Mercedes in turmoil at Monaco circuit: Kimi Antonelli criticizes strategy. Mercedes falters in Monaco with a puzzling strategy that frustrates both drivers.

At the Monaco circuit, qualifying is virtually more important than the race itself. In that regard, expectations were already low for the Silver Arrows since George Russell and Kimi Antonelli qualified only P14 and P15 respectively.

And yet, there was still the sense that the Brackley team could pull a rabbit out of the hat—but that never happened. After starting on the hard tyre, both drivers were condemned to a nightmare race stuck behind the Williams cars, which were using team tactics to chase points.

While other teams alternated between their first and second pit stops, Mercedes kept both cars out for an extended stint, suggesting they were preparing a strategic masterstroke. But the reality looked more like confusion, as both Russell first and Antonelli later ended up cutting the Port Chicane just to finally get past another car.

As a result, the British driver received a drive-through penalty—one he later said he did not regret. The Italian, on the other hand, immediately gave the position back, but by then his race was already compromised. He then slowed down the group to help his teammate finish at least in P11.

For his part, the 2006-born driver ended the frustrating Monaco GP in P18, last among the classified finishers due to the DNFs of Alonso and Gasly. “I’m disappointed with today’s result, but in the end it wasn’t a surprise, given where I qualified yesterday,” said Antonelli. “It wasn’t the most exciting race we’ve done. And the strategy didn’t work in our favour.”

The Mercedes driver did, however, provide the only overtake of the race—on Gabriel Bortoleto, who crashed into the wall before the tunnel. “I tried to be aggressive at the start to gain as many positions as possible,” he said.

“I attacked Gabriel Bortoleto before the tunnel, I had the pace and went for it, gaining a place. After that, we tried to play the long game, but other midfield teams like RB and Williams were doing their own race and we ended up stuck in a DRS train. We were behind the pace we actually had and had no chance to overtake.”

“Despite the disappointing result, Monaco was another learning weekend for me. I struggled a lot with the C6 tyres, like in Imola, and had trouble in qualifying. Now I’m happy to head to Barcelona, where we’ll use the harder compounds I know well,” Kimi Antonelli concluded at the end of the Monaco Grand Prix.