F1Weekly Podcast # 1151

ON TODAYS PROGRAM…

 

KIMI WINS 5 IN A ROW WITH A CHERIE ON TOP!

PIERRE GASLY ROBBED OF PODIUM

HADJAR KEEPS HIS PODIUM…

CADILLAC LOOSES FIRST POINTS TO PENALTY.

 

SINCE LECLERC GOT MARRIED HIS PERFORMANCE HAS DECLINED…SORRY CHARLIE!

SINCE GEORGE SIGNED HIS NEW CONTRACT AND GOT HIS FIRST PAYCHECK HIS PERFORMANCE HAS DECLINED!

 

THIS WEEK’S NASIR HAMEED CORNER WE HAVE: A MOMENT IN MOTORSPORTS HISTORY…AN INTERVIEW WITH BOBBY UNSER… SOME TRIVIA ON THE GRAND PRIX OF TURKEY AND TECH TALK WITH TIM!

LCH GETS INTRODUCED TO A LOS ANGELES LOW RIDER!!

Kimi Antonelli

It’s an incredible feeling to win in Monaco. It’s such a special weekend and one I’ll remember for a long time. Today was one of those days where everything just clicked; I had a lot of confidence in the car, felt strong throughout, and to bring the win home in a place like this makes it even more meaningful.

From a race perspective, there were definitely some key moments to manage. The starts are still an area we’re working on, but I’ve made good progress. My first one was solid, and although the second was a bit more challenging with the tyres, it’s positive to see improvement.

The red flag added a bit of stress, especially knowing the restart could change everything, but we handled it well. In the final laps, I really enjoyed myself out there, even though I still had to carefully manage the tyres. This track demands a lot of focus, you have to find the right balance between pushing and not making mistakes, and once you settle into that rhythm, everything starts to come together.

At the same time, I know there’s still a lot to learn and improve. I just want to keep pushing, keep building on this momentum, and most importantly, keep enjoying the journey. That’s what makes moments like this so rewarding.

ISACK HADJAR 
"It's been an outstanding result and weekend considering how it started in FP1! The race was difficult and I had to dig very deep. We got off to a clean start and were managing our race, and then within the first 10 to 15 laps I started having big drivability issues. If there's one track you don't want that, it's here, so that was incredibly challenging having to cover 60 laps. There was then uncertainty about what was going to happen with the red flag and you need to get your head back again in focus. Even towards the end, I was still lacking power on the restart. It really was the longest race of my life but now it's finished we got the podium. Whatever happens with the stewards, it's now completely out of my control. I celebrated and had my podium and I will always have that. My moment with the lads. Huge thank you to the Team, I trust these guys. Whatever happens, the emotions on the podium have already happened and I am proud of the Team."

MAX VERSTAPPEN - DNF
"We don't know what happened today but we think the issue was due to an engine problem. During the formation lap I could feel that something was off and the pre-start was terrible. There was no consistency and then, at the start, the engine just dropped out. I dropped the clutch and it went dead and had no power. When I got a bit more power back, unfortunately it was messed up so I had to bring it back slowly. It was such a shame for us as everything was going really well up to that point. We felt great in the car all weekend and to come out with no points and to finish the race like this when you do everything so well as a Team is of course disappointing."

George Russell

Firstly, congratulations to Kimi. He did an amazing job today and over the weekend and is a well-deserving winner. On my side, the race was very difficult. I had managed to get to P4 but the penalty for speeding in the pitlane is difficult to understand. I was under the limit but then that was compounded by us not serving the penalty at my second stop; that ultimately cost me a lot and left me with zero points again.

It’s tough to take but I’m not going to give up. Across the last two races, I’ve effectively lost around 40 points. It’s incredibly frustrating but the rest of the season can still look very different. We saw that last year and, in many seasons previous. It’s unfortunate how things have played out so far but I’m aiming to bounce back in Barcelona. I believe in myself and I know what I’m capable of.

LAURENT MEKIES - CEO & Team Principal
"Mixed emotions today, as Isack and the Team did a great job to get him to the podium, overcoming some technical issues on the car, but on the other side of the garage, we lost Max's car straightaway with an engine issue. It was hard to take as he had incredible pace all weekend. It's frustrating when you miss out on a big points score, but that's part of the game, and we can only apology to him. For Isack it was a very intense battle in the car considering the number of issues he had to deal with. It was also an intense battle for the team in the garage as they worked to keep his car alive to the finish. In that context, making it to the podium is a very strong result. The most important lesson we take away from Monaco is that the underlying performance of the car keeps improving."

Badoer earns maiden F3 victory in Monte Carlo.

Brando Badoer launched off the line and into the lead and didn’t look back, taking his first FIA Formula 3 victory for Rodin Motorsport. 

