Antonelli says title job is not finished after Monaco win

Kimi Antonelli left Monaco with the sort of cushion that can reshape a championship, but he also left with a warning for anyone ready to crown him early. After converting pole position into victory on the streets of Monte Carlo, the Mercedes driver said, “The job’s not finished,” underscoring that six races into the season, the real test is still ahead.

Antonelli arrived in Monaco holding a 43-point lead over George Russell, then stretched it to 66 points after a race that was anything but tidy. Charles Leclerc’s crash brought out a red flag, the field faced multiple retirements and penalties, and the race restarted for the final 10 laps. Antonelli handled the pressure from the front and kept Mercedes on top in a championship fight that has quickly turned into a referendum on whether a teenage phenom can sustain this level once the calendar stops being forgiving.

The Monaco result was only the latest step in a startling rise. On March 29, Antonelli won the Japanese Grand Prix and became the youngest-ever championship leader in Formula 1 history, adding that victory to back-to-back wins in China and Japan. He then made it three straight Grand Prix wins in Miami on May 4, where he said his starts still needed work and called them “not acceptable.” He also pointed to clutch-drop consistency as a specific area that had to improve after losing places off the line in several races.

That self-criticism has become part of the story around him. Ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, Antonelli said keeping the run alive was “the question mark, even for myself.” Toto Wolff has said Antonelli’s confidence is growing after a harsh rookie season in 2025, when he went through a spell of nine races without scoring a point and faced doubts over whether Mercedes had promoted him too early. Wolff said there were “so many doubters,” but Mercedes stayed with the development plan.

Antonelli has said the difficult patches made him stronger, and his latest win suggested that Mercedes’ patience has bought more than just speed. It has produced a leader who is still measuring himself against the demands of a full season, even while he sits 66 points clear.