Antonelli's Monza Masterclass: From 19th to First in His Home Grand Prix
Kimi Antonelli won the 2026 Italian Grand Prix at Monza on 6 September, driving from 19th on the grid to claim his first victory at his home race — and his seventh of the season for Mercedes. The Guardian
A grid penalty — the result of taking on a new set of engine components, which Formula 1 rules punish by dropping a driver down the starting order — had sent Antonelli from seventh in qualifying to the back of the field. He moved from 19th to 12th on the opening lap alone, picking off cars with the urgency of someone who knew the car underneath him was fast enough to win.
The race was stopped early by a red flag after Charles Leclerc's frightening crash at the Parabolica, Monza's long, sweeping final corner. Leclerc lost the rear of his Ferrari while racing Oscar Piastri, went sideways into the barriers after apparently running wide onto a drainage grate, and walked away unhurt. He was classified as a non-finisher, along with Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso.
When racing resumed, Antonelli kept carving through. By the chequered flag, the 20-year-old from Bologna had pulled off the second-deepest comeback victory in Formula 1 history. Only John Watson, who won from 22nd at the 1983 Long Beach Grand Prix, had started further back and still reached the top step.
George Russell followed his Mercedes teammate home in second, having started alongside polesitter Pierre Gasly on the front row. Max Verstappen took third for Red Bull. The full top ten: Antonelli, Russell, Verstappen, Lando Norris (McLaren), Piastri (McLaren), Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari), Gasly (Alpine), Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls), Franco Colapinto (Alpine), and Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls). The Guardian
Gasly's pole — the first of his Formula 1 career, claimed in his Alpine — had been the Saturday surprise, and it was a narrow thing: Russell missed out by just 0.060 seconds. AP News
The championship picture sharpened rather than softened. Antonelli arrived at Monza with a 59-point lead over Russell, who was level on points with Hamilton in third. Russell had expected to close the gap. Instead, Antonelli's win stretched it to 66 points — 267 to Russell's 201. Hamilton holds third with 191, Norris fourth with 171, Leclerc fifth with 155, and Verstappen sixth with 127. The Guardian
No Italian driver had won their home Grand Prix at Monza since Ludovico Scarfiotti, 60 years ago. Antonelli, who joined the Mercedes junior programme at 12 and is the first Italian to lead the Formula 1 world championship in 73 years, ended that drought on the weekend he turned 20. The Guardian
For Mercedes, it was a perfect team result — first and second at a circuit where the Silver Arrows have now won seven times as a constructor. For the Tifosi packed into Monza's grandstands, the home hero in the silver car was not the one they came to see, but he was the one they could not ignore.
