Antonelli beats Russell to Italian Grand Prix win with stunning comeback drive

Kimi Antonelli rose from the rear of the grid to claim victory in Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix, capping off a brilliant comeback drive by passing Mercedes team mate and title rival George Russell in the closing laps.

Antonelli started his home race down in 19th position after an engine penalty, with Russell on the front row of the grid, but the youngster rapidly climbed to the front of the field via a devastating blend of raw pace and smart overtaking.

A mid-race Virtual Safety Car played its part in the outcome, when Antonelli opted to pit under caution for a fresh set of medium tyres, and Russell stayed out on used hards, which gradually faded and made his life more difficult.

Aside from a brief trip through the gravel as he attacked Russell late on, Antonelli could not be faulted across 53 laps at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza – making another huge statement in his quest for the 2026 world title.

Russell had to settle for second place, crossing the line some four seconds behind Antonelli, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen completed the podium finishers in a determined display that also featured several bold passes.

Lando Norris beat McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri to fourth via their own close fight, with Lewis Hamilton the lead Ferrari in sixth after team mate Charles Leclerc crashed heavily at the final corner on the second lap of the race.

After his breakthrough pole position, and a promising start, Pierre Gasly struggled to keep up with the front-runners and fell to seventh, as Arvid Lindblad, Franco Colapinto (who did well to recover from an off-track moment) and Yuki Tsunoda completed the points.

Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg were next up in their Audi machines, the latter involved in a Turn 4 scrap with Liam Lawson that was looked at by the stewards, while Carlos Sainz took 13th for Williams.

The aforementioned Lawson ended his second substitute weekend for Red Bull in P14, ahead of Haas pair Ollie Bearman and Esteban Ocon, Albon in the other Williams and the Cadillacs of Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas.

Both Aston Martin drivers joined Leclerc on the sidelines later in the race – Fernando Alonso returning to the pits with suspected car damage and Lance Stroll pulling off the track due to a hydraulics issue.

AS IT HAPPENED

Gasly and Alpine delivered the shock of the season so far during Saturday’s Qualifying session at Monza, making the most of their recent chassis upgrades – and Mercedes power unit – to claim a sensational pole position.

Russell, beaten by Gasly in a game of online chess beforehand, took second position, with Piastri initially third before the stewards docked him three places on the grid for impeding Lawson in the Q2 phase.

That promoted Leclerc and Hamilton for an all-Ferrari second row, and Verstappen to fifth, while championship leader Antonelli dropped from seventh to the back of the grid due to his power unit-related penalty.

Albon and Lawson also served engine penalties, with Lawson later being required to start from the pit lane after changes to his Red Bull’s rear wing assembly under parc ferme conditions – Alonso joining him there due to his own post-Qualifying power unit changes.

As the 53-lap encounter approached, via a special demonstration run from Sebastian Vettel in Michael Schumacher’s 2002 Ferrari, intrigue grew as to whether or not Gasly would have the raw pace to convert his unexpected pole into victory.

There was also widespread expectation of early drama, given the different battery deployment patterns seen across teams and cars through Free Practice and Qualifying, and how that could lead to back-and-forth overtakes up and down the field.

Just before 1500 local time, with cars in position on the grid, it was revealed that Gasly and Russell would be starting the race on the medium tyre, while Leclerc, Hamilton and Verstappen all went more aggressive with the soft compound.

Other drivers on mediums were Piastri, Colapinto, Norris, Lindblad, Hulkenberg, Albon and Lawson, with Bortoleto, Bearman, Sainz, Ocon, Bottas, Perez and Stroll going for softs, and Tsunoda, Antonelli and Alonso choosing hards.

As the five red lights went out, polesitter Gasly made a smooth getaway to hold the lead over Russell into the first chicane, where Ferrari pair Leclerc and Hamilton went wheel-to-wheel – the latter seemingly forced into the gravel and tumbling down the order.

“Charles pushed me off!” Hamilton shouted over the radio a few moments later, as the seven-time World Champion briefly fell out of the points-paying positions. Behind, Piastri and Verstappen came close to contact themselves, as the Dutchman snuck ahead for P4.

Heading onto the second lap, Russell tucked in behind Gasly and made a clean move stick into the first chicane, where Leclerc also got ahead of the Alpine, only for the Frenchman to come back fighting into the second chicane and regain a place.

