Title to lose? Antonelli set for F1 history either way

Kimi Antonelli will either be Formula One’s youngest world champion, well before the end of the season on current form, or the first driver to win five races in a row in a single campaign and not take the title.

A place in the sport’s history is his either way and while the crown may appear to be the 19-year-old Italian’s to lose, the question being asked now is whether it is still Mercedes teammate George Russell’s to win.

Antonelli mastered the streets of Monte Carlo on Sunday with a dominant run from pole with fastest lap while Russell failed to score for the second successive race.

Italian Kimi Antonelli was so superior to any other driver at the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday that Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was even telling him to slow down. Antonelli, 19, produced a masterclass of pace and precision to become the youngest ever Monaco winner, remaining unfazed after two safety cars and a red flag caused late chaos. “It’s unbelievable what he’s able to deliver. Having control, he’s at times 1.5 seconds quicker than anyone else,” Wolff said of the new prince of Monaco. “Then restarts, builds the gap, it’s really unbelievable. It was from [race engineer] Bono [Peter Bonnington] at first, then from me! I said to him, ‘You have to tell him he has half a minute of an advantage.’ Then he kept putting in those times, and we thought maybe it’s his rhythm.” Antonelli’s fifth successive win looked a formality for much of the race as he put on an exhibition around the glitzy principality, setting fastest lap after fastest lap. Starting from pole, he quickly built a commanding lead without ever going into the red and still held a lead of more than 20 seconds when the safety car arrived on lap 60 following Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll’s crash at the last corner. After Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc hit the barriers at the same spot on the resumption and the race was red-flagged for repairs to the crumbling track, Antonelli was suddenly faced with having to do it all again over what amounted to an eight-lap sprint from the day’s second standing start. With seven-time World champion and three-time Monaco winner Lewis Hamilton alongside him on the re-assembled grid, nerves might have kicked in. Instead, he was perfect again, winning by 6.271 seconds. “I try to embrace the pressure as much as possible, because I don’t want to let the pressure destroy me like it did last year in the European season,” Antonelli, who finished last in Monaco 12 months ago, said. “For sure, it was a good test today because with the red flag, I’m not going to lie, I was a bit annoyed because getting the mindset back into redoing a full start was not easy. But it was a good test on that side, and I’m happy I didn’t fail.” Former Mercedes driver Hamilton had been the youngest Monaco winner after his victory, aged 23, in 2008, but the 41-year-old has now been eclipsed by Antonelli. “I have to start by congratulating Kimi and the Mercedes team,” he said. “My old family, they’ve done it again. “They’ve created an amazing car, and Kimi’s doing an incredible job just delivering weekend in, weekend out.” Reuters

The championship leader has moved 66 points clear of Ferrari’s seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton — who has now been runner-up in the last two races — after five wins in six starts, and is 68 ahead of Russell.

Wolff cites Verstappen 2025 example

Team boss Toto Wolff’s post-race comments, about Russell’s ability to bounce back, smacked more of boosting the Briton’s morale than total conviction he can rein in the man on the other side of the garage.

“This is a long championship. Last year I remember people saying [McLaren’s Oscar] Piastri has won the championship,” said Wolff.

“Formula One is about physics, and not mystics. You don’t unlearn how to drive, and you don’t become a miracle wonder driver. I’m not stressed at all for his [Russell’s] performances because we know he’s one of the best.

“I have no doubt that George will come back very strong,” added the Austrian.

Russell has time for an epic resurgence, with the 22-race season only a quarter done and plenty of points to be won, but history is as much against him as Lady Luck has been.

Only 10 drivers, including Antonelli, have ever won five races in a row since the Formula One championship started in 1950.

Not one of them has done so in a single season without going on to win the championship.

Past comebacks do not offer Russell a lot of hope either.

