Adam CooperAntonelli is getting better and better as Russell struggles
Kimi Antonelli had already set a record by scoring his first four Formula 1 wins in consecutive races, and by logging his fifth in Monaco he further moved the goalposts.
If there was one race where the door was opened to rivals then this was it.
And it was also the venue most likely to trip up a guy who was making only his second F1 visit to the season’s most challenging track, and who had a nightmare weekend in 2025 after clipping the barrier in qualifying.
And yet Antonelli beat the odds by taking a brilliant pole position and then dominating the race, surviving not just the first start but also the late restart.
The pictures of him celebrating pole with multiple champs Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton alongside said everything you needed to know about his rapidly elevating status.
Meanwhile it was a dire weekend for George Russell, who qualified only P6 and then finished out of the points after a speeding penalty spiralled into a drive through for not taking the first one properly.
He has to bounce back in Barcelona this weekend.
“George is really good at analysing and assessing the situation,” said Toto Wolff.
“In Montreal a week two weeks ago, he was on pole, he won the sprint race, he was leading the main Grand Prix. There was no discussion about a lack of speed.
“That was two weeks ago. So we’ve got to stay with both feet on the ground, work through the data, see why this one was a difficult one, and Miami was a difficult one, but that is not a pattern that I have seen through the season.
“I couldn’t wish for a better combination of the two in the car, and I have no doubt that George will come back very strong as well.”
Mixed fortunes at Ferrari
Lewis Hamilton was a frustrated soul for much of the 2025 season, even questioning his own ability as he struggled to adjust to a new team and a car that didn’t suit him.
That has turned around spectacularly this year, and in Montreal and Monaco he logged a pair of second places – and in effect announced himself as the man most likely to win a race should Mercedes drop the ball.
Remarkably he has also moved himself into second place in the World Championship, ahead of George Russell.
In contrast Charles Leclerc has had a dire time of late, complaining about brakes in both races, and crashing out of his home race at the restart when he found he had nothing left with which to stop the car.
“It’s a bit of a discovery whenever I get on the brakes,” he said when this writer asked him what happened.
“I won’t go into more detail than what I’ve said, but it’s been extremely inconsistent, and I’ve just been struggling massively, whether it was in Montreal or here.
“Especially when tyres are just not in the right window, and the tire is also digital, on top of that, the inconsistency from the car made it very difficult.
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“Corner to corner it’s not really behaving the same way, so it’s just extremely tricky.
“We are speaking about details, but I think the fact of being in or out the window of the tyre all the time, these fine details make a huge difference.
“And I’ve just been struggling with it.”
His comments drew a quick response from brake supplier Brembo, who said that it wasn’t clear what the issue was.
Hamilton has been using Carbone Industrie pads recently, and is obviously more than happy, and Leclerc said he plans to switch to his team mate’s setup this weekend.
How that works out politically given that Brembo has a 50-year relationship with the Scuderia remains to be seen.
Red Bull is getting there
Creating an in-house power unit was a huge challenge for Red Bull, and yet recent races have shown that the overall package is getting better and better.
The fact that the FIA decided that the Ford-backed V6 is the best on the grid, and was thus the benchmark for the ADUO system, says a lot.
Having logged the first podium of 2026 with third in Montreal Verstappen qualified a superb second in Monaco, and while it’s not a track that stretches the PU as much as others, you have to have a decent overall package to make the front row.
Alas the PU failed at the start, and while it wasn’t the first costly issue across the two teams that use the Ford, it was worth noting that he had used it in the previous five races and it was about to be pensioned off.
Nevertheless it was hugely frustrating for the Dutchman.
“We had a really good weekend up until the race,” he said.
“Of course, everyone is very disappointed not to be on the podium. If I would be leading the championship, then of course it’s a very, very painful one.
“Like this, less painful, but it’s still really annoying and disappointing for everyone.
“Everyone wants to finish every single race. I just hope that we understand quickly what it is, and then we can fix it also for the future.”
McLaren still has a lot of work to do
For McLaren Monaco was another troubled weekend, with Oscar Piastri and Lando qualifying only seventh and eighth, and the team benchmarked as the slowest of the big four.
McLaren’s 1000th race didn’t go much better as Norris retired with another PU issue, while Piastri worked his way up to fourth, helped by retirements and penalties for some of the cars that started ahead.
After the race team principal Andrea Stella conceded that there was much work to do, both in terms of performance and reliability.
He also made it clear that the latter was compromised by the team’s status as a customer, suggesting that the works outfit benefits from the extra work it can do to hone the chassis/engine package.
“There’s certainly an important reality check that comes from Canada and Monaco,” he said.
“And the reality check is first of all looking at the facts, we have not been fast enough, especially in terms of race pace in both Canada and here.
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“And we have not been reliable enough, and when we look at reliability, we have had issues pretty much in all areas of the car. It’s not like it’s a specific area.
“Today was power unit, we have had other issues with power unit. I would say this has probably been the most important area for reliability, but for Lando in Canada, it was the gearbox.”
The 60:40 power unit split is coming
Discussions continued in Monaco about the future power unit rules, and a virtual meeting on the Wednesday after the race involving the FIA, F1 the PU suppliers and the team bosses came up with a compromise.
The FIA, FOM, Teams and Power Unit Manufacturers have agreed a package of changes to the Formula 1 Technical, Sporting and Financial Regulations for 2027 and 2028.#FIA #F1https://t.co/nyjelOzY1B
— FIA (@fia) June 10, 2026
Instead of going straight to a 60:40 ICE/electrical split the move will be in stages, with 58:42 in 2027, and 60:40 the year after.
This was not what the FIA or F1 wanted, but some manufacturers insisted that doing it in one step was too much.
Fuel flow will be increased by 5% in 2027, and by 13% in 2028, which also gives teams plenty of time to adjust their fuel tank capacity.
The process was a little messy and convoluted, but at the end of the day the good news is that all parties realised that the original rules as written were not working and that changes were necessary.
Let’s hope that what was agreed leads to better racing and happier drivers in the future…
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Fraser Masefield
Craig Scarborough