Quick hits: Monaco GP interrupted for safety as Kardashians keep up with F1

Source : ABC NEWS

Formula 1 championship leader Kimi Antonelli started the Monaco Grand Prix on pole, led every lap, and won the race.

But round six of this F1 season may have been the wildest and most chaotic yet.

From a dodgy section of track to a mega celebrity watching her partner equal a record with the great Ayrton Senna, the 2026 Monaco Grand Prix had plenty of talking points.

Here are some of the quick hits from Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix.

1. The Monaco track breaks up late

Race winner Kimi Antonelli was in line for a commanding win as the race approached the final 20 laps. 

The Italian was ahead by more than 20 seconds before two crashes completely upended the complexion of the race.

It started on lap 60 when Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll went into the barrier on the final corner.

That brought out a safety car, but the drama would continue. 

When the race restarted, local hero Charles Leclerc, who was third, did not make it back to the start line. 

As everyone sped up to full speed, he went into the barriers in the same spot as Stroll.

Both drivers blamed braking for their crashes, but the race was red-flagged as it appeared the surface at the final turn was breaking up. 

Big chunks of what appeared to be asphalt had built up near the racing line.

George Russell and Oscar Piastri were both on the team radio reporting that the surface was breaking up. 

Marshals were on track to sweep away the damaged road before the race resumed. 

The track held up for the final seven laps of full racing, only after causing a major disruption to several drivers.

2. Drivers caught out by pit lane speed limit

Speeding in the pit lane is a big no-no in Formula 1.

It is an infringement that happens now and then, mostly when a driver misses their mark and does not apply the pit speed limiter on the car in time.

But in Monaco, five drivers were pinged for speeding in the pits. 

Lewis Hamilton, Oscar Piastri, Franco Colapinto, Pierre Gasly and George Russell were all penalised for the indiscretion. 

And it had major ramifications on the outcome of the race.

Gasly was penalised twice, meaning he copped a 10-second time penalty when he crossed the finish line. 

Gasly dropped from third to seventh, leaving the Frenchman devastated. 

“Honestly, I am just heartbroken,” the Alpine driver said post-race.

“I just can’t get my head around what happened. It just doesn’t sound fair. 

“Triple-checked with the team, they say it’s the right speed in the car. On both occasions, I’ve put the pit limiter [on] way before the line.”

Alpine requested a right of review of the penalties post-race.

Russell’s team failed to serve his five-second penalty when he came in for a second time under the safety car. That infringement led to the Brit being handed a drive-through penalty that knocked him out of the points. 

3. Verstappen out on the first lap

The start to this year’s Monaco Grand Prix was supposed to be a shootout between a rising star and a legend.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli was lining up on the front row alongside four-time world champion Max Verstappen. 

This presented Red Bull’s best chance at a win in 2026, if Verstappen could get a great launch and lead into the first turn. 

In reality, Verstappen’s race was over as soon as the lights went out.

The Dutchman had no power in his Red Bull, which spluttered off the start line and crawled around the track for one disappointing lap before retiring. 

“The formation lap was not going very well. After that, the pre-start was terrible; there was just no consistency,” Verstappen told Sky Sports.

“Then the engine just dropped out.

“I only got a little bit of power back after the first corner, and then the engine sounded really awful.”

Verstappen was the first challenger to fall in a race that became a war of attrition and cleared a path for Antonelli to victory. 

4. Hamilton rises to second with Kim K watching on

In case you didn’t see it on social media, or any of the several cutaways in the television broadcast, Kim Kardashian was at the race.

She was there cheering on Lewis Hamilton, with the pair appearing to be a couple, according to social media. 

Clearly one for good timing, Kim’s first race was a beauty for Hamilton, who claimed a well-earned second place in Monaco. 

It was Hamilton’s eighth podium in Monaco, tying the record with the great Ayrton Senna.

The second-place finish, along with George Russell failing to score, moved Hamilton to second in the drivers’ championship. 

It is a remarkable result considering how dominant the Mercedes team has been through six rounds. But consecutive grands prix without a point has dearly cost Russell. 

Antonelli now leads the drivers’ championship by 66 points to Hamilton and 68 to Russell.

There is a long way to go in this season, but for one more weekend, the momentum was with the Italian championship leader.

5. Cadillac has its maiden F1 point taken away

For an hour, F1’s newest team thought it had scored its first point in F1.

Mexican Sergio Perez, who started in the wrong grid box and copped a drive-through penalty, had finished 11th but was upgraded to 10th after Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg was penalised for causing a late crash.

The American outfit had its first point in F1, but there was an asterisk as Perez was being investigated for another standing start infringement.

This time it was during the restart after the red flag, and stewards deemed the Mexican had not lined up in his grid box properly. 

Perez was penalised, and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, who crossed the line 12th, was awarded 10th.