Lewis Hamilton Claims Monaco Podium, Kim Kardashian Steals the Celebration Spotlight

The Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday delivered drama on the track and a fair bit of it off the track as well, with Lewis Hamilton finishing second for Ferrari and Kim Kardashian turning up under the podium to celebrate alongside the seven-time world champion in front of the entire paddock.

Hamilton finished second behind Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli, which on paper sounds straightforward enough until the full picture gets filled in because at some point during the race Hamilton picked up a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane, the kind of thing that at Monaco usually ends any realistic hope of a strong result given how difficult it is to make up time on those narrow streets, and he still came out of it with second place.

The result also tied him with Ayrton Senna on eight podium finishes at Monaco across a career, which is one of those facts that takes a moment to land properly when considering how many world-class drivers have lined up on that grid over the decades without getting anywhere near that number.

Kardashian had been in and around the Ferrari garage and paddock area for the entire weekend, Saturday she was watching qualifying in Ferrari headphones while Hamilton went third on the grid, Sunday she was on the grid before the race and then somehow right there under the podium area when the celebrations started, which is a space that does not get handed out to just anybody at this race.

Hamilton was asked about her in the press conference afterwards and gave an answer that was warm and straightforward, said having her there was amazing, said she brings that kind of support to his life every day, and left very little room for anyone to keep pretending this was just a friendship. Hamilton sits second in the championship now, 66 points behind Antonelli, with a season that has gone from difficult to genuinely promising over the last few weekends.

Sportscape feels that Hamilton arriving at Ferrari was always going to be a big story, but the Monaco weekend showed something beyond just racing results as a driver who looks settled, focused and back to his best. Adding Kardashian to that picture only amplifies the attention around him, which for Ferrari right now is not a bad thing at all.