Pole-sitter Kimi Antonelli won the Monaco street race after red flags, a power unit retirement for Verstappen and a months-long fight over two pit lane penalties.
Kimi Antonelli, from pole, took the 2026 Monaco win for Mercedes and became the youngest driver to win there. Hamilton was second, and appeals later reshuffled the podium after two pit lane speeding penalties for Pierre Gasly. Hadjar took the final podium place.
The 2026 Monaco Grand Prix was held on 7 June 2026 at the Circuit de Monaco, the sixth round of the season. Kimi Antonelli won from pole for Mercedes, becoming the youngest driver to win the Monaco Grand Prix. The podium was then reshaped by pit lane speeding penalties and two rounds of appeals, which ended with Pierre Gasly dropping from third to seventh.
Who won the 2026 Monaco Grand Prix?
Kimi Antonelli won from pole, the youngest driver to win at Monaco and the youngest to achieve a Grand Slam. Lewis Hamilton finished second for Ferrari, and Isack Hadjar was promoted to a first podium of the season after the penalties were applied. Antonelli had already led the drivers' table before the race, on 131 points.
Antonelli kept the lead at the start, ahead of Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. Verstappen retired at the end of the opening lap with a power unit problem. Antonelli's win was his fifth of the season, and it extended his lead in the drivers' table.
The race was disrupted several times. Stroll's crash at the final corner with 22 laps remaining brought out the safety car, and Leclerc crashed at the same corner shortly afterwards, which brought a red flag. The race restarted as a standing start, and Antonelli kept the lead after it.
Antonelli's Monaco win was never in dispute, but the podium behind him was settled only after two rounds of appeals over pit lane speed.
Entries, tyres and the track
The drivers and teams matched the season entry list, with no stand-in drivers for the race. McLaren's 1,000th Grand Prix entry came at the Chinese Grand Prix, though neither car started there. The team chose to celebrate the milestone at Monaco, since 2026 also marked the 60th anniversary of its 1966 Monaco debut.
Pirelli brought its C3, C4 and C5 compounds, the softest three in its range, designated hard, medium and soft. Formula One's new straight mode was not used at Monaco, because the FIA made the decision on safety grounds given the tight, twisty layout and limited straights. Overtake mode remained available.
Practice at Monaco
Three free practice sessions were held. The first, on 5 June at 13:30 local time (UTC+2), was topped by Leclerc ahead of Hamilton and Verstappen. It was red-flagged twice, first when Hadjar crashed into the wall at turn 14 and again late in the session because of debris from Alonso's car.
The second session, at 17:00 the same day, was topped by Hamilton from Leclerc and Verstappen. A red flag came out when the brakes on Sergio Perez's Cadillac overheated and caught fire. The third session, on 6 June, was topped by Antonelli ahead of Leclerc and Hamilton, and it was red-flagged after Oliver Bearman crashed into the wall at turn 3.
How did qualifying set the grid?
Antonelli took pole on his final flying lap, with Verstappen 0.001 seconds behind him. Hamilton was third, just over two tenths of a second off the pole time, and Leclerc was fourth after crashing at Tabac on his final run.
Qualifying was held on 6 June at 16:00 local time. The opening segment was congested, and Leclerc set the fastest time, ahead of Verstappen, Antonelli and Lando Norris. The stewards flagged Antonelli black and white for not following the race director's instructions.
Bortoleto clipped the barriers at the Nouvelle chicane in Q1, which brought out the red flag. Sainz improved to tenth to escape elimination, while Ocon, Perez, Bearman, Bottas, Alonso and Stroll were knocked out. In the second segment Albon, Sainz, Hulkenberg, Colapinto, Lindblad and Bortoleto were eliminated.
Hadjar was fifth on the grid and Russell sixth, with Piastri seventh and Norris eighth. Gasly and Lawson completed the top ten. Leclerc's final attempt ended at Tabac, where he lost the rear of his Ferrari and hit the barrier before stopping the damaged car at Rascasse.
How did the race unfold?
Before the start Lawson reported a technical issue on his Racing Bulls car, but the team resolved it in time for him to take his place on the grid. Bortoleto's Audi stopped at the pit exit, so he could not take his original slot and started from the pit lane.
Antonelli kept the lead at the start and built a gap over Hamilton and Leclerc in the opening stint. Gasly passed Norris on the opening lap, and Perez was given a drive-through penalty for being out of position at the start. Verstappen's retirement came at the end of the first lap, after a power unit problem that dropped him to the back of the field.
| Position | Driver | Team | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | Pole position and win |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | Second, despite a five-second pit lane penalty |
| 3 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | First podium of the season after the appeals |
| 7 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | Third on the road, two five-second penalties |
Several cars were out of contention during the first half of the race. Valtteri Bottas retired with brake problems, Oliver Bearman was called in to retire, and Norris retired after reporting a loss of battery power. Sainz was involved in two collisions shortly after the standing restart, first with Hulkenberg and then with Colapinto, and he retired with collision damage.
Gasly took the penalties that made the podium a matter of dispute. He received two five-second penalties for speeding in the pit lane, and finished third on the road. The two penalties dropped him to seventh, which promoted Hadjar to his first podium of the season.
Russell was the other driver to suffer a penalty, serving a drive-through after the restart for failing to serve an earlier pit lane speeding penalty correctly. Hamilton, Piastri and Colapinto were also given five-second penalties for pit lane speeding, and Hamilton served his during the safety car period.
Why did Gasly's podium change?
Gasly was given two five-second penalties for pit lane speeding. Alpine asked for a right of review, and on 12 June the stewards rescinded both penalties and restored him to third. McLaren and Red Bull then appealed, and the FIA International Court of Appeal reinstated both penalties on 3 September.
The stewards' review found that the applied distance of 2,692 cm (1,060 in) between timing loops was longer than the theoretical shortest distance of 2,615 cm (1,030 in). With the shorter distance, the timekeeper put Gasly's two speeds at 58.7 km/h (36.5 mph) and 58.8 km/h (36.5 mph), under the 60 km/h (37 mph) limit. The stewards therefore found that Gasly had not exceeded the speed limit.
When Gasly was reinstated, Hadjar, Piastri, Lawson and Lindblad were each demoted one place. The stewards noted that other drivers had served pit lane penalties during the race, and they said the regulations did not allow them to undo a penalty already served. No other competitor had petitioned for a right of review within the time allowed.
Mercedes also lodged a right-of-review petition about Russell, because his related pit lane penalty could not be removed retrospectively. It withdrew the petition on 18 June, before a hearing on 20 June. McLaren and Red Bull continued their appeal before the FIA International Court of Appeal, which heard the case on 25 August.
The decision on 3 September restored both of Gasly's penalties, which cost him the podium to Hadjar. Piastri, Lawson and Lindblad each gained a place, and Gasly returned to seventh. Alpine said the team had been unjustly punished, and its executive advisor Flavio Briatore alleged that one of the judges had ties to McLaren. McLaren's team principal Andrea Stella rejected the claims and warned that such allegations had to be backed up in public.
What did the result mean for the title and the teams?
Antonelli's victory extended his lead at the top of the drivers' table, and it was his fifth win of the season. The result also gave Alonso his first points of the season after Perez's penalty, which gave Aston Martin its first point of 2026.
Perez had finished eleventh on track and was promoted to 10th after Hulkenberg was penalised. A ten-second penalty added after the race, for a wheel outside the starting box at the standing restart, dropped him to 15th. That cost Cadillac what would have been its first Formula One point.
The appeals concerned positions behind the winner, so Antonelli's win was not affected by the penalty disputes.