Drama then struck for Leclerc, who held a couple of slides in the middle sector and fell behind Verstappen, before losing control of his Ferrari exiting the Curva Alboreto and slamming into the barriers. Race Control initial deployed the Safety Car, before throwing a red flag.

Thankfully, Leclerc got out of his heavily damaged Ferrari unaided and looked to be unharmed. He then hopped over the barriers and crouched down – head in hands – in the shade, bringing back memories of Mika Hakkinen’s race-ending despair at Monza in 1999.

As the remaining 21 cars returned to the pits, Russell headed the queue from Gasly, Verstappen and a fast-starting Colapinto. McLaren pair Piastri and Norris held fifth and sixth, with Lindblad, Hamilton, Bearman and Ocon rounding out the top 10.

Antonelli had already worked his way up to 12th, splitting Audi duo Bortoleto and Hulkenberg, followed by Tsunoda, Lawson, Sainz, Perez, Albon and Bottas, as the Aston Martins of Stroll and Alonso completed the train.

After a period of barrier repairs, the pack headed out of the pits for a standing start. Most drivers were now on hards: Russell, Gasly, Colapinto, Piastri, Norris, Lindblad, Bearman, Ocon, Hulkenberg, Lawson, Sainz, Albon and Stroll. Meanwhile, Verstappen, Hamilton, Bortoleto, Antonelli, Tsunoda and Bottas were on mediums, and Perez and Alonso were on softs.

With Tsunoda missing his grid slot and lining up out of position, the start procedure was abandoned, meaning one more lap before the race got going again. When it did, Russell nailed his getaway to slot in front of Gasly, as Colapinto initially got the jump on Verstappen – only for the latter to reclaim P3 with a bold move at the second chicane.

Colapinto then hit trouble when he dramatically ran off the track and through the gravel at Lesmo 1, promoting the squabbling Hamilton and Piastri to P4 and P5. A lap later, the other Alpine of Gasly also lost ground when Verstappen charged past him down the back straight.

Incredibly, Antonelli was already up to seventh position, with his sights now set on the McLarens of Norris and Piastri – the Italian managing to edge in front of the reigning World Champion in an entertaining battle over the next few laps.

Lindblad, Tsunoda and Bearman held the final top-10 places, from Lawson, Hulkenberg, Ocon and Bortoleto, with Colapinto all the way down in 16th, between the Williams cars of Sainz and Albon, following his off-track excursion.

At the start of Lap 10, Gasly lost another position to Hamilton on the run down to the first chicane, before being swallowed up by Piastri and Antonelli in quick succession – the Alpine not enjoying quite so much pace in race conditions.

A couple of laps later, Verstappen jumped Russell for the lead at that popular first chicane overtaking spot, with Piastri also managing to make a move on Hamilton and get himself back into the podium places. Antonelli then followed Piastri through for P4 at the second chicane, as his phenomenal rise continued.

Despite his best efforts, Verstappen could not shake off Russell’s Mercedes as the race developed – the Briton fighting back to reclaim P1 into the second chicane on Lap 15, before Antonelli repeated the move on the four-time champion next time around.

“The car is completely broken on the rear axle,” reported Verstappen at this point, as he watched Antonelli close in on team mate Russell. When the trio headed onto Lap 18, Antonelli completed his back-of-the-grid charge by taking the lead from Russell into Turn 1.

Behind, Piastri and Hamilton continued their battle for fourth, ahead of Gasly, Norris, Lindblad, Tsunoda and Bearman. Bortoleto and Hulkenberg remained just outside the points – the latter involved in an incident with Lawson at Turn 4 that was noted and then dismissed by the stewards.

As predicted pre-race, the differing battery deployments led to a thrilling back-and-forth battle between Antonelli and Russell – the former falling behind at the first chicane and fighting back at the second chicane on multiple occasions.

TV cameras cut to Mercedes boss Toto Wolff in the middle of their squabble, with heart rates in the Mercedes garage no doubt raised when the team mates came perilously close to making contact through the Curva Grande on Lap 22.

“Kimi, we’re going to try and stop yo-yoing; we just need to build that gap to Verstappen,” was the message to Antonelli at this point. “Yeah right, and in the meantime, he passed me,” came the youngster’s response. “Do you want me just to sit behind, or what?”.

