Antonelli wins in Monaco as Max drops out at the start: 'Disappointing'

Published on 07 June 2026 by Florence Cobben

Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) won a flawless and unthreatened victory from pole at the Monaco Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) finished second ahead of Isack Hadjar (Oracle Red Bull Racing), who was a surprise podium-finisher in a race that saw seven DNF’s, two safety car moments and was even brought to a brief still stand.

“The formation lap already felt a bit odd,” Max explained after he exited the car. “As soon as I dropped the clutch that was it. The engine broke down completely. After that the noise that I heard from the engine once I got some power back out of turn 1 was very bad so I immediately brought it home.”

“I had no power, so I was steering left purely with the friction of the wheels, and just praying everyone would go right. Luckily everyone reacted very well.”

“We had a really good weekend up until the race. Of course everyone is really disappointed not to be on the podium,” Max says in summary. “We need to make sure that we finish races, and then we need to understand what went wrong today.”

As the lights go out, 22 Formula 1 cars are unleashed onto the narrow streets on Monaco. Antonelli takes decisive control of the lead from pole position, but for Verstappen, the race is over before it’s even begun. The Dutchman is unable to get away at the start and brings his RB22 back to the pit box, where he retires from the race due to technical problems.

That leaves the two Ferrari’s, with Hamilton ahead of Leclerc, to trail the leading Mercedes car. Hadjar is fourth ahead of Russell. The young Italian is the fastest man on track, and after twelve laps is already 4 seconds ahead of Hamilton, who in turn also has a four-second gap to his teammate. In keeping with the rule of threes, Hadjar follows behind at a distance of about four seconds, with Russell closing in.

Hadjar wrestles with the RB22, driving not only on spent tyres, but also losing pace due to powertrain problems. As a result, Russell poses a real threat to the French-Algerian driver.

In lap 29 Hamilton is the first to make a planned pitstop and switch out his mediums for hard compound tyres. Unluckily for the Brit, it turns out he was speeding in the pit lane and he gets served a penalty of five seconds. In the 32nd lap, Russell also pits to try and undercut Hadjar, who stops a lap later. Mercedes manages a faster pitstop and the silver arrow surpasses Hadjar. Russell, however, also gets delivered a penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Moments later, Leclerc and Antonelli pit.

In lap 45, Norris’ McLaren slows to a stop, making the reigning champion today’s fourth DNF-er. In the 50th lap, Piastri switches to the hard tyres and slots in behind Hadjar in P6.

In lap 61, Lance Stroll crashes his Aston Martin into the barriers, triggering a safety car. Antonelli’s lead of over forty seconds is wiped out, and the rest of the field heads into the pits. Hadjar is the only driver to stay out on worn tyres, allowing him to jump ahead of Russell and gain a position.

After five laps behind the safety car the restart gets underway, but before the race gets to full speed, Leclerc flies into the wall at the first turn. The Monegasque is out of the race, and another safety car starts circulating the track. After 68 laps, a red flag is raised and the race is stopped because the asphalt in the first turn is beginning to come loose.

Meanwhile, the FIA reports that Russell failed to serve his time penalty during his pit stop, which is mandatory. As a result, he receives a drive-through penalty. This effectively costs the Brit his fourth-place position, and means he will finish outside the points.

A standing restart is green-flagged and the remaining eight laps are a sprint to the finish line. Everyone starts on soft tyres with Antonelli on pole, followed by Hamilton, Hadjar, and Russell. After the start it’s still Antonelli at the head, but followed by Hamilton and Russell as Hadjar drops to P5 behind Pierre Gasly. Carlos Sainz has a collision and has to retire from the race. Russell serves his penalty and comes out of the pits second-to-last.

Antonelli gets welcomed across the finish line as the rightful winner, ahead of Hamliton’s Ferrari. Gasly comes across the line in third, but has two penalties to his name and ultimately drops down to seventh place. The last podium place is given to this race’s underdog, Isack Hadjar. Piastri (McLaren) finishes fourth, ahead of the Racing Bulls (Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad).

Results Grand Prix Monaco: