Formula One's teenage sensation Kimi Antonelli won the Monaco Grand Prix in the glitz and glamour of Monte Carlo, tightening his grip on the Drivers' Championship. The victory was his fifth Grand Prix win in a row, a remarkable run for the young Italian.
He had set himself up perfectly the day before. Antonelli claimed pole position, his fourth of the season, in a gripping qualifying tussle in Monte Carlo where the top spot changed hands three times in the closing seconds, with the Italian pipping the four-time world champion Max Verstappen by a fraction of a second.
The race then turned in his favour almost immediately. When the lights went out, every car flew by Verstappen, who retired on the opening lap. With his main rival for the race out of the picture, Antonelli charged clear at the front.
His lead over Lewis Hamilton was looking insurmountable when the drama arrived. Lance Stroll and then Charles Leclerc crashed in the same place, where the track surface was breaking up, and the race had to be suspended while the loose surface was swept away.
The interruption did little to change the outcome. Antonelli roared away again on the restart and finished ahead of Hamilton, beating the seven-time world champion for the second race in a row.
That result reshapes the title picture. Hamilton came home second and is now Antonelli's nearest rival in the Drivers' Championship, trailing the leader as the season rolls on.
There is an extra layer of significance to the win. Every driver who has won five Grands Prix in a row has gone on to become world champion. Antonelli, for his part, said the pace had been incredible and the car had felt incredible, describing a massively challenging day for which he was grateful to his team.