The Winner of the Eventful Monaco GP is Antonelli: Verstappen and Leclerc Did Not Finish the Race

The start of the race on the streets of Monte Carlo turned all expectations upside down. Seconds after lights out, when Max Verstappen's Red Bull did not move at the start line due to an engine problem, Lando Norris had to turn the wheel at the last moment to avoid a collision. Taking advantage of Norris's wide arc, Alpine driver Pierre Gasly closed the McLaren driver from the inside and settled into seventh place. Verstappen had to take his car to the pit lane due to mechanical problems in the next lap and was recorded as the first DNF of the race. Home driver Charles Leclerc had fallen back to fourth place behind Antonelli; however, in the following laps of the race, he could not escape hitting the barrier at the exit of the Rascasse corner and his podium dreams that he hoped for in the last moments went down the drain. Leclerc's retirement allowed the drivers behind him, especially Hadjar, to take position.

Throughout the race, Cadillac driver Sergio Perez also occupied an important place on the agenda. The Mexican driver received a drive-through penalty from the FIA on the ninth lap for false start and fell to the back in the standings. Another critical moment of the race took place between Williams driver Carlos Sainz and Audi driver Nico Hülkenberg: Hülkenberg made contact with Sainz's rear wheel and the Spanish driver left the race after hitting the barrier. Mercedes driver George Russell, when he had to be pulled into the pits with a drive-through penalty, was in third place and this penalty deprived him of an important podium chance. Pierre Gasly, despite receiving a ten-second time penalty towards the end of the race, managed to finish in the first six. Lando Norris had to leave Monaco pointless as the third driver who did not finish the race.

On the Antonelli side, the picture was much calmer. The young Italian driver did not lose the advantage of the position he came from the first Monaco pole of his career even once during the race. The Mercedes team, leaving behind the difficult days it has experienced in Monaco in recent years, once again found itself on the highest step of the podium with Antonelli. Lewis Hamilton, behind Antonelli, embraced his first Monaco Grand Prix podium of his career under the Ferrari jersey; with this result, an important milestone has been left behind in the British driver's Ferrari journey. Isack Hadjar in third place, despite struggling with power problems towards the end of the race, managed to maintain his position; the 21-year-old French-Algerian driver both won the first Formula 1 podium of his career and became part of a proud picture on behalf of the Red Bull family.

Latest situation in the drivers' championship

After the race in Monaco, the balance in the drivers' championship has become much more pronounced in favour of Mercedes. Kimi Antonelli further consolidated his position in the leader's seat with the Monaco victory; the Italian driver's closest rival, his teammate George Russell, missed the chance to catch up to Antonelli in this race in particular by being deprived of valuable points with the effect of the drive-through penalty he received in Monaco. Last season's world champion Lando Norris, who was in the leader position in the early rounds of the championship, left Monaco empty-handed because he could not finish the race; it was stated that the British driver, together with his team McLaren, is being dragged towards a picture in which the gap between him and the top places is increasingly opening. Max Verstappen, one of last season's tough rivals, lost significant ground in the championship race along with Red Bull due to leaving the race pointless because of the engine problem he experienced in the first lap. On the Ferrari side, Charles Leclerc also lost serious points in the championship race by having to leave the race after hitting the barrier in his home race and dampened the morale of the Maranello team; Lewis Hamilton managed to at least be the only point source of the Italian team with his Monaco podium. Isack Hadjar, who climbed to third place in the race, made a critical contribution both in terms of his own championship points and in terms of Red Bull's team points.

The season statistics on the Mercedes side prove that the team is in a completely different form this year. Antonelli has returned victorious from different tracks such as China, Japan, and Canada, and in Monaco, he combined his victory with pole position on one of the most difficult tracks of the season and continued his consecutive victory streak. On the Ferrari side, although Hamilton's Monaco podium is a morale-boosting result, the team's bad table at the home race ending with Leclerc's DNF has increased the question marks of the Maranello team regarding the upcoming races. At Red Bull, it was stated that the reasons for the engine problem Verstappen experienced in the first lap will be examined in detail in the coming days; the team at least gained morale with the podium taken by Hadjar. The next race of the season will be the Hungarian Grand Prix to be held at the Hungaroring on July 24-26.

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