Race Report: Kimi is youngest winner of Monaco GP

Kimi Antonelli became the youngest-ever Monaco GP winner, leading Lewis Hamilton and Isack Hadjar to the checkered flag in his Mercedes-AMG Petronas. He is the youngest driver to secure the grand slam in a Formula 1 race weekend and the youngest F1 championship leader.

It has been 22 years since an Italian won the Monaco GP, and Kimi ended the drought with his fifth win in six races so far this season. The attrition, with six cars out of the race, handed serious points to some midfield teams.

Win

A big win for Mercedes and Kimi Antonelli. As Martin Brundle said, we are seeing the emergence of a generational talent like Prost, Senna, Schumacher, Hamilton, and Verstappen. This young man is going from strength to strength this season. When you think about the timing, with Hamilton moving on and Toto Wolff gambling on Kimi, it is paying massive dividends!

A win for Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton, who overcame a penalty to still finish in P2. He didn’t have the pace to really challenge the Mercedes, but he just equaled Ayrton Senna’s podium record at Monaco. Well done, Lewis! Get well soon, Fred.

A win for Isack Hadjar, who, at the time of writing, is still under investigation, for a podium finish in P3. He was like an irate child on the radio all day, struggling with issues, but managed to drive through them and bring it home in P3 with the attrition assist.

A big win for Racing Bulls, with Liam Lawson in P5 and Arvid Lindblad in P6. A double-points finish for the duo, and given that both cars were on high stands just prior to the start, it was a herculean effort from the team to get them in the race. Well done! Arvid’s free tire change eliminated the Williams gambit of double points.

A win for Pierre Gasly for a P7, but really a P3 on the road. Gutted that he had two 5-second penalties for speeding in the pit lane, and it makes you wonder what was happening with the speed limiters, given how many drivers received penalties. Alpine is asking for a review, and so they should.

A big win, thanks to attrition, for Sergio Perez, who is also under review at the time of writing, for scoring Cadillac’s first F1 points.

Honorable mentions to Alex Albon, Esteban Ocon, and Oscar Piastri as well, with all three in the points.

Fail

A fail for George Russell and Mercedes for a dismal weekend and a massive loss of points, dropping him behind Lewis Hamilton in the championship. George has really struggled of late, and the load of penalties, starting with speeding in the pit lane, sent him into a spiral and a zero-point result. If George can’t turn this around, I sense this could be the beginning of a downward spiral in F1 for him. On the other side of that argument, it could make George an even fiercer driver as he faces adversity and perseveres.

A fail for Red Bull and Max Verstappen, with a massive power unit failure at the start. It may have deprived us of an exciting race with Max in the mix.

A fail for Charles Leclerc, who crashed at his home grand prix. Tough day, and while he blamed the brakes, I thought it was the asphalt in the final turn. Regardless, he is having brake issues and clearly said he may have to move his car toward Lewis’s spec.

Equally, a fail for McLaren and Lando Norris, with a retired car. A brutal weekend for the team celebrating its 1,000th grand prix. Oscar finished well, but inherited the result due to attrition. The team was simply off the pace this weekend.

Tough weekend for Audi, as it looked like Nico Hulkenberg might nip into the points, but clouting Carlos Sainz ended that dream, and Gabby starting from the pit lane was the nail in the coffin for Audi in Monaco.

You never know: if a post-race penalty for Perez happens, Fernando Alonso could put Aston Martin in the points.

WTH

Not sure if it was brakes or asphalt, but it sure looked like the asphalt was the cause of the Stroll and Leclerc crashes. Both drivers said it was brakes.

You can tell Derek Warwick was a steward this weekend. Penalties galore! What is going on with the speed limiter in the pit lane? Something was wrong if all these different teams and drivers were getting penalties.

Pirelli Report:

DARIO MARRAFUSCHI – PIRELLI MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR

“Today the drivers did not hold back on track and tried to extract the maximum from their cars. This is reflected in the levels of tyre degradation observed, which were higher than in previous days and, in some cases, led to performance drop-offs. The decision not to preserve the tyres probably pushed teams towards more conservative strategic choices. Almost everyone opted to start on the Medium, before choosing the Hard for the second stint. However, some long runs on the Soft, such as those completed by Aston Martin, clearly showed that the red tyre could be a valid alternative. The Soft was also the option chosen by everyone for the restart. The driver who made the best use of all three compounds was the winner himself, Kimi Antonelli, who set the fastest times of the Grand Prix on Hard, Medium and Soft, dominating the race as well. Overall, the drivers managed to bring the tyres up to temperature more easily, perhaps thanks to the continuous laps around the circuit. The limiting axle was obviously the rear, due to the numerous traction phases during the race, and it was also the most prone to wear. It was an interesting event, especially in the second half, which was full of twists and featured a new grid restart.”

Monaco GP Results: