It was the 19-year-old Italian’s record fifth consecutive victory this season, making him the first Italian to achieve that feat since Alberto Ascari in 1952. It hoisted him 66 points clear of Hamilton in the title race.
“The car was a peach today,” he said after becoming the youngest winner of Formula One’s classic blue riband event.
“An incredible day. One of those when we had incredible pace to give me confidence to push.”
In a stoppage-strewn race punctuated by crashes, retirements and a series of penalties, Antonelli came home 6.271 seconds clear of seven-time champion Hamilton with Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar third ahead of Oscar Piastri of McLaren.
Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad finished a career-best fifth and sixth respectively, while Sergio Perez in 10th scored the new Cadillac team’s first point.
Hamilton equalled Ayrton Senna’s record total of eight Monaco podiums.
Four-time champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull suffered an engine failure at the start and retired, as did world champion Lando Norris when his McLaren had battery problems.
Antonelli made a perfect getaway. Behind him, Verstappen had a power failure as he attempted to start.
“What can I do?” asked Verstappen. “Just bring it home,” came the Red Bull reply. His problem was diagnosed as engine failure. It was his eighth first-lap retirement.
For Antonelli, the youngest-ever pole sitter in Monaco, his dream start enabled a run in clear air to establish a lead of 5.4 seconds by lap 10.
Norris had a lap one setback when, after squabbling with Piastri for sixth, he was passed by Pierre Gasly on the outside of St Devote.
In the first round of pit stops, Hamilton was one of several drivers given a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit-lane.
After revelling in his supremacy, Antonelli came in a second time after 37 laps, easily retaining his lead before Norris’s problems ended with a call to retire on lap 46.
The young Italian was racing with such ease that race engineer Peter Bonington told him: “Kimi, fastest lap! No, we don’t need them.” (AFP)
