Andrea Kimi Antonelli denied his team-mate George Russell to take the chequered flag first at the 2026 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix.
The 20-year-old became the first Italian driver in 60 years to win an F1 Grand Prix at the Temple of Speed.
Mounting a sensational recovery drive from 19th on the grid, Antonelli denied Russell, with a little help from the Mercedes pit wall, to bag 25 points in his bid for a maiden drivers’ title.
Russell took the chequered flag in second, followed by Max Verstappen, who took his first podium since the summer break.
How the race unfolded
The five lights went out at Monza, and Saturday’s shock pole-sitter Pierre Gasly got the perfect start off the line and kept his lead into the first chicane. Behind him, Charles Leclerc tried to hustle George Russell but quickly had his team-mate Lewis Hamilton in his mirrors.
Out of the first chicane, Leclerc out-muscled Hamilton, with the seven-time World Champion forced onto the gravel.
Russell got ahead of Gasly into the first chicane on the next lap, with the Frenchman out of battery on the main straight.
Leclerc sneaked past Gasly, too, but with a recharged battery, the Alpine driver got P2 back out of the Curva Grande. The Monegasque then lost another place to Max Verstappen at the Ascari chicane.
But it was a catastrophic run out of Parabolica for Leclerc that ended his afternoon. Almost a carbon copy of his 2020 shunt, Leclerc veered off the road and slammed into barriers.
Piastri had moved on the inside of the Ferrari driver into the final corner, with Leclerc holding position on the outside. But as he tried to get back on the power, his rear tyres broke away from him, sending him out of Ferrari’s home race.
The red flag was called out to tow the SF-26 out and reinstate the tyre barriers.
Leclerc looked winded (later cleared from the Medical Centre), and the Tifosi, understandably so, were in tears. Russell led Gasly into the pit lane, followed by Max Verstappen.
Franco Colapinto dumped all of his battery on the main straight seeing Leclerc’s stricken Ferrari, expecting at least a Safety Car. His gamble paid off as he came into the pits in fourth, followed by Oscar Piastri, whom he overtook before the red flag was called out.
Lando Norris was slotted behind his team-mate in sixth, followed by Arvid Lindblad. Hamilton was forced to settle for eighth after a second-row starting grid slot.
The chaotic opening laps saw both the Haas cars in the points with Oliver Bearman in ninth and Esteban Ocon in 10th. Starting from 19th on the grid, Antonelli had already gotten himself into 12th.
Yuki Tsunoda incorrectly slotted himself on the grid after the second formation lap, leading to an aborted start.
At the restart, Russell kept his nose ahead of the chasing A526 into the first chicane. Colapinto found himself in third but lost the place to Verstappen into Variante della Roggia – running wide and falling down the order at the first of the Lesmos.
Meanwhile, Hamilton recovered all the lost places and got himself into fourth. But the biggest winner of the restart was the championship leader Antonelli. Another inspired first lap saw him sixth.
Verstappen got himself into second and ahead of his former Red Bull team-mate Gasly. By Lap 8, Russell had built a handy 1.7s lead over the Dutchman in clean air.
Hamilton, opting to run the yellow-walled Medium compound at the restart, was flying, posting the fastest lap of the race on Lap 9 and right on the gearbox of Gasly’s Alpine, who was instructed by the pit wall to start preserving his tyres.
On the next lap, Hamilton got himself into the podium places with a sleek move on Gasly into the first chicane. Gasly tried to fight back, just as he did with Leclerc, into the Curva Grande but backed out.
Alpine’s single-lap pace started to unravel pretty quickly as he got swallowed by Piastri at Ascari and then by Antonelli on the back straight.
Meanwhile, a horrid final sector saw Russell relinquish sevent tenths to Verstappen, with the four-time F1 champion now just four tenths off the Mercedes driver.
On the following lap, Verstappen rocketed past the W17 of Russell on the main straight. Verstappen covered off the inside and took the lead of the 53-lap race on Lap 12.
Further back, Hamilton had already started losing his tyres, with both Piastri and Antonelli getting past the Ferrari driver. Antonelli was on a charge and by the next lap was ahead of Piastri and into P3.
Russell, on the Hards compared to Verstappen’s Mediums, was in no mood to play the waiting game. Hounding the RB22 of Verstappen, Russell now also had Antonelli slowly but steadily joining the party.
Lap after lap, Verstappen covered the inside into the first chicane, but this time Russell got the Red Bull driver into the second chicane instead. Verstappen’s staunch defence and liberal battery use saw Antonelli lining up a move on the main straight on the following lap.
