Lewis Hamilton is a revived figure but declared this is Kimi Antonelli’s ‘moment’ (Image: Getty)
A chaotic Monaco Grand Prix saw Britain’s Formula 1 hero of the past confirm his revival, and its predicted champion of the future suffer perhaps the keenest blow yet to his fading title hopes. Because Lewis Hamilton is back. There can be no doubt about it now, after another assured podium drive.
His Ferrari is not yet capable of competing with the Mercedes cars in a straight fight. He knows that. So rather than be irritated to have been denied a first Grand Prix victory in red by Kimi Antonelli, he chose instead to savour the privilege of witnessing a teenager less than half his age make more history.
The 19-year-old is the youngest ever Monaco winner after an assured drive from pole. And Hamilton declared: “My old family have done it again. They’ve created an amazing car and Kimi is doing an amazing job, just delivering weekend in, weekend out.
“Kimi did a phenomenal job and I’m so grateful that I get to witness him in his moment. And this IS his moment. I’m grateful to be up there and to share and see that.”
But while the young man who inherited Hamilton’s Mercedes seat is flying high, the 41-year-old’s former team-mate is being cut adrift. For the second-straight Grand Prix, George Russell scored no points.
In Montreal two weeks ago it was an engine failure which left powerless. And Russell felt another issue beyond his control destroyed his race this time too as he blamed software for his pit lane speeding.
He said: “It’s two races in a row – I could have won the race last week, I could have maybe been P3-P4 today. It’s 40 points down the drain for things outside of my control.” Russell is now 68 behind Antonelli – not much less than three full Grand Prix victories’ worth of points.
Seven drivers retired, three of them through crashes, from a refreshingly gripping Monaco race. There’s often so little action on a Monte Carlo street circuit where passing is extremely difficult, but there was only one driver whose day was uneventful. That was Antonelli who made the most of the clean air he had, knuckling down to deliver again.
He said: “It was one of those days where we had incredible pace. It was just coming all so naturally. The car was feeling incredible and that was giving me the confidence to push. It was a very enjoyable day.”
George Russell was frustrated with another pointless Grand Prix result (Image: Getty)
It was a supreme victory, 12 months on from a chastening Monaco debut which ended with the teenager last of the 18 cars that took the chequered flag. That result was one in a string of disastrous performances as Mercedes’ new wunderkind buckled under the weight of expectation. But with a year’s experience under his belt he already looks so much more assured.
“I try to embrace the pressure as much as possible,” he said. “I don’t want to let it destroy me, like it did last year in the European season. I’ve tried to embrace the challenge and to enjoy it as much as possible without worrying about anything else other than just driving. It was a good test today, I’m happy I didn’t fail.”
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The locals were distraught to see home hero Charles Leclerc crash with 10 laps to go. Crumbling asphalt at the final corner seemed to play a part, though he insisted his “dangerously” inconsistent brakes were more to blame.
His current mood and that of Hamilton are night and day with the Brit flourishing under Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur. He said: “Fred has been awesome in supporting me. Last year I was begging him for certain changes and he pulled through. I’m now seeing the fruits of that, and I’m able to finally deliver.”