The greatest compliment you could pay Kimi Antonelli?<\/p>\n
Had all the cars been painted white in Monaco, you would have sworn that the one at the front was Max Verstappen in the Red Bull.<\/p>\n
So rapid has been his rise at the start of 2026 that we are still very much in the process of learning about Antonelli.<\/p>\n
In his battles with George Russell in Canada, for instance, we discovered that not only can Kimi win races and win them well, but that he has a streetfighter side too.<\/p>\n
The only lingering doubt before now, with his emotional reaction to his mid-2025 struggles still fresh in the memory, concerned his temperament under pressure.<\/p>\n
Those last remaining concerns faded away over the course of this weekend in Monte Carlo.<\/p>\n
His final Q3 lap, plucking pole position out of Verstappen\u2019s grasp with a lap out of nowhere, was Total Max: the coolness; the same natural touch and feel; the fluency and suppleness of his inputs in squeezing every last drop the car had to give without a hint of becoming ragged.<\/p>\n
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After five race weekends of weirdness as the sport adjusts to its new landscape, that pole lap was a comforting and much-needed reminder that, yes, there is still joy \u2013 the sort of joy that made people fall in love with Formula 1 in the first place \u2013 to be found even with these loathsome 2026 cars<\/a>.<\/p>\n Likewise in the race, Antonelli confronted those tricky variables dreaded by all race leaders in Monaco \u2013 the safety car, the restart, the red flag, the final standing start \u2013 with barely a flicker.<\/p>\n At least some of the credit for Antonelli\u2019s stillness in those high-pressure moments should go to his race engineer, Peter Bonnington, who is putting all his years of experience of winning championships with Lewis Hamilton to Kimi\u2019s advantage, managing him to perfection over team radio.<\/p>\n If Verstappen has benefited over the course of his career from the wisdom of Jos, and Mark Webber performs a similar mentoring role<\/a> to Oscar Piastri, it is \u2018Bono\u2019 who acts as Antonelli\u2019s guiding light.<\/p>\n It has been notable over the years that Verstappen has enjoyed a warm relationship with<\/a> Fernando Alonso.<\/p>\n No doubt because they recognise so many elements of themselves \u2013 the ability, the spirit, that same competitive ferocity, restless ambition and old-school attitude \u2013 in each other.<\/p>\n From the exchanges between Max and Kimi to date, you sense that Verstappen sees a little bit of himself in Antonelli too.<\/p>\n Game recognises game, as they say.<\/p>\n It was around this time two years ago that Verstappen was first seriously linked with a future with Mercedes before it became apparent that, no, Mercedes was actually growing a Mini Max of its own, another boy wonder about to come along and change everything.<\/p>\n In the early days of Verstappen\u2019s success \u2013 the first win in Barcelona, the acts of genius in the rain in Brazil \u2013 there was an inescapable sense of destiny, of F1 history being written live and uncut, unmatched in the modern era.<\/p>\n The same inevitability \u2013 the same certainty \u2013 is alive in Antonelli.<\/p>\n Little wonder that Toto Wolff always seems to gaze at him with such awe and, increasingly, with such pride.<\/p>\n The prophecy was true.<\/p>\n George Russell will struggle to find sympathy if he loses the F1 2026 title<\/p>\n If Lando Norris had been looking for a shoulder to cry on when he missed out on the 2024 title, he wouldn\u2019t have found it attached to George Russell.<\/p>\n On the night Max Verstappen was crowned world champion for the fourth time in Las Vegas, Russell could scarcely believe that he and Red Bull had got away with it.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about time somebody gave him a proper fight,\u201d Russell said after the race. \u201cThat\u2019s my plan. That\u2019s what I want to do.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a fierce competitor and Red Bull are doing amazing, but this championship probably should\u2019ve gone down to the wire.<\/p>\n \u201cYou could argue that Max probably wasn\u2019t the favourite at one point and yet he wins it with races to go\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n The implication in Russell\u2019s comments was clear: if I had been presented with the car and the opportunity Lando had this season, Verstappen wouldn\u2019t have stood a chance.<\/p>\n It was the kind of brash and pompous interjection that has made people struggle to warm to George over the years.<\/p>\n It is one thing for drivers to think that way, even to express it privately.<\/p>\n But to actually say it in public? Loud and proud in front of a television crew in the middle of the paddock? It takes some nerve.<\/p>\n And how is it working out for Russell in 2026 now that he\u2019s the one with the fastest car and a shot at a first world championship?<\/p>\n Only now is he finding out that it is not so easy to contend with the pressure and weight of expectation that comes with being title favourite.<\/p>\n Not that he\u2019s the favourite for the title anymore.<\/p>\n Indeed, take a glimpse at the drivers\u2019 standings after Monaco and you\u2019ll find that Russell is now third in a two-horse race.<\/p>\n What began as a blip after his victory in Australia \u2013 a reliability issue in China qualifying, an ill-timed safety car in Japan \u2013 has remarkably developed into a full-blown crisis.