The Italian beat pole-sitter Théophile Nael off the line and on the run to Turn 1, with the Frenchman having to settle for second place at the chequered flag. Freddie Slater completed the podium for TRIDENT. 

AS IT HAPPENED 
Nael was immediately passed by Badoer while Slater took to the escape road at the opening corner and filtered in behind the top two up the hill, with the remainder of the top five staying as they were on the grid. 

Van Amersfoort Racing’s Bruno del Pino was able to make up a place, getting ahead of MP Motorsport’s Alessandro Giusti for P6 at Turn 1, but for the Frenchman’s teammate, his race was over soon after. Tuukka Taponen found the barriers at the penultimate corner after an attempted pass by Maciej Gladysz left the Finn nowhere to go. That incident brought out the Safety Car on Lap 2. 

With the MP cleared, racing resumed going onto Lap 5, with Badoer able to gap Nael comfortably, with the Frenchman under attack from Slater on the run to Turn 3. By Lap 10, Badoer had escaped out of DRS range to the Campos driver behind, while Slater, Ugo Ugochukwu and Ernesto Rivera remained within a second of the car ahead. 

Drivers inside the top 10 began to back off on some laps in order to generate enough space to attempt a fastest lap for the additional point. Slater was very happy with the balance of his TRIDENT, praising the car over team radio. Lap 18 and Badoer looked unflappable out front, now two seconds clear of the field. 

Further back in the pack, Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi was coming under serious pressure from Enzo Deligny in the fight for P15. The Thai driver had to defend into Turn 1 on Lap 21, and later missed the Turn 10-11 chicane, skipping across the run-off as the Frenchman behind turned the screw. 

Nael spent the final five laps closing the gap to the leader back down to under a second, but the Rodin driver would not be denied, earning his first win in the Championship around the Principality. Slater completed the podium behind Nael while Ugochukwu and Rivera ensured all three Campos’ were in the top five. 

Bruno del Pino finished sixth for Van Amersfoort, followed by Giusti in P7, Pedro Clerot in eighth, Sprint Race winner Gerrard Xie in P9 and Noah Stromsted completing the points in 10th. 

KEY QUOTE – Brando Badoer, Rodin Motorsport 
“I was studying the start all evening with the guys yesterday and I executed it perfectly. I jumped to P1 at Turn 1 and then led the 27 laps. It was a very long race, I was hoping it ended a bit earlier and it felt long in the car, but winning in Monaco is one of my dreams come true! Really happy with the team and my performance. Thanks to everyone.” 

THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS 
Ugo Ugochukwu retains the lead of the Drivers’ Championship going onto 43 points. Bruno del Pino is P2 on 35, just a single point ahead of Freddie Slater in third. Brando Badoer’s win moves him up to P4 on 28 points, while Théophile Nael rounds out the top five drivers with 22 points. 

Campos Racing extend their advantage at the top of the Teams’ Standings, moving onto 75 points. Van Amersfoort Racing are P2 with 47, while Rodin Motorsport jumps TRIDENT into third place, 44 points to 43. ART Grand Prix complete the top five with 31 points. 

León dominates in lights-to-flag victory in Monte Carlo F2.

Noel León led every lap of the Monte Carlo Sprint Race on his way to claiming a dominant second victory of the season. Starting from pole, the Campos Racing driver managed the race expertly before going on to win by over three seconds. DAMS Lucas Oil driver Roman Bilinski achieved his maiden F2 podium in P2 ahead of MP Motorsport’s Gabriele Minì in third. 

AS IT HAPPENED 
It was a good start from León, who kept the lead ahead of Bilinski, while Minì kept P3 ahead of Joshua Duerksen. In the battle for P11 Ritomo Miyata and Oliver Goethe went wheel-to-wheel through the hairpin and Mirabeau. However, they made slight contact which caused the MP Motorsport driver to pit, dropping him to the back of the field. 

Out in front, León was struggling to pull away from Bilinski with the DAMS driver consistently within DRS range of the Mexican during the opening laps. The top four drivers of León, Bilinski, Minì and Duerksen were pulling away from the rest of the field, and by Lap 5 just two seconds separated the quartet. 

Down the field, Laurens van Hoepen, who started in P21 was up to 15th by Lap 8. However, the TRIDENT driver’s charge was halted when he was given a 10-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage at the start. On to Lap 11 of 30, the drivers entered management mode, but the top four were still close, and were covered by 2.7s. 

As the race reached the halfway point, Dino Beganovic had closed the gap to Duerksen and was now within DRS range of the Invicta Racing driver. Miyata, who had been running with a broken front wing since his contact with Goethe on the opening lap, was looking to make a move past Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak at Tabac, but found the door closed on Lap 17. 

