Kimi Antonelli Pimpin Balapan GP Monako Setelah Kekacauan di Lintasan

Pebalap Mercedes Kimi Antonelli memimpin jalannya balapan Formula 1 Grand Prix Monako pada Minggu, 7 Juni 2026, sebelum bendera merah berkibar menyusul runtuhnya lapisan aspal sirkuit di tikungan terakhir.

Suspensi balapan terjadi pada lap 68 dari total 78 putaran setelah Lance Stroll dan Charles Leclerc menabrak pembatas jalan akibat kendala pengereman, yang memicu penyelidikan FIA terhadap kondisi permukaan lintasan yang mulai hancur.

Sebelum insiden tersebut, pebalap andalan Oracle Red Bull Racing, Max Verstappen, terpaksa menyudahi balapan lebih awal setelah mobil RB22 miliki berstatus gagal start dari baris depan akibat kerusakan mesin pada lap pembuka.

"What should I do?" kata Verstappen, Pebalap Oracle Red Bull Racing.

Merespons situasi darurat di baris start tersebut, kru mekanik Red Bull langsung memberikan instruksi penanganan kepada sang juara dunia bertahan melalui pesan radio tim.

"Just bring it home," jawab Lambiase, race engineer.

Setelah keluar dari mobilnya akibat bendera merah, Verstappen menjelaskan kronologi kegagalan mekanis yang membuatnya gagal mendulang poin setelah performa apik sepanjang sesi kualifikasi.

"I think I already had information that wasn't particularly great, but then in the pre-set already the engine was responding very weird," kata Verstappen, Pebalap Oracle Red Bull Racing.

Verstappen menambahkan bahwa mesin mobilnya tidak dapat mencapai target RPM dan langsung mati total sesaat setelah dirinya melepas kopling di garis start.

"The formation lap was a bit off in terms of power delivery. The big problem was during the pre-start when lights were on, it was not finding the start already because the engine was going up and down. After that it dropped dead and that was it." kata Verstappen, Pebalap Oracle Red Bull Racing.

Sementara itu, Charles Leclerc yang berada di posisi ketiga sebelum menabrak pembatas meluapkan kekecewaannya kepada Sky Sports mengenai kegagalan fungsi rem belakang yang dialaminya secara beruntun.

"Brakes. It doesn't help to have asphalt that is coming off but data speaks for itself. I don't know how much I can go into the detail. It's extremely frustrating. I've always been very honest, no matter how many mistakes I do, I would hate to look at myself in the mirror and see myself finding excuses when I do a mistake so that's why I'm always bluntly honest when I'm in front of cameras. But I'm not going to take any of it today." ujar Leclerc, Pebalap Ferrari.

Pebalap asal Monako tersebut menegaskan bahwa dirinya merasakan inkonsistensi pengereman yang ekstrem dan sangat sensitif saat ban berada dalam suhu dingin seperti saat di Montreal.

"It's not even braking. I touched the brakes and there was just something with them. On the front brakes it just broke a lot more than what I thought and in the rear breaks there was no deceleration at all its like I had no rear brakes at all. That's what I've been dealing with for two races now." ujar Leclerc, Pebalap Ferrari.

Leclerc menutup penjelasannya dengan menyatakan bahwa situasi mobilnya saat ini terasa sangat membingungkan sekaligus membahayakan keselamatan di lintasan balap.

"We've had some differences with brakes in between cars but I don't think it's been a disadvantage for me at all but here and in Montreal with cold tyre temperatures, the inconsistency and the tyres being more sensitive because you're on the limit, it's just been an absolute nightmare. I'm weighing my words. I don't have many words. Today I look like an idiot. When you look like an idiot for a mistake of your own it's fine. It's borderline dangerous." ujar Leclerc, Pebalap Ferrari.

Di sisi lain, nasib sial juga menimpa Lando Norris dari McLaren yang diperintahkan oleh timnya untuk menghentikan mobil di tengah balapan tanpa alasan yang jelas.

"I don't know [what the issue was], I just got told to retire. My pace to Pierre was much better, he got past in the beginning at Turn One, now he gets a penalty so that was my chance to be there and get some more points. Nothing really matters, just got to finish the race and I can't do that at the moment." ujar Norris, Pebalap McLaren.

Norris menyatakan bahwa dirinya kerap tidak beruntung musim ini dan menyerahkan seluruh investigasi kerusakan teknis kendaraan kepada para ahli mekanik di tim McLaren.

"These are just issues, I leave it to the pros to sort it out, the team are working hard to figure it out. There is a lot of stuff going on and I seem to be getting unlucky often but that's life." ujar Norris, Pebalap McLaren.

Balapan GP Monako 2026 dijadwalkan kembali melakukan restart pada pukul 01.12 AEST dengan format standing start setelah seluruh mobil dipastikan kembali dalam urutan yang benar di belakang Safety Car.