Antonelli-Russell contrast could hardly be more stark

Image source, Reuters Image caption, Kimi Antonelli - who jumped in the harbour to celebrate victory - is the youngest driver to win the Monaco Grand Prix By Andrew Benson F1 Correspondent in Monaco Published 15 minutes ago The contrast between the Mercedes drivers - and supposed title rivals - after the Monaco Grand Prix could hardly have been more stark. Kimi Antonelli, who had driven a perfect weekend to deliver a fifth consecutive win in utterly dominant style, talked about it being "an incredible moment to live". His team-mate George Russell, who finished 13th after a day to forget for reasons largely out of his control, said he was "beyond frustration" and "in a state of struggling to comprehend what is going on". Antonelli, 19, heads to the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix next weekend with a championship lead of 66 points - a remarkable gap after just six races. And it's not even over Russell, who has been leapfrogged by Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton. Russell is a further two points behind. For Antonelli, the superlatives just keep on coming. And in a season of something close to perfection, this was arguably his best performance yet. Ferrari went to Monaco as favourites but their fastest car was only third on the grid. They were beaten by both Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Antonelli, and Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff described the lap with which the Italian beat the four-time champion as "unbelievable". The same word could be applied to his race. Antonelli wins Monaco from Hamilton after dramatic ending Published 1 hour ago Hamilton 'feels like I'm reminding people who I am' Published 1 hour ago This was another test for Antonelli. Pole position was one thing, but he had lost positions at every single start this year, and he knew if he did so again here in Monaco, the win would likely be gone. He was helped by the engine problems that stopped Verstappen and ended his race, but having converted his pole into a lead over Hamilton, Antonelli was in a league of his own. Nearly three seconds clear after two laps, five after 10, he had to back off to cool overheating brakes. After a further 10 laps of that, he put his foot down again, and he was more than 20 seconds up the road when the late chaos that created the dramatic end to the race began to unfold. "I just felt really at one with the car and was able to set a good rhythm with high intensity and the car was responding really well," he said. "I was surprised, but it was one of those days when everything clicks." As for the championship, he is keeping his feet firmly on the ground, well aware there is a long way to go - no-one knows how long, in fact, given the uncertainty over a few races as a result of the war between the US/Israel and Iran. "It is a great moment," Antonelli said. "Every weekend is different tracks and require different needs but I am just going to try to keep pushing, and keep raising the bar as much as possible." Russell 'struggling to comprehend' issues For his part, Ru