The tension stepped up a gear at the start of Lap 26 when Antonelli went too deep at the first chicane and ran over the inside strip of gravel – Verstappen continuing to watch on from third position, and ready to pounce on any opportunity.

Elsewhere, Alonso became the second retirement of the day due to suspected car damage. That became both Aston Martins when Stroll stopped with a hydraulic issue shortly afterwards. Hulkenberg, Ocon and Sainz pitted immediately, with Antonelli (taking on more mediums) and Verstappen (hards) doing the same a lap later.

Russell stayed out and pressed on in the lead, ahead of Piastri, Hamilton, Norris and Gasly, with Antonelli and Verstappen rejoining in P6 and P7, from Lindblad, Tsunoda and Bortoleto. Would this favour Russell in clear air? Or could Antonelli and Verstappen carve their way through the cars ahead?

Antonelli and Verstappen made light work of Gasly’s Alpine and Norris’ McLaren, putting them up to fourth and fifth almost immediately. With some 20 laps remaining, the pair sat just over 10 seconds away from race leader Russell, who was doing his best to pump in consistently quick times – and had been noted for a potential yellow flag infringement.

A mistake from Hamilton into the first chicane on Lap 35 handed another position to Antonelli. “Kimi 25.0,” Russell was told over the radio, in reference to his team mate’s lap times. “Just let me drive. I’m driving as quick as I can,” he firmly responded.

Only a lap later, Antonelli cleared Piastri into the first chicane for P2 – nine seconds now standing between himself and Russell, and a potential home win. Moments later, the stewards’ note involving Russell was ominously stepped up to a full investigation.

Behind the Silver Arrows, Verstappen slotted back into the podium places with overtakes on Hamilton and Piastri. Norris remained sixth, over Gasly, Lindblad and Tsunoda, while Colapinto had recovered to 10th and the final point on offer as things stood.

“Are the lap times good enough at the moment?” Russell asked over the radio with 15 laps to go. “Kimi’s forecast to catch [you] right at the end of the race,” came the response. But would Russell’s efforts all be undone by a penalty? The stewards’ subsequent ‘no further action’ message confirmed a straight fight to the chequered flag.

While Antonelli did all he could to catch Russell, more battling ensued between Verstappen and Piastri, and Norris and Hamilton, behind them – the positions changing several times and the action looking set to run and run over the closing tours.

“The tyre is opening up,” said Russell as he headed into the final 10 laps, with the concern in his voice growing. “Let’s take no risks. Just bring it home,” was the follow-up message from the Mercedes pit wall, as they braced for another intra-team scrap.

With five laps to go, Antonelli had Russell in his sights, and a move for the win looked inevitable. He got close heading into the first chicane on Lap 49, only to run wide at the exit, put all four wheels in the gravel and drop back.

Antonelli was not going to let the chance of a home win slip, however, and he soon recovered to challenge Russell once more – this time making a pass stick between Lesmo 2 and the Ascari chicane midway through Lap 50, and then storming into the distance.

While Antonelli duly confirmed victory over Russell, and Verstappen followed them home for a well-deserved podium, Norris grabbed fourth from team mate Piastri in a tight wheel-to-wheel moment through the Curva Grande – the Briton not impressed by such fine margins.

Hamilton salvaged sixth on a difficult day for Ferrari, from original P1 starter Gasly, Lindblad, Colapinto and Tsunoda, though the latter will be making a trip to the stewards post-race for a potential start procedure infringement.

Bortoleto and Hulkenberg followed for Audi, in front of Sainz, Lawson, the Haas cars of Bearman and Ocon, and Albon, while Perez and Bottas were the final drivers to reach the flag after Alonso, Stroll and Leclerc’s respective retirements.

Key quote

“Unbelievable! I’m so happy,” said Antonelli. “I could never have imagined to be here today, but we managed to pull it off. It’s a dream coming true. What an incredible day. I couldn’t do it without my team, family and everyone who supports me. Still a few races to go, so we’re going to keep our head down, but now we’re going to enjoy today.”

What’s next

In a back-to-back sequence of races, F1 moves straight on to Madrid for the Spanish Grand Prix over the weekend of September 11-13. Head to the RACE HUB to find out how you can follow the action from the new Madring circuit.