Formula One championship leader Kimi Antonelli stayed ice-cool to win a chaotic Monaco Grand Prix and extend his run of victories this season to five on Sunday. The 19-year-old Italian built a commanding lead after starting from pole in his Mercedes but that evaporated after a late red flag to inspect a crumbling surface at the final corner after a crash that took out Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. After a delay of about 40 minutes while repairs were carried out, the race resumed with a standing start but Antonelli remained unfazed as he became the youngest ever winner of the iconic race. Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton was runner-up for the second successive Grand Prix with Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar provisionally third, though he was one of a number of drivers under investigation for a variety of infringements. Hamilton, who equalled the late Ayrton Senna’s eight Monaco podiums, moved above Antonelli’s team mate George Russell into second place in the standings, 66 points behind Antonelli. “It’s been an incredible weekend and an incredible race,” said Antonelli, who was not even born the last time an Italian won the Monaco Grand Prix — Jarno Trulli in 2004. “We had incredible pace and it all came so natural and that gave me the confidence to push.” A year after finishing last on his F1 debut at Monaco, Antonelli showed incredible poise to shrug off the red flag drama that meant he effectively had to win two races. “I wasn’t super keen on re-starting but once the notification came out I just gathered my emotions and re-focused again. Once I got away and was P1 into the first corner I could enjoy the last few laps.” Reuters

While Max Verstappen staged an amazing return from 104 points behind Piastri at the end of August last year to finish just two points adrift of title-winner Lando Norris, the four-time world champion was not fighting a teammate.

Russell is up against a rival with the same car who has dropped points to him only in the three sprints and one race — Australia — where he finished second.

Mercedes have so far won every grand prix, taken every pole position. And yet Russell is not even second in the standings.

Antonelli has been on pole in four of the six and set the fastest race lap four times. He also has Hamilton’s massively experienced former race engineer Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington on his side.

Las Vegas will continue to host a Formula One Grand Prix until at least 2037 after agreeing to a 10-year contract extension, all parties announced on Thursday. Securing a 10-year extension through 2037 is a defining moment for the Las Vegas Grand Prix and a reflection of the strength of our local partnerships. The floodlit Saturday night race, which features drivers racing along the Nevada city’s famed Strip at more than 320km/h, is one of three US rounds on the F1 calendar — with Austin and Miami — and first hosted a grand prix in 2023. Austin, Texas, has a contract to 2034 and Miami until 2041. “We are thrilled that Formula One will continue racing in Las Vegas for many years to come,” said the Liberty Media-owned sport’s chief executive Stefano Domenicali in a statement ahead of the weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix. “Since its debut in 2023, the event has been extraordinary, rapidly establishing itself as a premier destination for great racing, world-class entertainment, global business leaders, A-list celebrities and influencers. “We always believed that Las Vegas would become a cornerstone of our presence in the US, and this extension, together with the success of recent years, reinforces our long-term commitment to this important market.” Formula One said the grand prix had delivered $3.2bn (about R52.15bn) in cumulative economic impact for Southern Nevada since its debut, with all three races to date sold out. Last year’s three-day attendance was officially 300,000. Last year the race generated $43m in state and local tax revenue, as well as contributing more than $2m to nonprofit organisations. “Securing a 10-year extension through 2037 is a defining moment for the Las Vegas Grand Prix and a reflection of the strength of our local partnerships,” said Las Vegas Grand Prix president and CEO Emily Prazer. Las Vegas Grand Prix Inc, Clark County officials and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) have all committed to the race’s long-term future. LVCVA president Steve Hill hailed a “major moment” for both the race and city. “As the spotlight of the world turns to Las Vegas, the event continues to reinforce our evolution as a premier sports and entertainment destination,” he said. Reuters

Any feeling that the Italian might be riding his luck, or the success prove a flash in the pan, has long gone.

Monaco was a real statement by another generational talent in the line of Hamilton and Verstappen, a measure of how much the youngster has learnt and improved since finishing last there in 2025 after starting 15th.

Russell must now come up with some meaningful answers against a driver who is already the youngest ever F1 championship leader, as well as youngest Monaco winner and pole-sitter.

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Reuters