Kimi Antonelli holds nerve to win chaotic F1 Monaco GP after late red flag

A place in the history books is assured for Kimi Antonelli wonas, at just 19, he became the youngest ever winner of the Monaco Grand Prix for Mercedes with a dominant drive from pole to flag, becoming at 19but it was the youngest victormanner of his consummate victory on the streets of Monte Carlo, that made a truly indelible mark. For much of the race there were few fireworks in onlyMonaco but when it mattered Antonelli burned brightly indeed. The Italian still has but one season in Formula One under his second F1 race at the circuitbelt and only one previous outing in Monaco, where he finished in last place, but, having already claimed pole position, Antonelli mastered it like an old hand on Sunday. In a dramatic closeIf he is to be prevented from becoming the race he held his nerve through two restarts under immense pressureyoungest- ever world champion this year, then the challenge is going to have to be mighty strong indeed. The Italian teenager delivered a consummate exhibition to take victory from the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton in second and the Red Bull of Isack Hadjar in third. What made the win so striking was not just the complete control he had for the majority of the race, though neither really challengedhaving held his lead at the Mercedes. Howeveroff, but how he handled a dramatic closing phase of two restarts that had eradicated the 30-second lead he had built. Antonelli had to weather nervelesslyfirst the tense final moments of a safety -car restart and then the immense pressure of a full standing start after a red flag becauseprompted when the track itself was breaking up at the final corner. It presented a dramatic final showdown, with the fast-starting Ferrari of Hamilton on the front row next to Antonelli, and while the Italian was a little slow away, a moment surely when his heart was in his mouth, he held his line, nerve and the place, enough to maintain a deserved lead he maintained to the flag. The winquestions were asked of him repeatedly and every time he had the answers. If there are weaknesses in his game, that he may be impetuous, overexcitable perhaps, they were not on display in Monaco. There was only calm, cold commitment, tempered at the close by a remarkable fifthpleasingly noisy explosion of joy as a reminder that there is still a teenager in there too. The team principal, Toto Wolff, who has not joined a podium ceremony for a decade, was there to stand alongside the driver he had fast-tracked into the team last season to replace Hamilton and who is delivering beyond all expectations. Antonelli now has five victories in a row this season for, promoting Hamilton to joke with him in the Italiancool-down room: “That’s too many wins now, buddy.” The seven-time champion knows only too well what it means he has extended his lead in a title fight, where the world championship over hisItalian has opened a cavernous lead. His Mercedes teammate, George Russell , who endured what might politely be called a trying afternoon, but which he will feel deserves a more splenetic response. He was penalised twice:, once for speeding in the pit lane and then again for failing to serve thatthe five-second penalty during a pit stop, with a subsequent drive-through later in the race. His, leaving him in 13th place, his second race in a row without scoring points. It was another bruising blow to Russell’shis chances, which he said left him “beyond frustration” as he fallsfell to 68 points behind Antonelli, with Hamilton now moving up to second in the championship, 66 in arrears. Max Verstappen, who started onWhile the front row alongside Antonelli, was left disappointed as his Red Bull suffered a technical problem when the lights went out and had to retire his car. The race, until the late drama with two crashes at the final corner as the track surface came apart, had been a processional affair even by Monaco’s usual standards and was completely controlled by Antonelli, who once more raised the bar in what has already been a striking start by the 19-year-old to the season. He gave a champion’s drive with a commandmuch of the key moments to secure a victoryprocession that could well be the first of many in Monte Carlo on this evidence. The first piece of it had been in the start. With Verstappen mired on the gridMonaco so often presents, Antonelli shot off and held his lead into turn one, from which point he did not put a foot wrong as he broke the record for youngest winner here, set by Hamilton when he was 23 in 2008. where Antonelli made one of his best starts of the season to dash into turn one in the lead but Verstappen was left barely moving offdominant beyond anything the lineteam or driver had been expecting, the car goingit turned into anti-stall with a technical problem ashigh drama at the field swarmed around himclose. Hamilton and Charles Leclerc moved up to second and third. Antonelli wastedSurely no time exploiting his one watching had “track position and powered into the distance. With a lead of almost 30 seconds by the time the first pit stops were completedsurface breaking up” on their bingo card, the race was in his hands. Even as penalties for pitalongside tax-lane speeding peppered the other runners, including Russelldodging expats and Hamiltongarish, Antonelli was in controlvulgar yachts. A cruise to the flag Yet here it was on, the cards until the safety car was called on lap 60 when Lance Stroll crashed outtrack crumbling at the final corner, Antony Noghès. Antonelli pitted under the safety car First, as did Hamilton and Leclerc, withLance Stroll went straight into the Englishman taking his five-second penalty. Russell similarly pitted but the team did not serve the penalty as requiredbarriers there, and he tookprompting a further sanction ofsafety car 18 laps from the drive-throughend. Antonelli held The field now on his lead throughgearbox, Antonelli had to control the restart on lap 68 but, a task he managed with clinical precision, only for Charles Leclerc wentto also go straight on into the barriers struggling with his brakes, leaving the Monégasque furiousagain at the end of his home raceAntony Noghès. It prompted a red flag as the race director had to inspect the track at the corner, its which was breaking up, clearly a factor in the two crashes there. Repairs wereWith repairs made and racing was able to resume after a 35-minute delay, with a standing start from which the Italian emerged oncewas called. Once more on top, Antonelli was staring at the dash to sealSainte Dévote, the seven-time champion fired up and gunning for him just yards behind. The Mercedes has endured repeated difficult starts this season and Antonelli knew it. High noon in Monte Carlo. Several deep breaths later and it was done, and with it the record Hamilton had held since he was the youngest winner here aged 23 in 2008. The torch was passed to a famous windriver who shows every sign of developing into the same kind of generational talent as Hamilton. Max Verstappen, who started on the front row alongside Antonelli, was left disappointed as his Red Bull suffered a technical problem when the lights went out and had to retire his car. Lando Norris, the defending world champion, had to retire for the second race in a row with a mechanical problem, while his McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri took, was fourth place.