Antonelli wins race full of penalties in Monaco

All drivers except Gabriel Bortoleto and both Cadillacs, who started on the softs, started on medium tires. There was no crash in the opening lap but Verstappen was really slow going out of his grid box and ended up on the last position. Three laps later he retired from the race.

Both McLarens were really close to each other coming into Turn 1, they even made a contact. This incident gave an opportunity to Pierre Gasly to overtake Lando Norris and he successfully did so.

Lap 2 standing: Antonelli, Hamilton, Leclerc, Hadjar, Russell, Piastri, Gasly, Norris. The race leader Kimi Antonelli built a major gap and was 3. 7 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton two laps later.

At the start, Norris reported on his radio that George Russell was out of his grid box but on lap 6 the race stewards decided there won’t be further investigation.

On lap 8 Valtteri Bottas reported that his breaks are catching on fire again, a problem the Cadillacs has been dealing with throughout the entire weekend. Two laps later, his teammate received a drive through penalty for false start.

Around lap 10 the cars which started on the softs went into the boxes to pit for the hard tires.

On lap 18 Bottas had to retire from the race due to this problem with breaks. Lap later Isack Hadjar complained on the radio about a terrible engine breaking as Russell started to get closer to him.

On lap 25 Russell was still chasing Hadjar for the fourth position and Norris was chasing Gasly for the seventh position.

Four laps later Hamilton went into the boxes to pit for the hard tires and got back on the track on the third position as he had a major gap on Hadjar on the fourth.

On lap 30 Oliver Bearman retired his Haas as he was struggling all race on the last position. Two laps later Mercedes called Russell into the boxes to change for hard tires. He got back on the track on the eighth position, behind Gasly and Norris who haven’t pitted yet.

Lap later Hadjar pitted for hard tires and came back behind Russell on the eighth position. By this time Hamilton received a five second time penalty for speeding in the Pit Lane. Norris also reported that he is losing power but he kept racing.

On lap 36 Charles Leclerc also pitted for hard tires and got back on the track on the third place. Lap later Antonelli pitted too and took the lead again. This lap his teammate Russell got under investigation for speeding in the Pit Line. He got a five second penalty for this incident.

On lap 40 the standings were: Antonelli, Hamilton, Leclerc, Piastri, Gasly, Norris, Russell. By this time the McLarens and Gasly haven’t pitted yet. Antonelli had 18. 7 seconds gap on Hamilton.

Three laps later Franco Colapinto got a five second penalty also for speeding in the Pit Lane.

On lap 45 Russell overtook Norris and got on the sixth position. Norris was overtaken by Hadjar too as he had an energy issue and retired the car on the same lap. Meanwhile Gasly pitted for the hards.

Williams swapped positions, Carlos Sainz got on the ninth ahead of Alexander Albon. He was later overtaken by Arvid Lindblad and fell on the eleventh.

On lap 49 Piastri was called into the boxes to pit for the hardest tires. Four laps later Gasly got a five second penalty for speeding in the Pit Lane and joined other three drivers. Lance Stroll got also a five second penalty, but for exceeding track limits.

On lap 56 Oscar Piastri was given a five second penalty for speeding in the Pit Lane. Antonelli reported that the engine in his Mercedes feels weird going up the hill but his Race Engineer comforted him that they didn’t find any issues.

Four laps later Lance Stroll had a crash, caused a Yellow Flag and the Safety Car was deployed. Ferraris, Mercedeses, Piastri, Hulkenberg and Alonso all pitted for softs. Leclerc had a slow pitstop but remained on his third position. Meanwhile the race control ordered that all cars including the Safety Car have to go through the Pit Lane as the race marshals needed to clear the track. All lapped cars also overtook the Safety Car to get their positions right.

Both Hamilton and Piastri served their penalties during their second pitstop.

The Safety Car ended on lap 66 and the race was restarted. In Turn 19 Charles Leclerc had a crash. There was a Yellow Flag followed by Safety Car. All cars had to go through the Pit Lane again. Two laps later the Red Flag was deployed and the race was interrupted with 10 laps to go because of the track break up in Turn 19 where both Leclerc and Stroll crashed. 

During the Red Flag Russell got a drive through penalty for failing to serve his original five second penalty correctly.

After a couple of minutes the race was to be restarted from standings starts. After two laps behind Safety Car the cars lined up on the grid and took a standings starts restart. 

Antonelli kept his leading position with Hamilton, Russell, Gasly and Hadjar behind. All cars restarted on soft tires. After two laps Russell served his penalty and rejoined the grid on the 14^th place.

Sainz spun in Turn 6 and retired from the race without interrupting it.

With three laps to go Hadjar complained on the radio that he has no power. By this time, Gasly and Colapinto haven’t served their penalties yet.

After taking the chequered flag, Gasly’s penalty put him from the third to seventh place allowing Hadjar to take his first podium of the season.