Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes went fastest in Formula 1’s most important qualifying session of the season in Monaco.
The 19-year-old delivered what he described as a “magic lap” around the streets of Monte Carlo, clocking a time of 1m 12s and pipping Max Verstappen’s Red Bull to pole position by just 0.043s in the dying moments of Saturday’s qualifying.
This marks Antonelli’s first-ever pole position in the Principality and also the Silver Arrows’ first here since Lewis Hamilton back in 2019.
As overtaking is next to impossible in Monaco given the extremely tight nature of the circuit, Antonelli has a golden opportunity to translate his pole into a fifth consecutive grand prix victory and further stretch his lead in the World Championship.
The Italian youngster currently has a 43-point advantage over his teammate and title rival George Russell.
“It was one of those laps we call the magic lap – I was able to put [it] all together,” said Antonelli after qualifying.
“It was such a close Qualifying with Max. I think in the first run of Q3 there was just one millisecond between us, but I knew the last lap was good, and was just hoping that it would be enough. It was very close and I’m very happy with that.”
Starting in third place on Sunday is Hamilton in the Ferrari, followed by teammate and home favorite Charles Leclerc who had to settle for P4 after brushing the wall while trying to retake P1 in the final moments of Q3.
Isack Hadjar netted a strong fifth in the other Red Bull ahead of Russell’s Mercedes and Oscar Piastri in the McLaren.
Defending champion Lando Norris will start the race in eighth, with Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson completing the top 10 for Alpine and Racing Bulls respectively.
Monaco Grand Prix 2026 Starting Grid
Here’s the starting order for Sunday’s race in Monte Carlo:
- Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes): 1:12.051
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull): +0.043
- Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari): +0.228
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari): +0.300
- Isack Hadjar (Red Bull): +0.383
- George Russell (Mercedes): +0.394
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren): +0.573
- Lando Norris (McLaren): +0.714
- Pierre Gasly (Alpine): +1.175
- Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls): +1.361
- Alexander Albon (Williams)
- Carlos Sainz (Williams)
- Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)
- Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
- Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls)
- Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi)
- Esteban Ocon (Haas)
- Sergio Perez (Cadillac)
- Oliver Bearman (Haas)
- Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac)
- Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
- Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
The Monaco Grand Prix race starts at 3 p.m. local time (CEST) on Sunday, June 7.
