Gp Monaco: Antonelli wins, Hamilton's Ferrari second

McLaren, on the weekend of its 1,000th Grand Prix, was left with a difficult race: Norris was coming from a complicated free practice, with the car stopped by an electrical problem, and in the race he was caught up in traffic, while Piastri had no runway to turn the pace into a comeback: for him a fourth place, not a foregone conclusion, while Norris had a sad retirement.

The second junction came with Stroll, on the final lap. A straight, a car to be removed and a Safety Car that obviously compacted all the gaps and radically changed the race. The Canadian brings with him a history of controversial episodes that over the years have involved other drivers and influenced races and weekends, from Hungary 2021 with Leclerc to Monaco 2025 in FP1. There is no official 'ruined GP' statistic, but there is enough material to explain why each of his incidents is immediately analysed and discussed.

Before the Safety Car, Antonelli was still in control of the race: by lap 58 he was 28 seconds ahead, with the Ferraris the only ones at 'decent' and, more importantly, 'full lap' gaps. On the threshold of the restart, Leclerc lost the Ferrari at the last famous corner before the finish, in the same spot as Stroll's accident, and ended up against the barriers. Over the radio he said he didn't want to take the blame: he talked about the brakes and anyway shortly afterwards the red flag came out to check the track. For Ferrari it was the pass that cancelled the Monegasque's podium: whether it was cold tyres, a human error or a technical problem, in any case Leclerc, fresh from his renewal, wasted his home race and Hadjar inherited third place.

Not without suffering, the Algerian-born Frenchman thus climbs the podium for the second time and shows again and again that he sits decently in the seat of the same RB22 also carried by the great champion Verstappen.

The most sensitive issue inside Mercedes is not technical. In Montreal, the only exploit 2026 was by Russell, who had won the Sprint, fighting hard against Antonelli, openly contesting it at the end of the day. In fact, Antonelli leads the World Championship while Russell, by his own admission, is chasing a title that he considers 'already Antonelli's that he can only lose'. The Italian replied coldly: 'it is too early, and you cannot lose something that you have not yet won'. Mercedes dominates, but manages the classic risk of dominant teams: two drivers strong enough to take points and serenity away.

After free practice, Alonso delivered this week's harshest verdict on the new regulations: this would be 'probably the worst generation of cars I have ever driven in Monaco. The target is not the result on Friday, but the hybrid management: energy recovery makes the engine brake unpredictable: sometimes the battery recharges, sometimes it doesn't, and the response changes'. And he recalls: 'Hybrids should not race.

The move to the first weekend in June has a (first) logic that is not (well) stated but (definitely) historical: to avoid overlap with the Indianapolis 500; something that has been done successfully for decades except for rare discontinuities that have been almost absent since the 1990s, except in the Covid years. But the paradox is immediate. On 7 June 2026, Monaco falls on the last day of Roland Garros. Quite unexpectedly, then, with two Italians in the spotlight: one in the pole, the other in the most important final of the French Open, the men's singles. And, against obvious pre-tournament odds, in the final is not Jannik Sinner but Flavio Cobolli. The conflict with Indy is resolved, but a new public collision opens up. And a ritual also falls: for decades the motorsport fan could follow Monaco and Indy on the same Sunday. Today that double date could be archived forever. However, for many drivers, especially the more mature ones, the possibility of a double participation is opening up, something that in recent decades has only happened in a few cases, and not even with an ongoing assignment, but only in 'gap years' or 'shortly after quitting'. Among the best known are Jean Alesi, Fernando Alonso and, needless to say, Alex Zanardi. But if they remain 'white flies', the Triple Crown will live on more as a myth than as a truly viable goal.

The heaviest commercial news of the Monaco weekend came far from Europe: Formula 1 has confirmed the Las Vegas Grand Prix until 2037, extending the agreement with Clark County and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority: not just 'one of many' updates or calendar confirmations, but a true historic declaration. The numbers accompanying the announcement are built to convince: $3.2 billion in cumulative economic impact for Southern Nevada from 2023, three consecutive sold-out editions (though not without 'forcing' with heavy discounts at the last second).

The narrative bridge between Monaco and Las Vegas was built over the harbour on Thursday evening. F1 opened the weekend with what it calls the biggest drone show ever in Europe: 3,050 units, ten minutes of choreography up to 180 metres high. Twice that number if you count the largest 'fleet' ever seen in the Old Continent, even if it is six to seven times below the highest numbers seen in China. However spectacular, the sequence reproduced the circuit, the trophy, the renewal of the Principality until 2035 and the Las Vegas 2037 announcement. The party then moved on board the Msc Explora I, the queen among the private yachts moored in the harbour. The message was structural: Monaco is not just a race, it is the main stage where F1 communicates itself to the world.

Monaco 2026 is McLaren's 1,000th Grand Prix. The coincidence has a specific weight: in 1966 Bruce McLaren brought the M2B, the team's first F1 single-seater, here. For the occasion special livery on the MCL40 - metallic papaya and anthracite - and the historic M2B from 60 years ago on the grid next to the 1,000th GP car. The official balance sheet speaks for itself: 203 victories, 177 pole positions, 561 podiums, 13 drivers' titles, 10 constructors' titles. The paradox is that the anniversary comes on the least favourable weekend: Norris and Piastri start from the fourth row, and in Monaco the fourth row is almost a tactical condition, not a starting position. A chance to reunite some past glories, including Hakkinen and Fittipaldi.

From 2027, Gucci will become Alpine's title partner: the team will race as the Gucci Racing Alpine Formula One Team. A marketing move by Flavio Briatore (and other notable Italians such as Luca Mazzocco, in his third decade in charge of Enstone's partnerships) that does not "just" bring an image sponsor, but attempts a change in identity and positioning. For Alpine, which has long been fragile on the sporting front, it is an attempt to gain centrality in the narrative of the sport through a global brand. For Formula 1, it is further confirmation of the progressive change of audience: more lifestyle, more internationality, more orientation towards brands that do not need to talk about horses or fuels, but about experience and belonging.