Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc are optimistic that this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix can produce an intriguing race despite its traditionally processional nature. The famous race around the streets of Monte-Carlo has faced criticism for several years now. Due to its tight and twisty nature, Sunday races are often dull affairs with overtaking at a premium. This makes qualifying on Saturday one of the most important and thrilling of the year, but nonetheless, recent attempts to improve the Sunday spectacle have fallen flat. Last year’s two-stop regulation has been dropped this year, after teams played the system by forcing one driver to hold the pack up while the other driver pitted and came out ahead on the racetrack. However, given the lighter and smaller cars in 2026 and the focus on energy management, F1 championship leader Antonelli believes it will instead be an “interesting” 78-lap race on Sunday afternoon. "We may see some overtaking because cars are smaller," Antonelli, who has a 43-point lead over George Russell in second, said. "Of course, you will still have to commit massively to make the move stick, but I think it's not going to be impossible."I also think it's going to be more fun to drive the car around the track. It's going to be interesting with the smaller cars, with the battery."Obviously there were talks with the FIA with closing speeds. I think Monaco is not going to be an issue [for that] because it's super easy for the battery because you don't have long straights, so we won't face that issue at all on track."Monegasque driver Leclerc, who won his home race in 2024, also shared his optimism given the focus on battery recharge. "I think Monaco is actually going to be one of those races where these cars might be very good," Leclerc said.Kimi Antonelli leads the world championship after five rounds (Getty)"We now have lighter cars, which I think is a good thing, we can definitely feel that and, for a track like Monaco, this has its benefits."I think the electric side is going to be a lot less big in Monaco just because we'll be recharging quite a bit with all the corners that there are."So, I'm quite excited for Monaco, it should be a good track for these cars."Ferrari driver Leclerc is currently third in the drivers’ standings, 13 points behind Russell. Lewis Hamilton, a three-time winner in Monaco, is a further three points back in fourth.