Kimi Antonelli produced a sensational comeback from 19th on the grid to win his home Italian Grand Prix, passing Mercedes team-mate George Russell in the closing stages to claim his seventh Formula One victory and become the first Italian to win at Monza in 60 years. Russell finished second, with Max Verstappen completing the podium for Red Bull.

“Unbelievable!” Antonelli said.

“I am so happy and I could have never imagined to be here today.

“But we managed to pull it off and I’m really, really happy.”

Antonelli had faced the daunting prospect of starting towards the back of the field after an engine penalty dropped him to 19th on the grid, but what followed was one of the most impressive drives of his young career.

The 20-year-old charged through the field and eventually hunted down Russell, recovering even after a late trip through the gravel appeared to have cost him the opportunity to take the lead.

The victory was Antonelli’s seventh in Formula One and carried particular significance in front of his home crowd. Not since Ludovico Scarfiotti won for Ferrari in 1966 had an Italian driver won the Italian Grand Prix. Sixty years later, Antonelli finally ended the wait.

It also strengthened his position at the top of the Drivers’ Championship, turning what had begun as a potentially damaging weekend into another major step towards the title.

Early drama brings out red flag

The race had barely begun before drama unfolded for Ferrari at its home Grand Prix.

Sir Lewis Hamilton attempted to pass team-mate Charles Leclerc at the opening chicane, but Leclerc held his position through the second part of the corner and forced Hamilton onto the gravel, sending the seven-time world champion tumbling down the order.

At the front, polesitter Pierre Gasly initially held the lead for Alpine, but Russell swept past on the main straight as they completed the opening lap.

Moments later, Ferrari’s afternoon took a disastrous turn.

Leclerc crashed heavily on Lap 2 after losing control while under pressure from Oscar Piastri, bringing his home Grand Prix to an early end and ultimately resulting in the race being red-flagged.

When racing resumed, Russell remained firmly in contention at the front, while Antonelli continued making rapid progress through the field.

Russell later admitted that seeing how quickly his team-mate was climbing the order made him realise Antonelli could still become a factor in the fight for victory.

“When I looked at the leaderboard in the beginning I saw he was already in P5, P4, I knew straight away he was going to be in the mix,” Russell said.

Strategy opens the door for Antonelli

The decisive strategic moment arrived on Lap 28 when Lance Stroll stopped his Aston Martin and triggered a Virtual Safety Car.

Mercedes elected to split its strategy, leaving Russell out in the lead while bringing Antonelli into the pits. Verstappen followed the Italian in.

Antonelli emerged sixth, with Verstappen seventh, leaving the championship leader around 15 seconds behind Russell but armed with much fresher tyres for the final 25 laps.

Russell, meanwhile, was committed to going to the end on the hard tyres he had been running since the restart.

It was a gamble for both sides of the Mercedes garage.

Antonelli used his fresher rubber to fight his way back through the field and, as the race entered its closing stages, the gap to his team-mate began to disappear.

By Lap 46, Russell was being warned by Mercedes that his tyre condition was deteriorating and vibrations were increasing with every lap.

Antonelli was closing fast.

On Lap 49, the Italian appeared poised to complete his remarkable comeback as he stalked Russell down the main straight.

Russell ran slightly wide under braking, seemingly opening the door, but Antonelli got out of shape on the exit and slid through the gravel.

For a moment, it appeared his opportunity to win at home had disappeared.

“It was quite scary there in the moment,” Antonelli said.

“The tarmac was breaking up but I still thought I could do the corner.

“But once I went over a bit of gravel as well I went straight and I was like ‘maybe I lost my chance’.

“But luckily we still had the pace and managed to bring it home.”

Antonelli recovered, regrouped and attacked again, eventually finding his way past Russell to complete a remarkable charge from the back row to victory. He crossed the line 3.8 seconds ahead of his team-mate.

Russell was left disappointed to miss out on the victory but acknowledged both Antonelli’s performance and Mercedes’ decision to split the strategies.

“Huge congrats to Kimi. Incredible result from him,” Russell said.

“When I looked at the leaderboard in the beginning I saw he was already in P5, P4, I knew straight away he was going to be in the mix. Huge congrats to him.

“It was looking like a pretty strong race from us, and then I was just struggling with the tyres towards the end. Obviously, we did the whole race on that one hard tyre.

“I’ll take it. It’s been more positive than it was pre-summer break, and that’s what I needed to try to achieve, but of course I would have loved to have been P1 today.

“To be honest, I thought we were both going to stay out. I was surprised to see him pitting. In the end it was a roll of the dice both ways. In the moment, the team wouldn’t have known which strategy was better.

“It made sense to split the cars, but in the end, Kimi had great pace, and there we are.”

Verstappen settles for third

Verstappen, who pitted immediately behind Antonelli during the Virtual Safety Car period, eventually came home third for Red Bull.

The four-time world champion said a lack of straight-line performance prevented him from mounting a stronger challenge to the Mercedes pair.

“There were some good battles out there,” Verstappen said.

“I had to send it many times around the outside because we were just struggling a lot with deployment from turns two to four compared to our competitors.

“In general top speed wasn’t our friend today so just tried to hang in there but they were just a bit too fast.

“That’s why I was trying to be in that overtake mode but at one point I lost that and tried to just do my own race.

“Happy with P3 and to be on the podium here.”

Antonelli extends championship advantage

Antonelli’s seventh victory also strengthened his grip on the Drivers’ Championship.

The Italian entered the weekend 59 points clear of Russell, his closest championship rival, but leaves Monza with that advantage increased to 66 points after 13 rounds.

Hamilton, another of Antonelli’s championship challengers, recovered from his difficult opening lap to finish sixth for Ferrari, salvaging points from a disappointing home race for the Scuderia following Leclerc’s early retirement.

For Antonelli, however, the significance of the afternoon stretched well beyond championship points.

He arrived at his home Grand Prix knowing an engine penalty would leave him starting 19th. He left Monza as a seven-time Formula One winner and the first Italian since Scarfiotti in 1966 to win his home Grand Prix.

Antonelli is also the first driver to win a Formula One race from 19th or lower on the grid since John Watson won the 1983 United States Grand Prix West from 22nd.

Sixty years after Scarfiotti delivered victory for Ferrari, Italy finally had another home winner, and Antonelli did it the hard way, from the back row of the grid to the top step of the podium at Monza.

Full official results: https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2026/races/1293/italy/race-result