Charles Leclerc can celebrate Ferrari extension by ending Antonelli’s winning run

Monaco’s local hero Charles Leclerc will hope to celebrate his new Ferrari deal on home territory this weekend by ending the Italian team’s long winless wait and denying Mercedes teenager Kimi Antonelli a fifth successive victory.

The first race of the European season, after long-haul trips to Asia and North America, offers Ferrari a real chance of ending Mercedes’ run of dominance and taking their first grand prix triumph since 2024.

“I think Ferrari is going to be the team to beat in Monaco and it’s going to be very interesting how we do there,” Antonelli, 19, said after winning in Montreal last month.

The Italian prodigy, Formula One’s youngest ever championship leader, has finished first in the last four races and is 43 points clear of teammate George Russell.

But Leclerc has a special affinity with streets he has known since boyhood, watching in awe as Ferrari great Michael Schumacher skimmed the unforgiving metal barriers and roared past the moored super-yachts and shimmering sea.

The 28-year-old has been on pole position three times in the last five years, won in 2024 and was second last year — decisively casting off talk of a Monaco ‘jinx’ resulting from earlier misfortunes in his career — and is the 7/4 betting favourite.

Teammate and seven-times champion Lewis Hamilton is a three-times winner in Monaco, a double pole-sitter, and will also want in on the action after finishing second last month in Canada — his best result since joining Ferrari last year.

Playing to the car’s strengths

Monaco should play to Ferrari’s strengths and mask the weaknesses, with the car strong in corners and well-suited to a slow track where Saturday qualifying is key, grid position crucial and overtaking always tricky.

With few real straights and plenty of turns and twists, top speed and engine performance matter less in Monaco than elsewhere. Ferrari have also stood out this season for rapid getaways at the start.

McLaren, who made their Formula One debut in Monaco 60 years ago, are hoping to celebrate their 1,000th race start — a milestone so far achieved only by Ferrari — with a win.

Red Bull’s four-times world champion Max Verstappen can never be ruled out, and his 2021 win remains the fastest yet in Monaco with an average speed of 157.833kph, while Russell will be hoping his luck will turn after a series of misfortunes including an engine failure in Canada.

Monaco, still a glamour highlight of the calendar however anachronistic it may be for some, kicks off a gruelling run of six races in eight weeks.

This year’s cars are lighter, narrower and more nimble which could also liven up the racing, even if there are also more cars on track this year with the arrival of Cadillac as 11th team.

The General Motors-backed team will be making their Monaco debut and so too will sole rookie Arvid Lindblad at Red Bull-owned Racing Bulls, although he is no stranger to the layout from racing in junior series.

A mandatory two-pitstop rule that was in force last year, and was widely panned afterwards, has been ditched and the race is likely to be a one-stop for most.

Formula One statistics for the Monaco Grand Prix, round six of the championship:

Lap distance: 3.337km. Total distance: 260.286km (78 laps)

2025 pole position: Lando Norris (Britain) McLaren one minute 09.954 seconds

2025 winner: Norris

Race lap record: Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 1:12.909, 2021

Start time: 01:00 (Monday NZ time) (1500 local)

Monaco

Leclerc is the only Monegasque to win in Monaco since the championship started in 1950.

The shortest and slowest track on the calendar is also the one with most laps. Only 34 percent of the lap is at full throttle and the 180-degree turn six hairpin is the slowest corner of the year, with cars taking it at 45kph.

This year’s race is the 72nd edition in championship history and 83rd since the first Monaco grand prix in 1929.

The late triple world champion Ayrton Senna won a record six times, including five in a row with McLaren between 1989 and 1993.

A safety car deployment is highly likely. McLaren are the most successful team in Monaco, with 16 wins since their debut in 1966. Ferrari have 11, one of them a non-championship race (1952).

In 1996, Frenchman Olivier Panis won from 14th on the grid — the lowest winning start position to date in Monaco. Since 1950, only 10 times has the race been won by a driver starting lower than third.

Six past Monaco winners will be racing on Sunday: Fernando Alonso (2006, 2007), Hamilton (2008, 2016, 2019), Max Verstappen (2021, 2023), Sergio Perez (2022), Leclerc (2024), Norris (2025).

The race has had eight different winners in the last 10 years. The last three have all been won from pole.

Leclerc has been on pole three times in the last five years — in 2021, 2022 and 2024. There was no race in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Seven British drivers have won since 1950, more than any other country.

Championship

Kimi Antonelli leads Mercedes teammate George Russell by 43 points in the championship and is chasing his fifth win in a row. Russell won in Australia, Antonelli in China, Japan, Miami and Canada.

Mercedes are 72 points clear of Ferrari in the constructors’ standings, with champions McLaren third and 86 off the lead.

Race wins

Mercedes have won all five grands prix this season. The team won the first six races in 2019, when they started the campaign with eight victories in a row. They have not won in Monaco since 2019, however.

Hamilton has a record 105 career victories from 385 starts, his most recent with Mercedes in Belgium in 2024, but has yet to win for Ferrari.

Verstappen has won 71 grands prix and is third on the all-time list after Schumacher on 91.

The last Italian driver to win five in a row was Alberto Ascari in 1952.

Pole position

Hamilton has a record 104 career poles, his most recent in Hungary in 2023.

Mercedes have been on pole in every grand prix this season - Russell in Australia and Canada, Antonelli in China, Japan and Miami.

Milestones

Champions McLaren are celebrating their 1000th grand prix start, only the second team after Ferrari to reach that number. They will have a special livery and overalls.

F1 newcomers Cadillac will be racing for the first time in Europe.

-Reuters