Monaco Grand Prix 2026 Recap

The streets of Monaco once again took center stage as Formula 1 arrived at its most iconic and prestigious venue, where precision, bravery, and strategy are tested to their limits!

(Image credit to The Athletic NYT)

Monaco Grand Prix 2026

Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen topped the Free Practice sessions before Qualifying. Many of the drivers reported issues with the engine with also a few crashes taking place in the FP sessions.

During qualifying Gabriel Bortoleto broke the front suspension on his Audi causing an early red flag. Carlos Sainz pulled a flying lap to get out of Q1 as Esteban Ocon was pushed down into the elimination zone.

Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas, Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso, Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon were eliminated in Q1. Lando Norris took the lead in Q2 but right away Kimi took it away. Alex Albon, Carlos Sainz, Nico Hulkenberg, Arvid Lindblad, and Franco Colapinto were eliminated in Q2. Leclerc oversteered in Q3 which brought Leclerc's chance for pole to an end. As it ended, Kimi Antonelli got pole position, another personal record for the young driver as he has achieved 4 pole positions so far.

Grand Prix: 

Max Verstappen suffered a severe power unit failure which resulted in him retiring on lap one. Valtteri Bottas had brake issues on lap 20 which caused him to retire from the race. Isack Hadjar reported problems with the engine. Norris retired on lap 45 due to terminal power unit and battery issues. Antonelli also reported issues with the engine going uphill on lap 56. Lance Stroll hit the wall on lap 61 which resulted in a safety car and several pitstops including Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, Nico Hulkenberg, Fernando Alonso, and Oscar Piastri. On lap 66 Charles Leclerc also hit the wall which brought his dreams of winning to an end. Following Leclerc's crash the race was red flagged as a result of debris on the track.

 A standing start decision is taken on lap 70 as the drivers get enough time to review their car, performance and other analysis and the race finally resumed after 35-40 minutes. 

Carlos Sainz retired on lap 70 with only 8 laps left. 7 drivers got a penalty for speeding in the pit lane (Hamilton, Piastri, Russell, Gasly, Colapinto, Hadjar, Stroll). Despite finishing the race in the podium places Pierre Gasly lost third position to Isack Hadjar after receiving 2 5-second time penalties for speeding in the pit lane which dropped him to seventh position. Kimi Antonelli won the Monaco Grand Prix from pole position, becoming the youngest driver to win in Monaco. Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso had a photo finish as they finished the race at the exact interval that is, +39.153, the result was declared as Sergio Perez in P10 but was later overturned giving Fernando Alonso a P10 finish and one point.

Conclusion

Monaco gave us lots of surprises, 7 DNF's and many penalties and a consecutive streak for Antonelli. It gave us a glimpse of the inner fight at the Mercedes HQ between Russell and Antonelli. Kimi Antonelli became the youngest driver to win in Monaco and also the youngest driver to win five consecutive races, breaking the record of Max Verstappen, only at the age of 19 years and 286 days. Pierre Gasly lost his place on the podium as a result of speeding in the pit lane, however, after an appeal from Alpine these penalties were removed and his podium finish was reinstated. The Racing Bulls scored double points after both drivers finished in the top 10 with Arvid Lindblad securing his best career finish at P6. Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso went through quite a fight to secure their teams their first point, Alonso got Aston Martin their first point of the season. Cadillac is now the only team on the grid with zero points. 

McLaren, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Haas, Cadillac, Red Bull and Williams each had one driver not complete the race and one driver who raced all 78 laps. Mercedes' George Russell did not achieve a good result despite Antonelli being competitive all weekend and ultimately winning the race. 

Following the conclusion of the weekend it is clear that Mercedes remains the team to beat, currently topping both championships. Ferrari is also doing really well and fighting better than last year for the championship. Monaco has again shown us how unpredictable it can be and how it's also a circuit where history is always written.

Article written by Adhya Khandelwal