Andrea Kimi Antonelli says he is determined not to let the pressure of the Formula 1 title fight “destroy” him again, after his Monaco Grand Prix win extended his championship lead. Antonelli said: "I try to embrace the pressure as much as possible, because I don't want to let the pressure destroy me like it did last year in the European season. So, of course I try to embrace the pressure, the challenge, and I try to enjoy it as much as possible without worrying about anything else other than just driving."

BYD has stepped up its exploration of a possible future Formula 1 role after holding Monaco Grand Prix weekend meetings with F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali and FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem. PlanetF1 first reported that BYD vice-president Stella Li met Domenicali on Friday, with talks with Ben Sulayem following on Saturday, while Christian Horner remains a possible part of any discussions after earlier contact. Li said BYD is looking broadly at how it could work with the sport: “We are seeking any opportunity to see if BYD technology can help FIA, can help all other teams.”

Williams academy driver Luke Browning says Williams’ early-season struggles can be “valuable” for his own development as he supports the team’s work behind the scenes. Browning said: "I think sometimes struggle is the best place to learn. And for me, the understanding why maybe it's not quite gone perfectly, and how to improve, and then understanding that in the simulator, seeing the development path, and then going through this journey is just so valuable for me."


Fernando Alonso says Aston Martin’s car will “change dramatically” once the team brings a major upgrade package later in the season, after a difficult start to 2026 and its first point of the year in Monaco. Alonso said: "Each circuit exposed some of our weaknesses in the car, but the good thing is that it brings a very good understanding of what action is needed in each of the areas for the second part of the year. The package that we will try to bring will try to tackle those problems at once rather than individually, so I have full faith and trust in the team because our impression and feeling is that the car will change dramatically from what we are facing now. We just need to wait another four or five races."

Fernando Alonso said Aston Martin took “zero positives” from the Monaco Grand Prix and that each race so far this season has exposed a different weakness in its package. Alonso said: "Zero positives from this weekend. I think every circuit exposed some of our weakness in the car."

Mercedes head of trackside engineering Andrew Shovlin said the team failed to tell George Russell to stay in the fast lane when the Safety Car went through the pit lane, which led to Mercedes missing the five-second penalty Russell needed to serve. Shovlin said: "What we failed to do was get the message to George to stay in the fast lane. Although we told George to stay out, when they came through the pit lane, he saw his tyres, we didn't have time to get a message to him to stay in the fast lane, and because he assumed that they were for him, he pulled into the box. Because the mechanics weren't expecting him, they weren't ready to serve the penalty."

Toto Wolff says he had mixed feelings about representing Mercedes on the podium after Kimi Antonelli’s Monaco Grand Prix win, with George Russell enduring another difficult race. Wolff said: "I haven't gone to a podium for 10 years because it's always difficult to balance between one side of the garage being happy, the other one not. Today I couldn't avoid it because the board member that I wanted to go to has said he needs to catch a flight, and then the team said, you've got to go, it's the home place. While standing there, I'm always with mixed feelings."

Cadillac team principal Graeme Lowdon said it was a “real shame” Sergio Perez’s Monaco Grand Prix recovery drive was undone by a post-race penalty that dropped him out of the points. Graeme Lowdon said: "After the red flag restart, Checo drove fantastically well to make up several positions on the road – it was a real shame that the penalty dropped us back as he fought like he was going for the win,"

Toto Wolff said Mercedes were surprised by Kimi Antonelli’s pace as the Italian won the Monaco Grand Prix from pole and completed his first Formula 1 grand slam by leading every lap and taking the fastest lap. Toto Wolff said: "We were surprised ourselves about that speed. He was, you know, the laps he was pulling in the times, they were two seconds faster than the McLarens, and a solid plus one second faster than Ferrari. And it was like clockwork. Why that is on a track that we would have not considered to be our strengths before the weekend, I don't know."

Pierre Gasly says he knew during the late red flag at the Monaco Grand Prix that his pitlane speeding penalties would cost him a podium, and that his third-place celebration on the cooldown lap was sarcastic. Pierre Gasly said: "I knew the situation when we stopped for the red flag and I just tried to push as hard as I could to maximise the end result, knowing the penalty was going to be applied."


Max Verstappen says Red Bull’s strong Monaco qualifying pace should not be mistaken for a turning point in the season, despite him lining up second on the grid and fighting for pole position. Verstappen said: "You always have to run the car reasonably soft here in terms of set-up and suspension. In that area, it was better, but it is still our limitation when it comes to going faster. In that respect, I'm still a bit surprised that we were ultimately fighting for pole position. Of course, we changed a few things after the third practice session, but it wasn't that much."

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies said the team has identified the issue that forced Max Verstappen to retire from the Monaco Grand Prix, and that his first power unit of the season had been due to be changed after the race anyway. Mekies said: "We have identified what the issue is. It developed on the formation lap and it gave him or us no chance. As you may be aware, it was also the very first PU of Max this season, which was planned to be changed after Monaco."







McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says the team has felt “on the back foot” as a Mercedes customer in 2026 because it has fewer opportunities than a works team to integrate and stay aligned when addressing power unit reliability and performance. Stella said: "Never before we felt that being a customer team has put us on the back foot. And when I say this, and I want to be clear here, to avoid any misunderstanding, it's not because you are a lower priority for [Mercedes] HPP. [It is] because you have less opportunities to integrate, to stay on the same timeline when it comes to addressing reliability problems or exploitation of the power unit from a performance point of view."


Lewis Hamilton said he begged Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur for “certain changes” over the off-season and believes he is now seeing the benefits, after finishing second in last week’s Monaco Grand Prix. Hamilton said: "Fred has been awesome in supporting me. Last year was really tough for both of us, and [I have been] begging him for certain changes, and he pulled through. He did those and now I'm seeing the fruits of that and I'm able to finally deliver for them."

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies says the team understood Isack Hadjar’s angry radio messages during the Monaco Grand Prix because the driver was dealing with a significant loss of power and related knock-on effects as he finished third. Mekies said: "It's always very difficult for the driver in the car to understand what's going on. In that case he could not know exactly how much engine power he was losing. The implication of that loss of ICE power on the rest of the management is massive for the way these power units are working. We understand the emotions."


Mercedes has confirmed Kimi Antonelli will sit out first practice for this weekend’s Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, with reserve driver Frederik Vesti taking his seat. The change forms part of F1’s 2026 requirement for teams to run a rookie in four FP1 sessions across the season, with Williams and Cadillac also announcing FP1 driver swaps for Barcelona.

Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes’ performance is “next level” and Ferrari need to add downforce after finishing second to Kimi Antonelli in Monaco. Hamilton said: "The performance they have is next level. It was a good experience because it gives me a much better idea of where I need to have the team lean and improve. Downforce-wise, clearly they're above us. You could see just on traction those guys were night and day different to us."

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