MONACO: Formula One championship leader Kimi Antonelli stayed ice-cool to win a chaotic Monaco Grand Prix and extend his run of victories this season to five on Sunday.
The 19-year-old Italian built a commanding lead after starting from pole in his Mercedes but that evaporated after a late red fiag to inspect a crumbling surface at the final corner following a crash that took out Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.After a delay of around 40 minutes while repairs were carried out, the race resumed with a standing start but Antonelli remained unfazed as he became the youngest ever winner of the iconic race.
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton wasrunner-upforthe second successive Grand Prix with Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar provisionally third, although he was one of a number of drivers under investigation for a variety of infringements.Hamilton, who equalled the late Ayrton Senna’s eight Monaco podiums, moved above Antonelli’s team mate George Russell into second place in the standings, 66 points behind Antonelli.
‘It’s been an incredible weekend and an incredible race,’ said Antonelli, who was not even born the last time an Italian won the Monaco Grand Prix Jarno Trulli in 2004. ‘We had incredible pace and it all came so natural and thatgave me the confidence to push.
A year after finishing last on his F1 debut at Monaco, Antonelli showed incredible poise to shrug off the red flag drama that meant he effectively had to win two races.
‘I wasn’t super keen on restarting but once the notiñcation came out I just gathered my emotions and refocused again. Once I got away and was P1 into the Erst corner Icould enjoy the last few laps.’-Reuters