Kimi Antonelli continued his march toward his first Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship with victory in Sunday’s (Sept. 6) Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
Armed with a fresh engine, Antonelli fought from 19th on the grid to become the first Italian to win his home race since Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966, extending his championship lead.
Monza was another bruising weekend for George Russell, who may have believed Antonelli’s engine penalty was a golden opportunity to take his first win since Austria.
But despite leading comfortably in the opening laps, Russell hadn’t factored in Max Verstappen, who took the lead off him on lap 12. The heated rivals duked it out for three laps before the Brit finally got back past the four-time world champion on lap 15.
However, Russell’s battle with Verstappen had allowed Antonelli to close in, and once the Italian was clear of the Dutchman, the Silver Arrows went into combat. What followed was five laps of the lead changing hands, with Antonelli and Russell producing some masterful racecraft before the battle ended on lap 25 in favour of the Briton.
Then Lance Stroll suffered a hydraulic failure on lap 28, triggering the Virtual Safety Car with Antonelli pitting for fresh mediums while Verstappen went for hards. However, the gap wasn’t big enough to pit Russell as well, leaving him at the mercy of Antonelli.
By lap 46, Antonelli was over a second behind Russell and by lap 48, he was right on the gearbox of his teammate heading into the Rettifilo chicane, which makes up turns 1 and 2. But neither driver took the corner cleanly, with Antonelli taking a trip into the gravel, while Russell used the escape road.
Despite the brief loss of momentum, Antonelli dummied Russell on the run to the Variante Ascari (turns 8-10), retaking the lead on lap 50 and, with it, sealing his seventh win of the year.
Verstappen clung on to finish third ahead of the two warring McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who nearly collided at La Curva Grande (turn 3), much to the chagrin of the Briton.
Ferrari had a dismal home weekend, with Charles Leclerc exiting on lap 4 after losing traction on the exit of the Parabolica corner, with the damage to the barrier bringing out the red flags. His teammate, Lewis Hamilton, went across the gravel at the first start, couldn’t challenge the leaders and, with Ferrari’s lack of pace, the seven-time world champion finished a painful sixth.
Polesitter Pierre Gasly was walking on air when he arrived at Monza on Sunday morning after taking his maiden pole position in F1, the first for a Frenchman since Jean Alesi in 1997.
While victory looked unlikely, a podium was within reach, and Gasly looked in a good position after running second before the red flags. But Gasly’s second start wasn’t spectacular, and he was shuffled out of the top six, eventually coming home seventh.
Nonetheless, it was a solid afternoon for Alpine, which managed to get two cars inside the top 10, with Franco Colapinto recovering from a mistake at the second restart to finish ninth.
Colapinto sandwiched the two Racing Bulls of Arvid Lindblad and Yuki Tsunoda, returning to the points for the first time since the 2025 Qatar GP.
2026 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix Results
Next up on the F1 calendar is the Madring in Madrid, Spain, which will host the Spanish Grand Prix. Coverage in the United States will begin Sunday, Sept. 13, at 9 a.m. ET on Apple TV.
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