Day: 7 June 2026

Kimi Antonelli claimed his fifth victory from six races to extend his championship lead, while a brake failure robbed Charles Leclerc of a podium finish at his home Grand Prix in one of the most turbulent afternoons Monte Carlo has seen in years.

The Mercedes driver dominated a fractured, chaotic afternoon in Monte Carlo, matching Lewis Hamilton’s run of five straight wins with the Brackley-based squad. Hamilton finished second, with Isack Hadjar completing the podium after post-race penalties were applied.

A race of two crashes

The race was red-flagged on lap 68 of 78 after the track surface appeared to break up at the final corner, the incident triggered by Lance Stroll’s retirement followed by Leclerc crashing at the same spot on the subsequent safety car restart.

Television cameras cut quickly to Ferrari’s car number 16 in the exact same spot where Stroll had gone in. Leclerc, visibly anguished, hit his steering wheel in frustration.

Leclerc blamed brake problems he described as undrivable, stating: “It’s just undrivable.”

His fury was barely contained over the team radio, where he made clear where he placed responsibility. “Honestly, I’m not even going to take the fucking blame,” he said. “These fucking brakes!”

A weekend-long struggle

The crash did not come out of nowhere. Leclerc had spoken openly throughout the weekend about “struggling massively” with the Ferrari’s “extremely inconsistent” braking, an issue tied to tyre temperature and what he described as “another issue”. “At the moment it’s a bit of a discovery whenever I get on the brakes,” he said on Saturday.

The same problem had occurred in Canada the previous weekend, turning his last two races into a mechanical ordeal. His teammate Lewis Hamilton had reportedly adopted a different car configuration for the previous three or four grands prix. “Lewis went in that direction three or four races ago,” Leclerc acknowledged after the race. “I think it made a difference on other circuits, but today it was just undrivable for me.”

Looking to Barcelona

Speaking in the TV media pen after his retirement, Leclerc described himself as “extremely disappointed, sad, angry, mixed of negative emotions.”

He told Canal+ that he did not want to speak at length for fear of being too harsh in his words, adding: “That’s unacceptable. The brake problems I’ve had the last two weekends… It’s just undrivable.” Despite the bitterness, he looked ahead: “Things will be different for Barcelona; I hope to rediscover my feeling with the car.”

For Antonelli, the result leaves him still two races adrift of Nico Rosberg’s record of consecutive wins with Mercedes, but firmly in command of the championship heading to Spain. For Leclerc, a second successive mechanical retirement on home soil leaves unresolved questions about Ferrari’s ability to solve a brake inconsistency that has now cost him dearly in back-to-back weekends.

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Main photo credit: Michaël Alesi / Frédéric Nebinger / Palais princier 

Kimi Antonelli claimed pole position for the Formula 1 Louis Vuitton Grand Prix de Monaco 2026 on Saturday, with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc starting from the second row after a qualifying session that delivered tension until the very last moment.

The 19-year-old Mercedes driver, who leads the Drivers’ Championship, set a time of 1’12″051 to beat Max Verstappen’s Red Bull by just 0.043 seconds — the front row decided by the narrowest of margins. Hamilton qualified third for Ferrari, 0.228 seconds off pole, with Leclerc fourth after clipping the barriers at Tabac corner on his final flying lap, ending his bid for what would have been a fairytale pole position on home soil.

The full top ten: Antonelli, Verstappen, Hamilton, Leclerc, Isack Hadjar (Red Bull), George Russell (Mercedes), Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Lando Norris (McLaren), Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls).

A session that went to the wire

Ferrari had set the pace throughout Friday’s free practice sessions, with Leclerc and Hamilton trading fastest times across FP1 and FP2, raising expectations for the Scuderia heading into qualifying. The picture shifted on Saturday morning when Antonelli topped the final practice hour, signalling that Mercedes had found something overnight.

In Q1 and Q2, both SF-26s progressed comfortably. The decisive moment came in Q3. On his first run, Leclerc made a small mistake. Hamilton went quicker on his opening attempt, posting a 1’12″553. Leclerc then returned to set a 1’12″351, briefly moving to the top of the timesheets — only for Hamilton to improve to 1’12″279, and then for both Antonelli and Verstappen to move ahead of the Ferrari pair.

Leclerc set off on a final flying lap that, by Ferrari’s own account, was very much in contention for pole position — until he touched the wall at Tabac, ending his run and leaving him fourth on the grid.

The drivers react

Hamilton, who came closest among the Ferrari pair to challenging for pole, was measured in his assessment. “Monaco always delivers one of the standout qualifying sessions of the season, with an incredible crowd and atmosphere and a level of intensity I always enjoy,” he said. “At the start of the session, I didn’t quite have the same confidence in the car that I felt in free practice, so we will need to look closely at what changed. I could feel some differences in balance, but the margins were incredibly tight throughout between Kimi, Max, Charles and myself.”

For Leclerc, it was a difficult end to a difficult weekend so far. “It’s been a tough weekend for me, right from the first session. I’ve been struggling to get the right feeling in the car and have been facing some issues, which I am sure we will find solutions for soon,” he said. “On a track like this, if you go into qualifying without full confidence, you can pay the price. Today, it was a combination of different factors, and unfortunately I didn’t finish my last flying lap in Q3. Nevertheless, I will give it my all.”

What Sunday holds

Monaco’s street circuit is notoriously difficult for overtaking, but the new generation of Formula 1 cars — shorter, narrower and more agile — has raised hopes of a more fluid race than the circuit has sometimes produced. Ferrari will be looking to convert second-row grid positions into points, with strategy likely to play a central role.

The Formula 1 Louis Vuitton Grand Prix de Monaco 2026 starts at 15:00 CEST and runs over 78 laps — 260.286 kilometres through the streets of Monte Carlo.

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Photo source: Scuderia Ferrari Media Centre