Kimi Antonelli reigns supreme in Monaco to earn 66-point Championship lead as Hamilton moves to second

Credit: FORMULA 1. The new cars worked well around Monaco but still failed to provide many on track overtakes.

Kimi Antonelli completes a dominant weekend with a crushing victory in a chaotic Monaco Grand Prix while Lewis Hamilton finishes second and Isack Hadjar claims his first Red Bull podium.

Antonelli led from the start after Max Verstappen stalled on the line. The Italian headed the field from lights to flag and picked up the fastest lap to earn a first Grand Slam.

His teammate and championship rival George Russell had a horror afternoon as he was stuck behind the Red Bull of Isack Hadjar for the majority, whilst also being amongst several drivers who earned penalties for speeding in the pit lane.

Russell was lapped by Antonelli before the safety car was brought out for Lance Stroll who crashed into the barrier at the final corner. A driver-through penalty, after failing to correctly serve the first, dropped him down to 12th.

Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton inherited the runners-up spot in the championship after a second P2 finish in as many races to complete a stellar weekend. Antonelli now leads the standings by a mighty 66 points.

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly finished third on the road after home-hero Charles Leclerc crashed from P3 in the same spot as Stroll on the safety car restart, bringing out the red flag. The resurfaced track on the final turn appeared to be breaking up although both drivers blamed their brakes.

Gasly was among the group of penalised drivers and was demoted to seventh despite a brilliant drive for the Frenchman, beating Lando Norris at the start and capitalising on other driver’s struggles.

Despite this, Hadjar nursed an often-agitated Red Bull to third to claim his second podium in F1.

Oscar Piastri finished in fourth for McLaren in their one thousandth Grand Prix, providing a positive during a difficult weekend for the Papaya side.

The two Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad finished fifth and sixth respectively in a compelling weekend for the team which sees them earn their first double-points score of the season.

Alex Albon finished in P8 for Williams with Haas’ Esteban Ocon behind in ninth. Sergio Perez finished tenth on the road for Cadillac but the American team’s first ever points were stripped away after a penalty for being out of position at the restart demoted him to 15th.  

Fernando Alonso inherited the position to score Aston Martin’s first point of their campaign.

Gabriel Bortoleto finished 11th for Audi with teammate Nico Hulkenberg falling to P13 from ninth after being penalised for hitting Carlos Sainz at the hairpin after Russell precariously backed the pack up in preparation for his drive-through penalty.

Franco Colapinto doubled Sainz’ woes as he spun the Williams round at the following corner and too was penalised. Alpine’s Argentine finished last of the finishers.

The other McLaren of Lando Norris retired during the race after yet more technical issues for last year’s winner in the Principality.

Haas’ Ollie Bearman and Cadillac’s Valterri Bottas also retired with issues by the half-way mark.

F1 returns in Barcelona-Catalunya for the sequel of the double-header.