After 4 wins, Italy’s Kimi Antonelli sits pretty on top of the Formula One World Championship. Can he conquer Monaco?

It doesn’t matter that George Russell’s Mercedes failed in Canada. It doesn’t matter that he had dominated the Sprint Qualification, won the Sprint Race, and stormed to pole in the main qualifying session. What matters is the final result on Sunday in Montreal: Young Kimi Antonelli stood on the top step of the podium, ahead of both Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

These two legends have defined Formula One for the past one and a half decades, when Antonelli was just four years old. The Wall of Champions caught Hamilton out in the Sprint, dropping him from P4 to P6. Verstappen could only manage P7. Although Antonelli was beaten to pole by his Mercedes teammate Russell and McLaren’s Lando Norris, he saved his very best for race day. The new 2026 regulations have split opinions. Some fans love the close wheel-to-wheel racing they’ve produced, while others dismiss it as artificial. Several drivers have also admitted that the constant need to recharge the battery and deploy sudden power boosts feels unnatural.

Yet when the lights went out in Montreal, any doubts were forgotten. The action that followed was nothing short of sensational — some of the best racing we’ve seen in any era. Antonelli and Russell went wheel-to-wheel for the entire race, trading places, banging wheels, and forcing each other into mistakes on almost every lap. Whichever Silver Arrow was in front simply could not break away from the other. The frantic back-and-forth and multiple lead changes prompted commentators to declare that the “Montreal 2026 episode was presented by the makers of Bahrain 2014” — two absolute classics.

Kudos to Mercedes-AMG for allowing their drivers to race hard, even as it teetered on the edge of disaster. Behind the battle for the lead — which ended prematurely with a power unit failure for Russell — another war of titans unfolded for second place between Hamilton and Verstappen.

“Even if we have the overtake, they still have more power on the straights,” said Hamilton after the race. “So I was constantly doing these calculations, trying to figure out how to maximise every bit of battery power and have enough left for the right moment.” It was a masterclass in racecraft from the seven-time champion, who celebrated his first second-place finish for Ferrari.

Next up is Monaco — the jewel in Formula One’s crown.

Who’s betting against the Prince?

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Round 6 | Monaco | Sunday, 7th June 18:30 | F1TV & FanCode App

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