š Up next
Monaco
FP13d 20h
Kimi Antonelli says Mercedes has not yet seen the āfull benefitā of the upgrade package it introduced at the Canadian Grand Prix, because conditions in MontrĆ©al made tyre management unusually important, and he expects a clearer read at Monaco and Barcelona. Antonelli said: "This weekend is a bit unique, because tyres are so important to get them in the right window, so I think we're not seeing the full benefit of this new package. I think when we go to Monaco and Barcelona, we will see much better the benefits of this package, because here is just such a weird condition that just by having the tyres in the right window, it makes a big difference."
Mercedes head of trackside operations Andrew Shovlin said Formula 1ās new Overtake Mode made it hard for cars to break away from each other during battles at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. Shovlin said: "The regulations make it quite hard to break away because the car behind can harvest a bit more energy. In Montreal, because it was really cold and there's low speed corners, the cars actually followed really well. The two cars get a little bit locked together in a battle. The energy does help the one behind keep up. It's just quite hard for [the leader] to break away."
Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli says Ferrari will be the team to beat at the Monaco Grand Prix because its rear winglet is giving the car āa lot of downforce at low speedā. Antonelli said: "Yeah, I think Ferrari is going to be the team to beat in Monaco. It's going to be very interesting [to see] how we do there, but for sure Ferrari is the favourite, because also with that winglet they have in the back, it's giving them a lot of downforce at low speed."
Audi F1 boss Mattia Binotto says Carlos Sainzās decision to sign for Williams in 2024 was his own, rather than following his fatherās preference for him to join Sauber ahead of Audiās takeover for its 2026 entry. Binotto said: "Because honestly, I think he made his own choice and that was important. I would even say that he made his own choice, and not his dad's choice, which is great for him."
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has dismissed rumours about Oscar Piastriās future, saying the Australian is not set to leave the team despite links with Red Bull and a contract that runs until the end of 2028. Stella said: "You mentioned the silly season, and I think we are already fully in this silly season. When we think about Oscar, we couldn't be happier. I think we are seeing the best Oscar in the cockpit and also a happy Oscar, and the best version of himself outside the cockpit. So definitely it's very clear, the direction for maximum stability at McLaren."
Max Verstappen heads into the Monaco Grand Prix with a clean FIA super licence after the penalty points from his 2025 Spanish Grand Prix clash with George Russell expired. Verstappen had been given three points for the Barcelona incident, when the stewards ruled he caused the collision after the safety-car restart, and that took him to 11 points within a 12-month period - one short of an automatic one-race ban. With those points, and other earlier infringements, now outside the 12-month window, he no longer carries any active penalty points.
Fernando Alonso says Aston Martinās āfundamental problemā and a three-second gap to the front will not be fixed until later in the season, with bigger gains needing more engine power and an improved aerodynamic package. Fernando Alonso said: "But the fundamental problem and the three seconds off the pace will have to come from the power of the engine and from the aero package and that will only come in the second part of the year."
Kimi Raikkonen says Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli has the mental strength to handle a Formula 1 title fight, as the Italian leads the 2026 standings. Raikkonen said: "He'll have to avoid imitating Piastri in 2025. At one point, the Australian McLaren driver seemed to have the title in his pocket, but he couldn't handle the pressure. The Italian won't fall into the same trap."
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says he is fully committed to staying with the team amid reports linking him with a move to Ferrari. Stella said: "When it comes to myself, I'm definitely fully committed to McLaren. And for me the mission is very clear: we need to fill that new area of the cabinet for the years to come at McLaren."
Williams team principal James Vowles says the team is prioritising the production of spare parts for the Monaco Grand Prix after a punishing Canadian GP weekend left it short on inventory, including from Alex Albonās heavy Friday crash and his race collision with Oscar Piastri. Vowles said: "Now, what we've had to do as an impact of all of that is to make sure we prioritise and have sufficient stock levels for Monaco because whatever happens, we're about to go into probably the hardest track in terms of attrition and you simply can't get away with having the cars built up with no spares around you. That's where we need to put ourselves in a strong position for Monaco."
Lewis Hamilton says he will probably not use Ferrariās simulator to prepare for races because there are ātoo many risksā, after finishing second at last monthās Canadian Grand Prix. Hamilton said: "Now whether or not I use it to prepare for another race? Probably not. There are just too many risks. If you look at the two best races I've had, I didn't use a simulator and that's honestly how it was. Pretty much all the championships before, except for probably 2008, I didn't use the sim, so it's not a necessity."
Laurent Mekies says Red Bull would support further steps to ensure sporting independence between Formula 1ās 11 teams, despite its parent company also owning Racing Bulls. Mekies said: "If any stakeholders, let it be another team or anyone else, would feel that more steps are needed to ensure 11 teams racing independently, we would support. We are completely supportive to take any further step to ensure that, regardless of our strategic partnership or regardless of our ownership structure, that we race independently on track. We feel that is the case today."
Kimi Antonelli says Mercedes is letting him and team-mate George Russell race freely, but insists they are determined to avoid an intra-team situation like Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg had. Antonelli said: "We don't want to recreate a scenery like Lewis [Hamilton] and [Nico] Rosberg, where internally in the team was not the best. Of course, we're going to race each other hard, but we'll try to be as fair as possible, avoiding any crashes or contacts because we want the best as well for the team. We want Mercedes to win, as well. We're gonna go at each other, for sure, but in a fair manner."
Sky Sports Formula 1 lead commentator David Croft says Sergio Perez is likely to become frustrated at Cadillac as the team learns on the job in its debut 2026 season. Croft said: "I think, though, Sergio's going to get a bit frustrated. There's more pace in that Cadillac car, and there's probably more they can do, but they're just being held back a bit because they're such a new, fledgling team. For instance, they have both drivers on intermediate tyres. They should have double-stacked to get rid of them. They didn't because they're just not at that stage yet where they can start double-stacking."
The FIAās revised engine rule took effect on 1 June, so the Monaco Grand Prix will be the first race run under the new measurement for power unit compression ratio. Pre-season reports said Mercedes HPP had found a way to run as high as 18:1 despite the regulations setting a 16:1 limit, because the original wording only measured the ratio at ambient temperatures with the car in the pit lane; from Monaco onwards it will instead be checked with the engine ambient temperature at 130 degrees, closing that loophole.
Mercedes says it may be several months before it can complete a full investigation into George Russellās Canadian Grand Prix retirement, after the failed battery module had to go through special safety procedures and be shipped back to the UK. Deputy team principal Bradley Lord said: "It will therefore be several months before the hardware gets back and we need to really dig through the data to understand exactly what went wrong and then work out how we try and prevent a repeat on any of the other modules in the future."
Get the full feed, faster alerts, and the stories worth following on your phone.
