Kimi Antonelli Merebut Pole Position Grand Prix Monako 2026

Pembalap tim Mercedes Kimi Antonelli sukses mengamankan posisi start terdepan setelah mencatatkan waktu tercepat dalam sesi kualifikasi Formula 1 Grand Prix Monako pada Sabtu, 6 Juni 2026.

Pembalap berusia 19 tahun tersebut menorehkan waktu 1 menit 12,051 detik di sirkuit jalan raya Monte Carlo, sekaligus merebut pole position keempatnya sepanjang musim ini.

Dilansir dari theguardian.com, Antonelli unggul tipis 0,043 detik dari pembalap Red Bull Max Verstappen yang menempati posisi kedua, sementara Lewis Hamilton dari Ferrari mengamankan tempat ketiga.

Sesi kualifikasi berjalan sangat ketat karena Charles Leclerc sempat memimpin sebelum akhirnya menempati posisi keempat, diikuti pembalap Red Bull Isack Hadjar di urutan kelima.

Rekan satu tim Antonelli, George Russell, harus puas di posisi keenam setelah mengalami kesulitan dengan daya cengkeram ban sepanjang sesi sore tersebut.

Sementara itu, tim McLaren yang sedang merayakan Grand Prix ke-1.000 mereka harus menerima hasil kurang memuaskan karena Oscar Piastri dan Lando Norris hanya mampu mengamankan baris keempat di posisi ketujuh dan kedelapan.

Sesi Q3 berlangsung dramatis saat Verstappen sempat menempel ketat dengan selisih satu per seribu detik pada putaran awal sebelum Antonelli mempertajam waktunya di detik-detik terakhir.

Di sisi lain, hasil buruk menimpa tim Aston Martin setelah Fernando Alonso dan Lance Stroll tereliminasi sejak sesi Q1 dan terpaksa memulai balapan dari posisi belakang.

"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." kata Kimi Antonelli, Pembalap Mercedes.

Antonelli mengaku sempat merasa gugup karena margin kesalahan yang sangat tipis di lintasan jalan raya yang sempit tersebut.

"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." kata Kimi Antonelli, Pembalap Mercedes.

Persaingan ketat di posisi teratas membuat perebutan tempat pertama menjadi tidak terprediksi hingga bendera finis dikibarkan.

"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." kata Kimi Antonelli, Pembalap Mercedes.

Meskipun berhasil mengamankan modal utama, Antonelli tetap mewaspadai tekanan dari para rival di belakangnya saat balapan dimulai.

"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.

Ketegangan kualifikasi ini juga diakui oleh pembalap Italia tersebut sebagai sebuah pengalaman yang luar biasa berat.

“Kind of shaking, to be fair. It’s just super-intense,” kata Kimi Antonelli, Pembalap Mercedes.

Ia menambahkan bahwa performa impresif dari Verstappen dan Hamilton membuat upaya memangkas waktu menjadi sangat menantang.

“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.” kata Kimi Antonelli, Pembalap Mercedes.

Menanggapi performa pembalap muda tersebut, Max Verstappen memberikan pujian atas bakat kompetitif yang ditunjukkan rivalnya sejak kategori junior.

“Yeah, for sure,” kata Max Verstappen, Pembalap Red Bull.

Verstappen menilai bahwa Antonelli langsung terbukti cepat begitu beradaptasi dengan mobil Formula 1.

“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.” kata Max Verstappen, Pembalap Red Bull.

Menurutnya, paket mobil yang kompetitif pada musim ini berhasil dimaksimalkan dengan baik oleh Antonelli.

“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.” kata Max Verstappen, Pembalap Red Bull.

Di sisi lain garasi Mercedes, George Russell mengungkapkan rasa frustrasinya karena tidak mampu memaksimalkan potensi ban.

"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." kata George Russell, Pembalap Mercedes.

Russell menyatakan perlu mengevaluasi gaya berkendaranya yang dinilai kurang cocok dengan karakteristik mobil generasi terbaru.

"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." kata George Russell, Pembalap Mercedes.

Walaupun harus memulai balapan dari baris ketiga, pembalap asal Inggris tersebut tetap mencoba menjaga optimisme.

"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.

Kekecewaan juga dirasakan oleh kubu McLaren setelah target untuk menempatkan mobil di baris ketiga gagal terpenuhi.

"We were expecting the overall competitiveness to be difficult at this circuit, for two main technical factors,” kata Andrea Stella, Prinsipal Tim McLaren.

Stella menjelaskan bahwa faktor sasis yang kekurangan daya cengkeram menjadi kendala utama jet darat mereka di Monako.

"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." kata Andrea Stella, Prinsipal Tim McLaren.

Karakteristik mobil yang terlalu ramah terhadap ban justru menyulitkan tim untuk mendapatkan temperatur ideal di sirkuit ini.

"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.

Berikut adalah hasil lengkap sesi kualifikasi Grand Prix Monako 2026 berdasarkan data resmi Formula 1:

Seluruh pembalap kini bersiap menghadapi sesi balapan utama Grand Prix Monako yang akan berlangsung pada hari Minggu.