MONACO — Kimi Antonelli is writing his place in Formula 1 history at record speed.
“You're catching me up,” Lewis Hamilton, who has the most wins in history with 105, told Antonelli after the 19-year-old Italian beat him in a bizarre and much-delayed Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday.
Antonelli replaced Hamilton at Mercedes last year, and only won his first race in March. He now has five wins in a row and a vast lead of 66 points over Hamilton, who was second Sunday.
“He’s only 19, so just imagine what the future holds for him, but I’m going to do my best to try and chase him down for the rest of the year,” Hamilton said. “It’s a real privilege to witness it.”
Antonelli said he needed to find his focus again but stayed cool when the race was stopped and briefly seemed set to be abandoned before a restart. All that on a tight, twisty circuit threaded between metal barriers where any slip brings a crash.
An uncertain restart
Antonelli was on course for victory with 10 laps remaining when the race was red-flagged after parts of the asphalt broke away and two cars crashed in quick succession, one of them Charles Leclerc in third place.
After a long delay, officials said the race would be resumed from a standing start. When that happened, Antonelli took control again to become the youngest F1 winner in Monaco, and was never in real danger of being overtaken.
“Thank you so much guys, the car was a beast today," he told the Mercedes team.
Isack Hadjar was confirmed third for Red Bull after battling engine problems and seeing off an investigation.
Antonelli's Mercedes teammate George Russell missed the points for the second race running, dropping out of the top 10 with a penalty. That followed an engine failure while battling Antonelli for the lead of last month's Canadian Grand Prix.
Russell said Thursday the title was Antonelli's “to lose.” Now it certainly seems that way.
Max Verstappen started second for Red Bull but lost power at the start and dropped to the back before retiring the car at the end of the first lap. Like many F1 drivers, the four-time champion lives in Monaco and suggested he’d watch the rest of the race from home.
Hamilton's turnaround
Hamilton was in jubilant mood after placing second, with Kim Kardashian watching. The seven-time champion paid tribute to Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur for his role in turning around Hamilton and the team's fortunes.
“Fred has been awesome in supporting me. I think last year was really tough for both of us,” said Hamilton, adding that he was “seeing the fruits” of changes which Vasseur implemented. Hamilton wasn't on the podium in any Grand Prix in all of 2025 in his first year with the team.
Vasseur was back at the track with Ferrari on Sunday after he missed Saturday’s qualifying session. The team said he had been under observation at a medical facility, without giving any further details of his condition.
Confusion continues after the finish
The track damage put a decidedly un-glamorous twist on one of F1’s most prestigious races as drivers waited in the pit lane, officials gazed at the damaged asphalt and a road-sweeping machine inched along the circuit clearing away loose stones. Antonelli admitted he'd been hoping the race wouldn't be restarted at all.
There was more confusion as numerous drivers received time penalties or were under investigation, meaning the final standings remained uncertain.
Hadjar was facing an investigation after the race for a potential breach of red-flag rules after the FIA's technical delegate said Red Bull had tried to replace engine parts, against the rules, but stopped when challenged.
Hadjar kept the place, his first podium finish since joining Red Bull, after a hearing decided no penalty was needed because no changes were actually made.
Russell had been second in the standings before the race — the position is Hamilton's now. Russell crossed the line 13th, later upgraded to 12th, after a hefty penalty for failing to serve an earlier penalty properly. He said he didn't understand what happened.
New team Cadillac could have had its first F1 point when Sergio Perez crossed the line 10th, but lost it for a false start at the restart. That put Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso up to 10th for his team's first point of a year which it started with severe reliability problems.
More disputes were to come Sunday evening as Alpine said it was challenging the spate of penalties issued for pit lane speeding, one of which cost Gasly third. That is under the “right of review” system under which decisions typically take days.
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