Kimi Antonelli addresses ultimate Monaco start pressure as Verstappen and Hamilton lurk

Kimi Antonelli believes he does not require a "magic" start in the Monaco Grand Prix, but simply must get a "clean" launch. 

The world championship leader secured a stunning pole in Monte Carlo, and with team-mate George Russell only sixth on the grid, has a golden opportunity to extend his 43-point advantage.

However, behind him on the grid, he has Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, with a combined 11 world titles, 176 wins, five of which have come in the Principality.

The Italian has also had a history of making bad starts this season, losing position and dropping into the midfield, but with the short run to Turn 1, Antonelli feels he simply needs to execute cleanly and not go over the top to fend off the Red Bull and Ferrari behind him.

"In Montreal, I still lost a place on Sunday, but for the first time I didn’t lose like six or seven places," Antonelli reflected to media, including RacingNews365. 

"So, it was a step forward. It’s a pretty short run into Turn 1 in Monaco, so I just need to get a clean start and not try to do the magic start, and then we’ll see from there.

"I know who is behind, and I know they’re very good, so for sure they’re going to push me, and they’re going to try to put pressure. 

"First of all, I’ll try to get a good start. Canada was a step forward, but it different conditions [in Monaco], and then we’ll see. 

"You still need to have a good pace in hand because tyre degradation might be bigger than what we anticipate. 

"We haven't really tried any long runs. We did only a few laps, so we don’t really have as much data. 

"But for sure, we know that it’s very difficult to overtake, but you still need to have the pace because in case something happens, you need to push."