George Russell was left bewildered by his pace deficit to Formula 1 title rival and team-mate Kimi Antonelli who took pole for the Monaco Grand Prix.

The 19-year-old set a 1m12.051s to beat runner-up Max Verstappen by just 0.043s to the top spot, while Russell struggled down in sixth, three tenths off the pace in another blow to his title hopes.

Russell is 43 points behind leader Antonelli despite being the heavy favourite pre-season, which he backed up by winning the Melbourne opener from pole in a Mercedes 1-2.

But all four grands prix since have been won by Antonelli, who looks set to make it five considering how few overtaking opportunities there are around Monaco.

“I don’t really know what’s going on to be honest,” said Russell. “It’s clearly something with my driving that’s not helping the car at the moment.

“But that was there at the start of the year as well and every lap I did it was… If I look at Melbourne and at least China until I have my issues, it was P1 every single session.

“Every lap I did was good. The last three races have just been nowhere. Even Canada, I was nowhere until the last lap of Q3 in both sessions. So I don’t have an answer for that.”

George Russell, Mercedes

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

Mercedes has dominated the 2026 regulation change as expected and considering Russell’s strong race-winning 2025 compared to Antonelli’s up-and-down rookie campaign, the Briton was expected to charge towards his maiden title.

But after Melbourne, he suffered a mechanical issue in Shanghai Q3 that paved the way for Antonelli to win from pole, before the Italian profited from a safety car in Japan to claim another victory.

Antonelli was superior throughout Miami, a so-called ‘bogey track’ for his team-mate, before winning in Canada after Russell retired from the lead following his sprint victory.

So, Russell seemingly cannot catch a break, particularly when his last podium came in China, and he thinks his smoother driving style doesn’t suit the nimbler 2026 cars.

That is compared to Antonelli, who is extremely quick and on the limit, which very much served him well around the principality’s street track.

Russell added: “I think there’s clearly a difference in driving style between the two of us, which has been there last year as well.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

“But played into my hands very well last year and it clearly is playing into his hands perfectly well this year, but it still doesn’t answer why I was so good at the start of the year and so poor now.

“So, we need to look at why that is. It’s clear in the data. The difference is how we’re driving has such an impact on the tyres. He’s just getting the tyres in a nicer window than me.

“A nicer balance over the course of a lap and the pace is just coming easier for him. So yeah, I don’t know why that is.”

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Formula 1 world championship leader Kimi Antonelli has taken a sensational pole for the Monaco Grand Prix after pipping Max Verstappen.

The Mercedes driver set a 1m12.375s which was just 0.043s quicker than Verstappen for his fourth pole in five grands prix while Ferrari struggled.

That was despite the Scuderia dominating Friday practice with a 1-2 in both outings, but Saturday saw championship leader Mercedes bounce back as Antonelli topped FP3.

The 19-year-old then took provisional pole with a 1m12.375s on his first Q3 lap, putting him just 0.001s ahead of Verstappen who had Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton 0.177s behind in third.

On the back foot was Hamilton’s team-mate Charles Leclerc, who aborted his opening tour after almost hitting the barriers at Massenet so he quickly came out for a second lap.

The Monegasque backed off on that one too, so Leclerc went for a third push lap, where there was minimal traffic, and he managed to beat Antonelli’s initial time by only 0.024s.

That was with still one minute remaining though, so others weren’t finished and first to jump ahead was Verstappen with a 1m12.094s, just before Hamilton went 0.185s slower into second place.

Then came Antonelli with a 1m12.051s to take pole ahead of Verstappen and Hamilton, who will share the second row alongside Leclerc who hit the barriers in the final sector at the end.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images

Fifth went to Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Isack Hadjar with a 1m12.434s, while it was another disappointing day for Antonelli’s stablemate George Russell in sixth.

The Mercedes driver was 0.394s off the pace ahead of an all-McLaren fourth row with Oscar Piastri seventh and Lando Norris eighth, while ninth went to Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson took 10th.

It was a close scrap to reach Q3 as just two thousandths of a second separated Gasly in 10th and 11th-placed Alex Albon, who will share the sixth row with Williams team-mate Carlos Sainz.

That marked only the second time the Grove outfit had both cars reach Q2 this season after Miami. In Monaco 13th went to Audi driver Nico Hulkenberg, who is set to be joined on the seventh row by Gasly’s team-mate Franco Colapinto, while Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad took 15th. 

Although Gabriel Bortoleto progressed to Q2, he was unable to set a lap in the second outing so he has claimed 16th for Sunday’s grid following his crash at Nouvelle Chicane late in Q1. The Audi driver was having a strong weekend up to then, but the sophomore clipped the inside barrier upon entry and caused a red flag with approximately two minutes left in the session.

So that caused a chaotic end to Q1, topped by Leclerc, where Sainz managed to vault his Williams out of the elimination zone and push Esteban Ocon into 17th and out.

That was part of a shock double Q1 exit for Haas with Oliver Bearman in 19th, but outside of that the usual suspects were eliminated early with Cadillac’s Sergio Perez splitting the Haas’.

In 20th was his team-mate Valtteri Bottas ahead of an all Aston Martin back row with Fernando Alonso in 21st and Lance Stroll occupying 22nd.

F1 Monaco GP – Qualifying results

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