Kimi Antonelli wins delayed Monaco Grand Prix to extend his victory streak and F1 lead

MONACO (AP) — Kimi Antonelli is writing his place in Formula 1 history at record speed.

“You're catching me up,” Lewis Hamilton, who has the most wins in history with 105, told Antonelli after the 19-year-old Italian beat him in a bizarre and much-delayed Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday.

Antonelli replaced Hamilton at Mercedes last year, and only won his first race in March. He now has five wins in a row and a vast lead of 66 points over Hamilton, who was second Sunday.

“He’s only 19, so just imagine what the future holds for him, but I’m going to do my best to try and chase him down for the rest of the year,” Hamilton said. “It’s a real privilege to witness it.”

Antonelli said he needed to find his focus again but stayed cool when the race was stopped and briefly seemed set to be abandoned before a restart. All that on a tight, twisty circuit threaded between metal barriers where any slip brings a crash.

Antonelli was on course for victory with 10 laps remaining when the race was red-flagged after parts of the asphalt broke away and two cars crashed in quick succession, one of them Charles Leclerc in third place.

After a long delay, officials said the race would be resumed from a standing start. When that happened, Antonelli took control again to become the youngest F1 winner in Monaco, and was never in real danger of being overtaken.

“Thank you so much guys, the car was a beast today," he told the Mercedes team.

Isack Hadjar was confirmed third for Red Bull after battling engine problems and seeing off an investigation.

Antonelli’s Mercedes teammate George Russell missed the points for the second race running, dropping out of the top 10 with a penalty. That followed an engine failure while battling Antonelli for the lead of last month’s Canadian Grand Prix.

Russell said Thursday the title was Antonelli's “to lose.” Now it certainly seems that way.

Max Verstappen started second for Red Bull but lost power at the start and dropped to the back before retiring the car at the end of the first lap. Like many F1 drivers, the four-time champion lives in Monaco and suggested he’d watch the rest of the race from home.

Hamilton was in jubilant mood after placing second, with Kim Kardashian watching. The seven-time champion paid tribute to Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur for his role in turning around Hamilton and the team’s fortunes.

“Fred has been awesome in supporting me. I think last year was really tough for both of us,” said Hamilton, adding that he was “seeing the fruits” of changes which Vasseur implemented. Hamilton wasn't on the podium in any Grand Prix in all of 2025 in his first year with the team.

Vasseur was back at the track with Ferrari on Sunday after he missed Saturday’s qualifying session. The team said he had been under observation at a medical facility, without giving any further details of his condition.

The track damage put a decidedly un-glamorous twist on one of F1’s most prestigious races as drivers waited in the pit lane, officials gazed at the damaged asphalt and a road-sweeping machine inched along the circuit clearing away loose stones. Antonelli admitted he'd been hoping the race wouldn't be restarted at all.

There was more confusion as numerous drivers received time penalties or were under investigation, meaning the final standings remained uncertain.

Hadjar was facing an investigation after the race for a potential breach of red-flag rules after the FIA's technical delegate said Red Bull had tried to replace engine parts, against the rules, but stopped when challenged.

Hadjar kept the place, his first podium finish since joining Red Bull, after a hearing decided no penalty was needed because no changes were actually made.

Russell had been second in the standings before the race — the position is Hamilton's now. Russell crossed the line 13th, later upgraded to 12th, after a hefty penalty for failing to serve an earlier penalty properly. He said he didn't understand what happened.

New team Cadillac could have had its first F1 point when Sergio Perez crossed the line 10th, but lost it for a false start at the restart. That put Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso up to 10th for his team's first point of a year which it started with severe reliability problems.

More disputes were to come Sunday evening as Alpine said it was challenging the spate of penalties issued for pit lane speeding, one of which cost Gasly third. That is under the “right of review” system under which decisions typically take days.

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Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli, of Italy, celebrates on the podium after winning the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix race at the Monaco racetrack, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli, of Italy, reacts after winning the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix race at the Monaco racetrack, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli, of Italy, stands at the pit after the red flag during the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix race at the Monaco racetrack, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (Yves Herman, Pool Photo via AP)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, of the Netherlands, reacts at the pit during the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix race at the Monaco racetrack, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (Yves Herman, Pool Photo via AP)

Italy's Andrea Kimi Antonelli steers his Mercedes as he leads during the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix race at the Monaco racetrack, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Italy's Andrea Kimi Antonelli steers his Mercedes during the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix race at the Monaco racetrack, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)

Williams driver Carlos Sainz of Spain during the third free practice for the Monaco F1 Grand Prix, at the Monaco racetrack, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain smiles after the qualifying session for the Monaco F1 Grand Prix, at the Monaco racetrack, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands smiles after the qualifying session for the Monaco F1 Grand Prix, at the Monaco racetrack, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy steers his car during the qualifying session for the Monaco F1 Grand Prix, at the Monaco racetrack, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)

Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy celebrates after setting the pole position during the qualifying session for the Monaco F1 Grand Prix, at the Monaco racetrack, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to keep one of its largest and most expensive detention facilities open for at least another year despite calls to close it over reported human rights abuses, according to a notice published last week.

ICE plans to extend the no-bid contract of the firm that runs Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas, through Sept. 30, 2027, at a potential additional cost to taxpayers of $776 million, the notice says. This is on top of a $452 million initial contract that the firm, Amentum Services Inc., was awarded in March when it was hastily installed to take over the camp’s operation from a contractor removed for poor performance.

For months, Democratic members of Congress and several advocacy organizations have called for Camp East Montana to be closed, citing reports that detainees have been routinely mistreated since its opening in August 2025.

A report released earlier this month by Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union alleged that staff routinely beat detainees, denied them medical care, made them live in filthy conditions and fed them inedible meals. Reports by federal agencies have also found unsafe detention conditions and that the Army and ICE have wasted millions of dollars paying for unnecessary services. At least three Camp East Montana detainees have died.

The facility at Fort Bliss, an Army base near the U.S.-Mexico border, has housed an average of more than 2,000 male and female detainees a day since Oct. 1, though its population has declined significantly in recent months, according to ICE data.

“Extending Amentum’s contract while ignoring well-documented abuses is reckless and demonstrates the Trump administration’s full-scale assault on human rights,” said Angélica César, a fellow at Human Rights Watch and the ACLU who was a lead researcher for the report. “Instead of holding private contractors accountable, DHS is choosing to perpetuate a system of harm and abuse.”

Chanel Mann, a spokesperson for Amentum, referred questions to ICE and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, which didn’t immediately return messages seeking comment.

ICE's notice was a justification for extending Amentum Services’ contract for a year without a competitive bidding process.

The agency argued that relocating detainees to other facilities would be “impracticable” due to a lack of available bed space elsewhere. Transitioning to a different contractor would require replacing Amentum’s “proprietary infrastructure” and finding new workers, which would lead to duplicative costs, it said.

“Any lapse in contract coverage would directly threaten the life, safety, and well-being of detainees, severely disrupt law enforcement operations, and expose the government to substantial operational, legal, and humanitarian risks,” the notice says.

ICE's notice said the Army's initial contract, awarded to Acquisition Logistics LLC, “did not accurately reflect ICE's operational needs or the actual usage of the facility.” Acquisition Logistics had no prior experience operating detention facilities.

In all, Virginia-based Amentum stands to be paid more than $1.2 billion if it operates the camp from March 2026 through September 2027, the notice says.

FILE - A sign marks the entrance to a series of hardened tents at the Camp East Montana immigrant detention center in the desert at a U.S. Army base on the outskirts of El Paso, Texas, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee, File)