<\/p>\n Somehow Russell has found himself looking even more bereft of answers than Norris at his lowest moments in 2025.<\/p>\n No matter how grim it got for Lando<\/a>, at least he always had the underlying pace to keep providing hope that he could salvage his season and finally piece everything together.<\/p>\n Russell?<\/p>\n Even if he had managed to win the last race in Canada, in some ways it would still have counted as a defeat given how hard Kimi Antonelli pushed him on a so-called Russell circuit.<\/p>\n Even at a track where George was close to unbeatable in 2025, even at the one place he could count on to rediscover his confidence and his poise, still Kimi would not let him rest.<\/p>\n The manner of Kimi\u2019s fifth consecutive victory in Monaco seemed to confirm what Canada had strongly suggested: Antonelli has, after just 30 grand prix appearances, already surpassed Russell.<\/p>\n He has grown at a faster rate than anyone could have possibly imagined \u2013 least of all George himself, so clearly destabilised by a challenge he simply did not see coming \u2013 and the battle to contain Antonelli has already been lost.<\/p>\n Unless he can find a way to control the chemical reaction lighting up the other side of the Mercedes garage, soon the title will be lost too.<\/p>\n And who knows?<\/p>\n When it is lost, Norris might like to remind him of the world championship trophy he has sitting at home.<\/p>\n The great Lewis Hamilton mystery goes on<\/p>\n Is it the car or is it me?<\/p>\n By his own admission, Lewis Hamilton has grappled with and agonised over that question for four years now.<\/p>\n If it is hard enough to separate driver performance from the car in triumph \u2013 is it 60:40 in favour of the car? Or 75:25, perhaps? \u2013 imagine how difficult it must be in defeat.<\/p>\n Has Hamilton, now in his fifth decade, spent the entire post-2021 period in some sort of irreversible, permanent decline?<\/p>\n Or is the Lewis of old \u2013 or at least something close enough to resemble the Lewis of old \u2013 still in there waiting to be unlocked again with the right machinery?<\/p>\n The great Lewis Hamilton mystery was only ever going to be solved with the arrival of a really capable, driveable car with plenty of downforce.<\/p>\n So the SF-26, the first car he can truly work with this side of 2021, came at a very good time for him \u2013 just as a growing number of people were writing him off for good.<\/p>\n And the evidence so far?<\/p>\n It\u2019s been \u2013 how to put this best? \u2013 tentatively encouraging.<\/p>\n His second place in Monaco, where he measured up well to Charles Leclerc throughout, marked the first time in almost two years that Hamilton has claimed consecutive podium finishes.<\/p>\n He is passing the eye test, too, looking visibly more at ease on track and in his surroundings \u2013 note how he christened his current race engineer Carlo Santi<\/a> the \u2018Italian Bono\u2019 in Monaco \u2013 than at any stage since the sun started going down on his Mercedes days.<\/p>\n Hamilton spoke after the race on Sunday of feeling as though he must \u201cremind people who I am\u201d after spending so long in the competitive wilderness, yet no doubt there is a need to jog his own memory too.<\/p>\n Slowly but surely, he is regaining his strength and his results over the last two races suggest that he will be close enough, often enough to the front to have a chance of sneaking a victory or two in 2026.<\/p>\n But hold on.<\/p>\n Was Hamilton really as good as he looked in Monaco?<\/p>\n Or was he actually slightly flattered by the problems of Leclerc, whose ongoing frustrations with the brakes \u2013 a carryover from Canada \u2013 almost certainly concealed his true pace this weekend?<\/p>\n The mystery goes on.<\/p>\n Isack Hadjar has the resilience other Red Bull hopefuls have lacked<\/p>\n How do we know that Isack Hadjar is made of stronger stuff than Max Verstappen\u2019s previous Red Bull teammates?<\/p>\n Look no further than his response to his accident in FP1 in Monaco.<\/p>\n Despite the general perception that he has made an accomplished start to life at Red Bull in 2026, the last few races have been a little troubling for him.<\/p>\n After a nondescript drive to 12th at Suzuka, his tagging of the inside barrier in the early laps in Miami was a horrible way to exit a race.<\/p>\n And even though he recorded the best result of his short career as a Red Bull driver in Canada, that was achieved with two separate time penalties that would have left him further down the order on a normal day in which the McLarens and George Russell all finished in the points.<\/p>\n So more than a few were fearing the worst on Friday when Hadjar went out and made another mistake, plunging the nose of his RB22 into the barrier at the exit of the Swimming Pool.<\/p>\n If this had been Pierre Gasly or Alex Albon, or Sergio Perez or Liam Lawson or Yuki Tsunoda, the second Red Bull would almost certainly have sunk without trace.<\/p>\n Such an early setback would have knocked the driver\u2019s confidence beyond repair and the inevitable meek Q1 exit \u2013 in a car capable of considerably more \u2013 would have followed.<\/p>\n But this, it is now increasingly clear, is not Pierre Gasly. Or Alex Albon.<\/p>\n Or Sergio Perez or Liam Lawson or Yuki Tsunoda.<\/p>\n This is Isack Hadjar.