his fifth consecutive win of the season – and his first around the principality – in what can only be described as dominant fashion, as he had opened up a near 30-seconds advantage over his closest competition before a late red flag following Charles Leclerc’s crash against the barriers at Antony Noghès.
Antonelli full of praise for Mercedes’ mid-weekend “turnaround” at the 2026 F1 Monaco GP
Antonelli had already spoken on Saturday about Mercedes’ uptick in form following a tough Friday in the principality, and continued to praise the “incredible job” from his team that allowed him to perform at such a high level – he scored his first ever F1 ‘Grand Chelem’, by claiming pole position, leading every lap, winning the race and setting the fastest lap of the 2026 Monaco GP:
“I’m very happy. It was a really strong weekend. And the team did an incredible job,” he said. “First of all, with the rear wing that we brought.
“But as well with the turnaround that we had between Friday and Saturday. The car just changed massively, and obviously gave me a lot more confidence to push around this track. And yeah, just really been able to enjoy.”
Antonelli felt “at one” with his Mercedes F1 car and was “surprised” by the pace in the 2026 Monaco GP
Although he looked very dominant throughout the race, Antonelli admitted that the sheer pace advantage had had over his rivals came as a “surprise”, but recognized that he felt “at one” with his W17 throughout the 2026 Monaco GP race day:
“Yeah, I was surprised by the pace,” he admitted. “But today I just felt really [at] one with the car. And I was just able to set a good rhythm with high intensity, and the car was responding really well.
“So yeah, definitely I was surprised. But it was just one of those days where it’s just everything clicks.”
Late red flag left Antonelli “frustrated” at the prospect of another standing start
Antonelli’s nearly 30-second was already wiped out on lap 61 when Lance Stroll collided with the barriers at the final corner and the safety car was deployed.
The young Italian survived the pressure from seven-time world champion at the restart, but immediately as the race resumed, Charles Leclerc went into the same barriers as Stroll earlier and caused an untimely red flag for the Mercedes driver, with just 10 laps remaining of the race.
The prospect of facing yet another grid start at the Monaco GP concerned the championship leader, as starts haven’t been Antonelli’s or Mercedes’ stronghold in the 2026 F1 season, whilst it’s been one of the highlights of Hamilton and Ferrari in particular:
“I was frustrated [with the red flga],” he admitted. “Because Lewis [Hamilton] was starting next to me this time. And knowing how good they start, I was like, well, I cannot say [or] I’m going to say bad words, but I was like ‘no, no’. I was like ‘oh, man’.
“But luckily, the start went okay. Also, he had a lot of wheel spin. So that also made my life a little bit easier into turn one. But yeah, it was not easy to refocus after that, after the red flag.”
Mercedes’ changes to start procedure paying dividends for Antonelli
After a series of bad starts from Antonelli in the first four races of the season, Mercedes changed their systems around the race start ahead of the 2026 Canadian GP in late May, including a new clutch paddle specifically on the Italian’s car in order to help him get off the line better, which has carried over into Monaco.
And the 19-year-old reckons those changes are now paying dividends, saying he noticed a “big step forward” ever since the weekend in Montreal:
“Well, definitely Canada was a big step forward on [the starts],” he noted. “There’s still work to do. I think the first start today was the better one. The second start was still not amazing, but definitely a good step forward [from previous races].”