By the next lap the top two of León and Bilinski had pulled a three-second gap to Minì, as they continued to battle for the lead. The Italian driver was now running on his own having built a 2.3s gap to Duerksen in P4, with Beganovic right on the back of the Invicta driver on Lap 20. 

Miyata’s pressure on Inthraphuvasak finally paid off on Lap 22 as he dived to the inside of the ART Grand Prix driver on the run to Tabac. On the next lap, the Hitech driver was putting pressure on Nikola Tsolov for P10, while behind them, Mari Boya went around the outside of van Hoepen at the hairpin for P15. 

With five laps to go, Inthraphuvasak retired to the pitlane with an issue. At the front of the field, León was now 2.4s ahead of Bilinski with Minì having closed the gap on the Polish rookie, just over a second away on Lap 27. The Campos driver continued to pull away and by the start of the final lap he was over three seconds clear of the rest of the field and would go on to win for the second time this season. 

Bilinski held off Minì’s charge to take his maiden podium, with Duerksen in P4 ahead of Beganovic. Stenshorne finished sixth ahead of Kush Maini, as Rafael Câmara rounded out the points in eighth. 

KEY QUOTE – Noel León, Campos Racing 
“Feels great to win in Monaco, my second win in a row on a weekend and in a Sprint. I feel very happy to be honest. Yesterday we missed a bit, we missed pole, but luckily it put me in a position to start on the front row today, to get the 10 points, and for the championship it is great. I have a great opportunity tomorrow to score again good points, that’s the goal for this weekend and I am very happy that every weekend we are stronger and stronger and qualifying is going to get there at some points, so very happy.” 

THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS 
Gabriele Minì continues to lead the Drivers’ Championship with 63 points, while Noel León has jumped up second, 20 points adrift of his rival. Martinius Stenshorne is third on 38 points, with Rafael Câmara a further point in fourth, as Nikola Tsolov rounds out the top five with 36. 

In the Teams’ Standings, Campos Racing have taken over at the top with 79 points, while MP Motorsport slip to second with 75. Rodin Motorsport are third with 68 points, with Invicta Racing a further 10 points behind in fourth, as DAMS Lucas Oil sit fifth on 38. 

UP NEXT 
The drivers have one more chance to hit the jackpot in Monte Carlo with Sunday’s Feature Race set to start at 09:25 local time. 

2026 FIA Formula 2 - Monte Carlo -  Provisional Classification, Sprint Race

|		|	DRIVER	|	LICENCE	|	TEAM	|
|	1	|	Noel Leon	|	MEX	|	Campos Racing	|
|	2	|	Roman Bilinski	|	POL	|	DAMS Lucas Oil	|
|	3	|	Gabriele Mini	|	ITA	|	MP Motorsport	|
|	4	|	Joshua Durksen	|	PAR	|	Invicta Racing	|
|	5	|	Dino Beganovic	|	SWE	|	DAMS Lucas Oil	|
|	6	|	Martinius Stenshorne	|	NOR	|	Rodin Motorsport	|
|	7	|	Kush Maini	|	IND	|	ART Grand Prix	|
|	8	|	Rafael Camara	|	BRA	|	Invicta Racing	|
|	9	|	Alexander Dunne	|	IRL	|	Rodin Motorsport	|
|	10	|	Nikola Tsolov	|	BUL	|	Campos Racing	|
|	11	|	Ritomo Miyata	|	JPN	|	Hitech	|
|	12	|	Nico Varrone	|	ARG	|	Van Amersfoort Racing	|
|	13	|	Sebastian Montoya	|	COL	|	PREMA Racing	|
|	14	|	Mari Boya	|	ESP	|	PREMA Racing	|
|	15	|	Colton Herta	|	USA	|	Hitech	|
|	16	|	Rafael Villagomez	|	MEX	|	Van Amersfoort Racing	|
|	17	|	Emerson Fittipaldi	|	BRA	|	AIX Racing	|
|	18	|	Cian Shields	|	GBR	|	AIX Racing	|
|	19	|	Laurens van Hoepen	|	NED	|	TRIDENT	|
|	20	|	John Bennett	|	GBR	|	TRIDENT	|
NOT CLASSIFIED
|	DNF	|	Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak	|	THA	|	ART Grand Prix	|
|	DNF	|	Oliver Goethe	|	GER	|	MP Motorsport	|
OVERALL FASTEST LAP
|		|	Nikola Tsolov	|	BUL	|	Campos Racing	|
							1:22.100 (Lap 23)
OVERALL FASTEST LAP FOR POINTS
|		|	Nikola Tsolov	|	BUL	|	Campos Racing	|
							1:22.100 (Lap 23)

 

FIA Pit lane speed trap Monaco