The event was held at the Circuit de Monaco for the 83rd time in the circuit's history, across the weekend of 5–7 June. Going into the race, Antonelli led the Drivers' Championship with 131 points, 43 points ahead of teammate George Russell and 56 ahead of Charles Leclerc. Mercedes led the Constructors' Championship with 219 points, ahead of Ferrari on 147 and McLaren on 106.
For this Grand Prix, Formula One's new active-aero straight mode was not deployed. The FIA made the decision on safety grounds given Monaco's tight, twisty street layout and limited straights, though the overtake mode remained available. Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C3, C4, and C5 compounds — the three softest in the range — designated hard, medium, and soft respectively. The two-stop minimum strategy requirement that had been trialled at the 2025 Monaco Grand Prix was not repeated, having been judged by teams and drivers not to have improved the quality of racing.
Charles Leclerc topped the first free practice session ahead of Hamilton and Max Verstappen. The session was red-flagged twice, first when Verstappen's teammate Isack Hadjar crashed at Turn 14 and again late in the session due to debris from Fernando Alonso's Aston Martin. Hamilton led the second session ahead of Leclerc and Verstappen; a red flag late in the session was caused by Sergio Perez's Cadillac suffering overheated brakes that caught fire. Antonelli topped the third practice session ahead of Leclerc and Hamilton; a red flag was brought out when Oliver Bearman crashed his Haas at Turn 9.
Qualifying was held on 6 June at 16:00 local time. Ferrari entered as a favourite after strong practice pace, while Antonelli had topped the final practice session. In Q1, Leclerc set the fastest time ahead of Verstappen, Antonelli, and Lando Norris. Gabriel Bortoleto clipped the barriers at the Nouvelle chicane entry and brought out a red flag; he advanced in 15th but could not take part in Q2. Esteban Ocon, Perez, Bearman, Bottas, Alonso, and Lance Stroll were eliminated.
In Q2, Antonelli set the early pace before Verstappen moved ahead. Russell struggled for comfort and qualified only eighth. Hadjar was third-fastest but the session was interrupted by a pit lane near-miss between Carlos Sainz Jr. and Verstappen after Williams released Sainz as Verstappen was approaching in the fast lane; no further action was taken. Albon, Sainz, Nico Hulkenberg, Franco Colapinto, Arvid Lindblad, and Bortoleto were eliminated.
In Q3, Antonelli set the first representative time, 0.001 seconds faster than Verstappen. Leclerc briefly took provisional pole after returning on fresh soft tyres. Verstappen improved, but Antonelli bettered him on his final lap to take pole. Hamilton qualified third, just over two-tenths behind Antonelli. Leclerc made a final attempt in front of his home crowd but lost the rear of his Ferrari at Tabac, struck the barrier, and stopped at Rascasse. He remained fourth, ahead of Hadjar and Russell, with Piastri seventh, Norris eighth, Gasly ninth, and Liam Lawson tenth. Antonelli became the first Italian driver since Jarno Trulli in 2004 to take pole position at Monaco.
The race was held on 7 June at 15:00 local time and run for 78 laps. Before the start, Lawson reported a technical issue that was resolved in time. Bortoleto was unable to take his grid position after his Audi stopped at the pit exit and started from the pit lane. Antonelli retained the lead at the start. Verstappen suffered a power unit problem and retired at the end of lap 1. Hamilton and Leclerc moved to second and third, with Hadjar fourth. Gasly passed Norris on the opening lap; Perez received a drive-through penalty for being out of position at the start.
Antonelli gradually extended his lead during the opening stint. Hadjar came under pressure from Russell, who reported engine braking and gear-selection issues but was unable to pass on track. Multiple drivers received five-second penalties for pit-lane speeding, including Hamilton, Russell, Gasly, Colapinto, and Piastri. Bottas, Bearman, and Norris all retired with mechanical issues during the first half of the race.
With around 20 laps remaining, Stroll crashed at the final corner and brought out the safety car. Several drivers pitted, including Hamilton and Piastri who served their time penalties. When racing resumed, Leclerc crashed at the same corner, causing a red flag while officials inspected damage to the track surface. During the stoppage, Gasly received a second five-second pit-lane speeding penalty while Russell was required to serve his drive-through penalty after the restart.
The Grand Prix resumed with a standing restart. Antonelli led from Hamilton; Russell briefly moved past Gasly and Hadjar before serving his drive-through and dropping out of the points. Sainz was then involved in two collisions — first with Hulkenberg, then with Colapinto — and retired. Antonelli took the chequered flag to win his fifth race of the season. Gasly finished third on the road but his two five-second penalties dropped him to seventh, promoting Hadjar to third, Piastri to fourth, Lawson to fifth, and Lindblad to sixth. Albon, Ocon, and Perez completed the points positions, with Perez appearing to have scored Cadillac's first point.
After the race, Perez received a ten-second time penalty for being out of position at the standing restart after the red flag; stewards found his car's front-right wheel was outside the starting box. The penalty demoted him from tenth to fifteenth, costing Cadillac what would have been its first Formula One point and promoting Alonso to tenth — Aston Martin's first point of the 2026 season.
Alpine petitioned for a right of review of the two five-second pit-lane speeding penalties imposed on Gasly. On 12 June, the stewards upheld the petition and rescinded both penalties. The stewards found that the applied distance between timing loops (2,692 cm) differed from the theoretical shortest distance (2,615 cm); using the shorter figure, Gasly's two recorded speeds were 58.7 km/h and 58.8 km/h, below the 60 km/h pit-lane limit. Gasly was reinstated to third place, demoting Hadjar to fourth, Piastri to fifth, and Lawson and Lindblad to sixth and seventh respectively.
The decision prompted McLaren and Red Bull to notify intentions to appeal, while Mercedes explored legal options because Russell had served a related pit-lane speeding penalty that could not be retrospectively removed. Mercedes filed a separate right of review petition regarding Russell but withdrew it on 18 June before a scheduled stewards' hearing on 20 June. The McLaren and Red Bull appeal process continued before the FIA's International Court of Appeal. The amended classification placing Gasly third was determined as final subject only to those ongoing appeals.
Antonelli extended his championship lead with the victory. The top five in the Drivers' Championship after Monaco were Antonelli, Russell, Leclerc, Hamilton, and Piastri. Mercedes maintained their lead in the Constructors' Championship over Ferrari and McLaren.
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