<\/p>\n And responding to setbacks is simply what he does.<\/p>\n It\u2019s what he\u2019s been doing pretty much ever since the tears started flowing back in Melbourne last year after his F1 debut ended on the formation lap.<\/p>\n And so a weekend that started with the potential of the spotlight turning uncomfortably towards him, at the time of year Verstappen\u2019s teammates have traditionally started to crack, ended with Hadjar celebrating his first podium in Red Bull colours \u2013 an achievement three of his predecessors never managed.<\/p>\n The more punches he takes, the stronger he becomes.<\/p>\n That resilience will serve him well.<\/p>\n Charles Leclerc\u2019s comments about Fred Vasseur felt pointed<\/p>\n It was Guenther Steiner who best summed up the fickle nature of Formula 1 a couple of years ago.<\/p>\n Much was made of Haas\u2019s much-improved 2024 season under the new leadership of Ayao Komatsu after Steiner had departed the team at the end of the previous year.<\/p>\n Yet as Steiner pointed out at the time, pretty much all the design work on that year\u2019s Haas was carried out while he was still in charge.<\/p>\n For all the praise Komatsu received for making Haas a calmer, more engineering-led and more dignified place, it was ultimately under Steiner that the seed was sown for the team\u2019s leap in competitiveness.<\/p>\n Steiner\u2019s comments came to mind in light of Ferrari\u2019s encouraging start to the 2026 season as the tension that had built up over the course of last year drained away.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s imagine for a moment that Ferrari had succumbed to the wishes of the more emotional factions of the Italian media last season and parted ways with Fred Vasseur (who, for what it\u2019s worth, is unquestionably the best thing to happen to the team in years).<\/p>\n Almost certainly, Vasseur\u2019s replacement would now be regarded as the messiah for orchestrating Ferrari\u2019s impressive start to the new rules cycle and bouncing back from a winless 2025.<\/p>\n And Fred?<\/p>\n Like dear ol\u2019 Guenther, with his reputation in tatters he might have struggled to find a senior role in F1 again \u2013 certainly one as attractive as team principal of Ferrari.<\/p>\n Moral of the story: reputations in F1 rise and fall with the competitiveness of the car.<\/p>\n So it was curious that Charles Leclerc made such a big deal in Monaco of the influence of Vasseur in his decision to sign a new contract with Ferrari.<\/p>\n Leclerc effectively turned Thursday\u2019s FIA press conference into a Fred-a-thon, such was the emphasis he placed on Vasseur\u2019s importance to his ongoing commitment to the team.<\/p>\n \u201cMostly Fred,\u201d he told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets when asked what inspires his faith in Ferrari. \u201cI\u2019m very on board with his vision and I really believe in Fred.\u201d<\/p>\n In answer to another question, he said: \u201cI think with Fred we have a very good relationship and I strongly believe that he is the person that will be able to bring Ferrari back to the top.\u201d<\/p>\n Fred, Fred, Fred, Fred, Fred.<\/p>\n As the weekend developed, it emerged that this had become a recurring theme of interviews given by Leclerc regarding his new contract.<\/p>\n It felt almost rehearsed. Planned. Pointed.<\/p>\n Vasseur, of course, saw off the initial uncertainty over his position last year by signing a new multi-year contract of his own.<\/p>\n Yet as anyone who has followed Ferrari for any length of time knows, the next crisis is only ever just around the corner.<\/p>\n When GianPiero Lambiase\u2019s move to McLaren was announced in April, rumours circulated that he had been lined up as the next McLaren team principal, with Andrea Stella attracting interest from Ferrari.<\/p>\n Strangely, few at the time seemed to stop to consider what all this might mean for the current regime at Maranello.<\/p>\n PlanetF1.com understands that a move away from McLaren is not on the cards for Stella, whose role will remain unchanged when Lambiase eventually arrives.<\/p>\n But as reported by this website in April, it is plausible that Lambiase is being positioned to replace Stella when the role of team principal next becomes available, with sources indicating that GP may have been sold this scenario<\/a> as part of his move from Red Bull.<\/p>\n Laurent Mekies\u2019 comment at the Canadian Grand Prix that Lambiase is \u201cgoing to be team principal\u201d at McLaren<\/a> felt like the moment this story moved beyond rumour into something much closer to an open secret.<\/p>\n So let\u2019s say that Lambiase does take over at McLaren in the coming years and Stella does move on\u2026 where exactly will that leave Vasseur?<\/p>\n If Ferrari does indeed turn out to be Stella\u2019s next destination when his work at McLaren is done, surely he will not be heading to Maranello to work under Fred.<\/p>\n Might it be that, spooked by its woeful 2025, Ferrari has a plan ready to spring into action the next time the team suffers a lacklustre season or another alarming dip?<\/p>\n In that context, Leclerc\u2019s comments in Monaco might be seen as a message to Ferrari\u2019s senior management: I remain loyal to you for as long as you remain loyal to Fred.<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Quote-ANTONELLI-japan-concs.jpg\")
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