Kimi Antonelli took his first victory around the streets of Monaco in a race that saw numerous drivers pick up penalties for racing infringements.
There was some immediate drama at the start of the race, who lined up to the grid in 2nd place, stalled as the lights went out due to a suspected ICE issue, which caused him to retire from the race.
Further back, Piastri had squeezed McLaren teammate Lando Norris out to the wall, which allowed Gasly to pass the reigning world champion for 7th place.
The race then began to develop into a traditional Monaco procession, with the difficulty of overtaking being highlighted by the likes of Russell struggling to pass Isack Hadjar, who had a car suffering from engine issues, and Lando Norris failing to find a chance to regain the position he lost at the start of the race.
While all of this was happening, Antonelli was able to stretch his lead out in front, leading the two Ferraris as it looked like he would cruise to his maiden Monaco win.
Pit stops would begin at around lap 28, and this period of the race would begin to bring a flurry of penalties for the drivers on track. Hamilton would be the first to receive a 5 second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane after failing to stay within the boundaries of the fast lane, with Russell, Gasly, Piastri and Colapinto all going on to make the same mistake.
Norris began to struggle for pace after hounding Gasly in the early portion of the race, and was eventually told to retire the car as a result of a mechanical problem with the engine.
The race continued to be processional throughout much of the middle portion of the race aside from the intrigue surrounding the penalties, but the race would begin to get interesting once Lance Stroll crashed into the barriers on lap 60, which brought out a safety car.
This allowed drivers to pit for fresh tyres, and for those with penalties to serve them with a muted effect. Ferrari bizarrely chose to double stack their cars, and while the Monegasque didn’t lose him any positions, staying out would’ve given him P2 ahead of Hamilton.
George Russell would go on to receive another penalty, this time a drive through, after he failed to properly serve his 5 second penalty properly during the safety car pit stop, which would drop him outside of the points come the end of the race. Furthermore, Gasly would be hit with a second 5 second penalty.
While green flag racing would resume on lap 65, the red flag was almost immediately thrown after Leclerc put his car into the wall on the safety car restart, for which he blamed the brakes on his Ferrari.
The race would eventually get back underway properly on lap 71 with a standing start procedure, and while Hamilton was able to react quickly to the lights, Antonelli was able to get the better overall launch, allowing him to maintain his lead as he marched on to get his first career grand slam victory.
Further back in the field on the restart, Hulkenberg caused Sainz to retire after making contact at the hairpin, which knocked the Williams driver into the wall, but no safety car would be needed on this occasion.
Even as the race came to an end, penalties were still hanging over drivers’ heads. Hamilton was cleared of a safety car infringement once racing resumed following the red flag, while Hulkenberg was given a 10 second penalty for his contact with Sainz, which provisionally gave Cadillac their first points in F1 through Perez, but an issue with starting in the wrong place on the red flag restart resulted in the Mexican driver also getting a penalty.
Meanwhile, Hadjar would undergo an investigation for a red flag infringement, with no further action taking place on this matter, while Alpine would request for a review of Gasly’s penalties, given that the Frenchman had finished on track in 3rd place.
The results mean that Antonelli continues to build his gap at the top of the World Drivers’ Championship, while Hamilton now climbs to 2nd place, 66 points behind the Mercedes driver.
The next race will be the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya, which takes place on Sunday, June 14.
