Kimi Antonelli delivered one of the most remarkable drives in recent Formula 1 history on Sunday, storming from 19th on the grid to victory at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza — extending his championship lead over Mercedes team-mate George Russell to 66 points.
Starting at the back of the field after taking a grid penalty for exceeding his engine allocation, the Italian teenager — racing on home soil — cut through the field with a devastating combination of raw pace and bold overtaking to reach the front within the opening laps before a red-flag stoppage.
Red flag reshuffles the order
Charles Leclerc's high-speed crash at the final chicane on just the second lap brought out the red flags and allowed all drivers to change tyres, shaking up the strategic picture. Leclerc gingerly walked away from the heavy shunt, but his Ferrari weekend was over — a bitter blow for the Scuderia on home turf. Lewis Hamilton, who had been edged into the gravel by his team-mate's incident, was forced to fight back from eighth on the restart.
Pierre Gasly, who had shocked the paddock by qualifying on pole for Alpine in what was called "the shock of the season so far," led away at the restart but lacked the race pace to stay in contention with the front-runners.
Mercedes one-two before Verstappen intervenes
Max Verstappen surged past both Gasly and Russell in the first stint, briefly leading before the Mercedes pair regrouped and used Overtake Mode — the 2026 system that allows greater electrical deployment when within one second of the car ahead — to pull away.
Antonelli, meanwhile, was on a charge. Starting from 19th on hard tyres, he had rocketed to 12th before the red flag and was on mediums for the restart, giving him a strategic advantage that would prove decisive.
By lap 13, Antonelli had carved through Gasly, Piastri, Norris and Hamilton to reach third, sitting right behind Verstappen and Russell as the leading trio began to break clear. The race settled into a tense Mercedes one-two — until a key moment changed everything.
The VSC that decided the race
On lap 29, Lance Stroll pulled off the track with a hydraulics issue, triggering a Virtual Safety Car. Mercedes kept Russell out on his fading hard tyres, but Antonelli and Verstappen pitted for fresh mediums. Russell later admitted he expected Antonelli to stay out as well.
The gamble backfired. On fresh rubber, Antonelli dismantled the gap with blistering lap times. He ran wide at the first chicane on his first attempt to pass Russell — the track surface breaking up under the Monza heat — but within two laps he was back on his team-mate's gearbox.
The decisive move came at the Ascari Chicane with just three laps remaining. Antonelli dived inside and held the line, taking the lead of his home Grand Prix to the roar of the tifosi. He crossed the line four seconds clear of Russell, with Verstappen completing the podium in a determined display that featured several bold overtakes of his own.
Race classification and championship picture
Lando Norris finished fourth after a feisty late battle with McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, who took fifth. Hamilton recovered to sixth for Ferrari — the only points for the Scuderia on a weekend to forget. Gasly held on to seventh, a strong result after his historic qualifying performance, with Arvid Lindblad, Franco Colapinto and Yuki Tsunoda completing the top 10.
Fernando Alonso retired with suspected car damage, joining Leclerc and Stroll on the sidelines. The result means Antonelli now leads Russell by 66 points in the Drivers' Championship, with Norris a further 30 back in third. Russell is also expected to take grid penalties of his own at a future race, which could widen the gap further.
"It was unbelievable — I could never have imagined being here today," said Antonelli after the race. "The car was incredible, and we managed to pull it off. I went a bit wide at one point, the tarmac was breaking up, and I thought I'd lost my chance. But luckily we still had enough."
Sources
- https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/antonelli-beats-russell-to-italian-grand-prix-win-with-stunning-comeback-drive.15WtFEBT5JEe4drdeO88t2
- https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/13582217/italian-gp-kimi-antonelli-sensationally-wins-thrilling-monza-race-from-george-russell-and-max-verstappen
