Kimi Antonelli Rebut Posisi Start Terdepan Grand Prix Monako 2026

Pembalap Mercedes Kimi Antonelli sukses mengamankan posisi start terdepan dalam sesi kualifikasi Formula 1 Grand Prix Monako di Circuit de Monaco pada Sabtu, 6 Juni 2026, setelah mencatatkan waktu tercepat 1 menit 12,051 detik.

Dilansir dari theguardian.com, pembalap berumur 19 tahun tersebut mengungguli pembalap Red Bull Racing, Max Verstappen, dengan selisih sangat tipis yaitu 0,043 detik, sementara posisi ketiga ditempati oleh pembalap Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton.

Keberhasilan ini menjadi pole position keempat bagi Antonelli dari enam balapan musim 2026, sekaligus mengukuhkan posisinya di puncak klasemen sementara dengan keunggulan 43 poin dari rekan setimnya, George Russell, yang harus puas kualifikasi di tempat keenam.

Sesi Q3 berjalan sangat menegangkan ketika Oscar Piastri dan Lando Norris dari McLaren sempat memimpin sebelum dilewati Hamilton, lalu Antonelli mengambil alih posisi puncak dengan 1 menit 12,375 detik, disusul Verstappen yang hanya terpaut 0,001 detik di belakangnya.

Charles Leclerc dari Ferrari sempat membangkitkan sorak penonton tuan rumah setelah mencatat waktu 1 menit 12,351 detik untuk merebut pole sementara, namun Verstappen segera mematahkan catatan tersebut sebelum akhirnya Antonelli merebut posisi pertama pada detik-detik terakhir.

Pirelli menyatakan bahwa strategi tercepat untuk balapan di Monako adalah menggunakan ban soft di awal kemudian beralih ke ban hard dalam balapan yang diprediksi satu kali pit stop karena sulitnya menyalip di sirkuit ini, seperti dilaporkan bbc.com.

Berdasarkan data historis bbc.com, terdapat peluang sebesar 72 persen bagi munculnya safety car dalam balapan ini, yang dapat dimanfaatkan oleh para pembalap untuk melakukan pit stop dini jika terjadi insiden di awal laga.

Tim Mercedes berhasil bangkit setelah sempat kesulitan pada hari Jumat setelah para insinyur bekerja semalaman menggunakan simulator untuk menemukan stabilitas serta prediksi kendali mobil yang lebih baik.

"Pole position in Monaco is an incredible result. The team did an amazing job to get the car in a good place, particularly with the improvements we made overnight after a difficult Friday. It was such a tight fight out there with so many other cars and drivers that looked capable of taking P1. I am delighted to come away with pole therefore and I’m already looking forward to tomorrow. Qualifying wasn’t completely straightforward at the start. The car felt a bit on edge but as the session went on, everything started to come together. We made the right adjustments, and I felt much more comfortable with where the car was by the time we got to Q3. That gave me the confidence to really push when it mattered. That final segment of the session was extremely tense and you never quite know what to expect. Finding those last few tenths is never easy, especially with Max (Verstappen) so close all the way through. It really came down to nailing the lap at the right moment and I’m very pleased we were able to do that. To be on pole here means a lot, but at the same time, it’s only the first step. I know who’s around me on the grid, and I’m sure they’ll be putting on the pressure from the very start. The focus now is on getting a strong launch and managing the race from there. We’ve shown good pace all weekend, which gives me confidence, but Monaco is always unpredictable. I’ll try to stay calm, make the most of the opportunity, and see what we can achieve tomorrow." kata Kimi Antonelli, Pembalap Mercedes.

Antonelli juga membagikan perasaannya yang sangat menegangkan saat harus bersaing ketat untuk memangkas waktu di tengah kepungan para pembalap juara dunia dari tim rival.

"Kind of shaking, to be fair. It’s just super-intense, You have no margin of mistake and when it’s about polishing those last two, three tenths, it’s never easy. Especially when Max is so close and also the Ferrari. Lewis has been so strong the whole weekend, that is not easy." tambah Kimi Antonelli, Pembalap Mercedes.

Di sisi lain, George Russell mengalami akhir pekan yang berat karena tidak mampu mendapatkan daya cengkeram ban yang optimal pada mobilnya sehingga tertinggal hampir 0,4 detik dari rekan setimnya.

"This has been a very challenging weekend for me so far and that continued into qualifying. It has been a bit of a weakness of mine recently and unfortunately it didn’t click this weekend. There were a few good laps across the hour, and FP3 had been promising, but those moments were too few and far between. You need full confidence in the grip level you are getting, particularly around here, and I didn’t quite have that. It’s been a frustrating run for me recently and I need to understand why I am struggling to get the tyres working in the way they need to be. Clearly something in my driving style isn’t helping deliver what I need to; it worked well last year but these new generations of car may need something slightly different. I don’t have a clear answer just yet but will work hard with the team to get on top of it. Looking ahead to tomorrow, it could be a long afternoon starting from P6. That said, it’s Monaco and anything can happen so we will stay optimistic and see what we can do." kata George Russell, Pembalap Mercedes.

Pesaing terdekatnya, Max Verstappen, memberikan pujian yang tinggi atas bakat dan performa impresif yang ditunjukkan oleh pembalap muda asal Italia tersebut sepanjang musim ini.

"Yeah, for sure, You see a few guys grow up from younger categories that have something special and when they switch categories they’re immediately quick. That was quite clear with Kimi. When you get to Formula One, sometimes it’s not only talent, things have to come together, you need to become a more all-round driver and then, of course, you need to have the package to be able to do it. This year he’s showing that once he has a package that can do it, he’s delivering as a driver." ujar Max Verstappen, Pembalap Red Bull Racing.

Sementara itu, tim McLaren yang sedang merayakan keikutsertaan mereka dalam Grand Prix yang ke-1.000 merasa kecewa karena gagal menempatkan pembalapnya di tiga baris terdepan setelah Oscar Piastri dan Lando Norris hanya mengamankan posisi ketujuh dan kedelapan.

"We were expecting the overall competitiveness to be difficult at this circuit, for two main technical factors, We know that from a chassis point of view, we lack grip overall, and we have a clear objective in terms of improving the grip and, in particular, the aerodynamic load. The second technical factor is that the MCL40, partly by design, and partly because we want to improve this factor as well, it's very gentle on the tyres. And when you have events where you actually have to be good at introducing energy and heat in the tyres, then we struggle a bit. So, it was not an easy task to find the right window for the tyres." kata Andrea Stella, Prinsipal Tim McLaren.

Sesi balapan utama Grand Prix Monako 2026 dijadwalkan berlangsung pada hari Minggu dengan menempatkan Antonelli, Verstappen, dan Hamilton di tiga posisi start teratas.