Kimi Antonelli completed a remarkable comeback to win his home Italian Grand Prix from 19th place after a race-long battle against Mercedes team-mate George Russell.
Antonelli was not expected to contend for victory due to grid penalties for exceeding his engine allocation but stormed through the field early on – in between the red flag for Charles Leclerc’s huge crash – and showed tremendous pace to catch Russell on an alternative strategy.
The two Mercedes and Max Verstappen pulled clear of the field in the first half of the race, exchanging the lead several times, due to the yoyo style of racing caused by the 2026 power units and the impact of having a slipstream around the long straights at Monza.
Antonelli and Verstappen pitted on Lap 29, just after half race distance, when a Virtual Safety Car came out for Lance Stroll stopping in his Aston Martin.
After their pit stops, the pair emerged in sixth and seventh with a 15-second deficit to Russell but comfortably made their way back up to the top positions on fresher tyres.
Antonelli caught Russell with five laps remaining but ran wide at the first chicane due to the track breaking up. However, he was soon back on Russell’s tail and made the race-winning move with three laps to go, while Verstappen held off the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to claim third.
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Kimi Antonelli and George Russell go wheel-to-wheel for the Italian Grand Prix lead several times
It means Antonelli is 66 points ahead of Russell in the Drivers’ Championship with the latter also expected to take grid penalties of his own at a future race.
Norris limited the damage in fourth on a weekend McLaren struggled, but not without a feisty battle with Piastri during the final laps, and is 96 points behind Antonelli in the standings.
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Kimi Antonelli wins the Italian Grand Prix from 19th on the grid
Ferrari had huge hopes to win at Monza but Lewis Hamilton struggled to sixth, having been left frustrated since the opening lap when he was forced into the gravel by team-mate Leclerc who crashed hard on the third lap.
Pole-sitter Pierre Gasly did not have the pace and dropped to seventh, ahead of Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad, his Alpine team-mate Franco Colapinto and the other Racing Bulls of Yuki Tsunoda.
Italian GP Result: Top 10
1) Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
2) George Russell, Mercedes
3) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
4) Lando Norris, McLaren
5) Oscar Piastri, McLaren
6) Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
7) Pierre Gasly, Alpine
8) Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls
9) Franco Colapinto, Alpine
10) Yuki Tsuoda, Racing Bulls
More to follow…
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