Kimi Antonelli Wins His Home Italian Grand Prix, the First Italian Victor at Monza in 60 Years

Summary

Kimi Antonelli started the Italian Grand Prix 19th after taking new power unit components, then charged through the field to win on home soil at MonzaHis victory made him the first Italian driver to win the Italian Grand Prix since Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966The result marked his seventh win of the season and moved him 66 points clear of teammate George Russell in the drivers' standings

Kimi Antonelli won the Italian Grand Prix from 19th on the grid, completing one of the great modern comeback drives on home soil at Monza. The Mercedes driver reeled in and passed teammate and title rival George Russell in the closing laps of the 53-lap race, becoming the first Italian to win his home Grand Prix in six decades.

A first win at Monza had looked improbable for Antonelli before the race, with a grid penalty for new power unit components leaving him 19th while Russell lined up near the front. The tone shifted early when Charles Leclerc crashed heavily at the final corner on the second lap, bringing out a red flag. By that point Antonelli had already climbed to 12th, and he sliced through the order at the restart to put himself in contention for the lead.

The decisive strategic moment came later, when a mid-race Virtual Safety Car allowed Mercedes to bring Antonelli into the pits for fresher rubber while Russell stayed out. Russell's tyres faded over the closing laps, and Antonelli used his pace advantage to hunt his teammate down. The chase nearly ended in disaster when the pair almost touched at the first chicane and Antonelli ran across the gravel, but he gathered it up and completed the move on the run to Ascari with four laps left.

"Unbelievable, I'm so happy and I could never have imagined to be here today but we managed to pull it off and I'm really happy," Antonelli said immediately after the race, adding that it felt like "a dream coming true." He also recounted the near miss that almost cost him the win, saying, "I thought I could still do the corner but once I went over a bit of gravel I went straight, and I was like maybe I've lost my chance, but then luckily we still had the pace and managed to bring it home."

The historical weight of the result is considerable. No Italian driver had won the Italian Grand Prix since Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966, a 60-year drought Antonelli ended in front of his home crowd. His starting position added another layer to the achievement, standing as the second-lowest grid slot from which any Grand Prix has been won in Formula 1 history.

Behind the leading Mercedes pair, Red Bull's Max Verstappen completed the podium after a determined run threaded with bold overtakes. Lando Norris edged McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri for fourth, while Lewis Hamilton led Ferrari home in sixth after Leclerc's early exit, and pole-sitter Pierre Gasly slid back to seventh once the frontrunners cleared off.

The championship math is where the day resonates loudest. Antonelli's seventh victory of the season pushed him 66 points clear of Russell in the drivers' standings, converting a back-of-the-grid setback into a commanding statement about who controls the 2026 title fight.

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