Red flags, safety cars, a shock Max Verstappen retirement, and a late Charles Leclerc crash couldn't shake Kimi Antonelli. Photo: AFP
Kimi Antonelli continued his perfect form with another pole to podium victory in Monaco on Sunday. While Antonelli kept his rhythm at the front of the field, his Mercedes predecessor Lewis Hamilton found himself back on the podium in red as Ferrari enjoyed one of their strongest weekends of the season.
The Monaco GP is rarely straightforward and this year's race delivered chaos from start to finish. A stalled Max Verstappen was out of contention almost immediately, while multiple incidents throughout the afternoon triggered safety cars, retirements and eventually a red flag that transformed the complexion of the race.
Charles Leclerc's late crash brought the field to a halt and set up a tense standing restart around the narrow streets of Monte Carlo. It was exactly the sort of race where a championship leader can lose everything. Instead, Antonelli somehow emerged stronger.
The Mercedes driver had already done the hard work on Saturday by securing pole position, but Sunday required a different set of skills. Monaco rewards precision and punishes hesitation, and the 19-year-old was forced to navigate changing race conditions, strategic uncertainty and repeated interruptions without losing control of the race.
