Monaco - Race

Throughout the years, the Monaco Grand Prix has often been teased by Formula One fans, who point out how predictable it can get now that the size of the cars makes overtakes virtually impossible. The sentiment echoed around social media before this year's edition of the race, lighthearted but not exactly a joke. What few expected was that the event would be far from a straightforward parade, instead turning into a chaotic show, filled with penalties and heartbreaks. 

Problems marked the Grand Prix from its very first moments. Despite his good starting position, Max Verstappen couldn't get off the line and quickly fell to the back of the grid. Before the end of lap one, he was told to "bring the car home", becoming the first retirement of the afternoon. He wasn't the only driver to make an early visit to the pits, but he was the only one whose car stayed there for good. Meanwhile, at the front, the leader, Kimi Antonelli, began to build a gap to the hungry Ferraris. 

Sergio Perez was the first driver to receive a penalty, having been told to drive through the pits due to being out of position at the starting grid. The moment was just a prelude for the many punishments that were to be given through the 78-lap race. Another thing that turned out to be a prominent feature of the 2026 Monaco Grand Prix were the already mentioned retirements, which made a reappearance on lap 18, when Valtteri Bottas's day ended rather abruptly. It wasn't too long before Haas's Oliver Bearman followed in his footsteps. 

As the laps ticked down, little change towards the very front of the grid, with the most interesting "fight" being George Russell trying to catch up to Isack Hadjar. Even they couldn't provide any exciting racing, and the order only began to change around lap 30 when, one by one, the drivers began to pit.  This brought slight changes in the order, although the top three, made up of Antonelli and the two Ferraris, remained the same. What is more interesting, the pit window opened Pandora's box of penalties. One by one, multiple drivers were penalised for speeding in the pits, with the victims including Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, Pierre Gasly, Franco Colapinto, and Oscar Piastri. Lance Stroll also received a penalty, although his crime was different. Instead of being too fast by the garages, he exceeded the track limits one too many times. 

While the day may have been bad for those with a penalty to serve, it was even worse for Lando Norris, who retired on lap 45 after stating, "I've got nothing, no battery". This marked his second retirement in a row. With 18 laps to go, Stroll hit the wall by turn 19, setting off a chain of events that made the Grand Prix one that won't soon be forgotten. His accident brought out a safety car that neutralised the field and wiped away the enormous lead that Antonelli had managed to build up over the course of the race. Although the Mercedes driver didn't have the chance to immediately pit for a fresh set of tires, the Ferraris, his immediate rivals, did. 

Hamilton was ahead of his teammate, so he had the privilege of pitting first, but he still had the previously-acquired penalty to serve. Since Ferrari needed to double-stuck their cars, Leclerc ended up waiting for his teammate to be serviced, thus inadvertently serving the penalty with him. Antonelli pitted a lap later, just in time for all cars to be sent through the pit, as the track was being cleaned up. Russell also pitted under the SC, but due to a miscommunication, he did not serve the previously given penalty and was thus promptly given a second, this time a drive-through on. 

The safety car ended on lap 65, but the racing conditions didn't last long. Upon restart, Leclerc encountered a problem with the brakes of his Ferrari and ended up hitting the wall in the same corner in which Stroll had crashed a few laps earlier. A second safety car was called in, and soon after, the Grand Prix was red-flagged as race control noticed that the track by the unfortunate turn seemed to be breaking up. It took a while for racing to be resumed, and once it did, a standing start was ordered by race control.

Antonelli, Hamilton, Hadjar, Russell, and Gasly made up the top five upon the restart. The only remaining Ferrari driver was determined to attack the young Italian, but, try hard as he might, he wasn't able to overtake him. The order remained the same, save for Russell, who served his second penalty and thus tumbled down the order. Although enough has happened for at least two or three races, the emotions still were not over. On lap 71 Carols Sainz hit the wall by the hairpin and then made contact with Colapinto, finally forced to retire from the race. 

Antonelli won the Monaco Grand Prix, with Hamilton and Gasly crossing the finish line right behind him. However, it was not the Frenchman who stood on the podium. Due to the penalties he incurred during the race, he fell down the order and ended up far from the position he'd been dreaming of. Instead, Hadjar joined Mercedes' past and future on the Monaco podium. A similar heartbreak befell Perez, who seemed to have scored Cadillac's first ever point, only to have it ripped away from him due to a 10-second penalty he was given for being out of position at the race restart. 

Order of the grid:

1. Kimi Antonelli

2. Lewis Hamilton

3. Isack Hadjar

4. Oscar Piastri

5. Liam Lawson

6. Arvid Lindblad

7. Pierre Gasly

8. Alex Albon

9. Esteban Ocon

10. Fernando Alonso

11. Gabriel Bortoleto

12. George Russell

13. Nico Hulkenberg

14. Franco Colapinto

15. Sergio Perez

DNF: Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc, Lance Stroll, Lando Norris, Oliver Bearman, Valtteri Bottas, Max Verstappen