By the time he reached the spot where Russell had got past him last lap, he saw yet another Mercedes swoop around the outside and get into second.
Meanwhile, Hamilton was leading a four-way scrap trading places with Piastri, Gasly and Norris. Russell led Antonelli, followed by Verstappen – the top three separated by just 1.2s.
On Lap 18, Antonelli completed his recovery drive from P19 on the grid and snatched the lead from his team-mate on the main straight. Overtakes galore and approaching the halfway mark, the race was far from settled.
The lead changed hands again on Lap 20 as Russell got past Antonelli into the first chicane, but Antonelli got himself back into the lead of his home race just two corners later. Meanwhile, Verstappen started to drop off the Mercedes duo.
Antonelli was desperate to keep himself in clean air, protecting his Mediums while letting his dirty wake erode his team-mate’s Hards. That said, on Lap 22, Russell made a move stick on Antonelli once again into the first chicane.
But Russell went wide, allowing Antonelli a clean run all through the Curva Grande and back into the lead. This prompted the Mercedes pit wall to instruct the drivers to “stop Yo-yo-ing”. Safe to say, the advice fell on deaf ears.
All of this squabbling allowed Verstappen to get himself back into a second of the lead.
On Lap 25, Antonelli was informed that Russell had been told to “build a gap to Verstappen”. If he failed, Russell would be asked to “invert”.
Meanwhile, Piastri led Hamilton by a second. Halfway through the Italian GP, Russell led Antonelli (who had backed off for the moment), followed by Verstappen, Piastri, and Hamilton.
Mercedes hand strategy preference (and the race win) to Antonelli
Lance Stroll’s stranded AMR26 called out the VSC. Mercedes reacted, with Antonelli asked to dive into the pits despite Russell leading the race. The Italian ditched his Mediums for another set of brand-spanking-new Medium tyres.
Verstappen followed the 20-year-old into the pits, filtering out in seventh. By Lap 32, Antonelli was lapping 1.5 seconds quicker than his team-mate, in fourth – just under 12 seconds off the lead.
Russell’s pit wall was quick to warn the Briton. The news that Antonelli was lapping in the 1 minute 25s came much to Russell’s chagrin. “Just let me drive. I’m driving as quick as I can,” he retorted to his race engineer.
On Lap 35, Hamilton’s brakes gave up into the first chicane, forcing him onto the run-off, and Antonelli dispatched the Ferrari driver with ease.
Antonelli was now on the tail of Piastri and got past the McLaren driver on Lap 37. Russell kept pumping in personal best sectors, but they were no match for his team-mate on drastically fresher tyres. 16 laps to go and Antonelli was 8.4 seconds off Russell.
To make matters worse for the Briton, Russell was put under investigation for a yellow flag infringement.
The simulations forecasted Antonelli to be all over the back of Russell by Lap 50. The Mercedes pit wall now had to decide whether to keep Russell out or pit him to turn the tables on the championship leader. Meanwhile, Verstappen made his move on Piastri on Lap 39, getting him into third.
Russell was now in the 1 minute 25s, and Antonelli’s advantage started growing slimmer. 13 Laps to go, and the Italian GP could still go either way. Race control also dropped their investigation into the Mercedes driver.
Piastri got himself ahead of Verstappen again, and the Dutchman then locked up into the first chicane. That wasn’t a concern for the Red Bull driver as he executed the move with perfection this time, on Lap 43. 10 laps to go and Russell led Antonelli, followed by Verstappen, Piastri and Norris.
Antonelli was now within five seconds of Russell, with the race leader complaining that his tyres had started to “open up” – not a surprise as Russell had now done 41 laps on the same set of tyres.
The Italian was now lapping in the 1 minute 24s. Russell was asked by the pit wall to just “bring it home” as the vibrations got worse. By Lap 48, Antonelli was within a second of Russell.
Antonelli made his move on Lap 49. Russell covered the inside into the first chicane but locked up. Antonelli, however, tried the cutback but got himself on the marbles and onto the gravel.
But on the very next lap, Antonelli finally took the race lead for good on the run up to the Ascari chicane to complete a sensational comeback drive from 19th on the grid.
At the chequered flag, Antonelli became the first Italian since Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966 to win at Monza. Russell followed his team-mate home in second, followed by Verstappen.
Heading into the Spanish GP, at the Madring, Antonelli holds an extended 66-point lead over Russell in the championship.
READ MORE – Charles Leclerc out of F1 Italian GP after dramatic crash causes red flag
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