This weekend Formula 1 returned to Monza, located just outside Milan in northern Italy and one of the oldest, fastest and most iconic circuits on the calendar. Long known as The Temple of Speed, this year’s Italian Grand Prix there proved to be an absolute thriller as Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli increased his Drivers’ Championship lead with a hard-fought victory from 19th on the grid, being the first Italian to win his home race since Ludivico Scarfiotti back in 1966.

With McLaren’s Lando Norris now contracted to the Woking-based team until at least the end of 2030, the reigning champion arrived in Italy hoping to make it three wins in a row for the first time in his F1 career following his recent successes in Hungary and the Netherlands, and was helped by the introduction of a new low-drag rotating rear wing. However, Ferrari had similar ideas as the famous team from Maranello sought a home victory in front of its adoring tifosi fans, assisted by engine upgrades and further aerodynamic tweaks. Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar remained sidelined by a wrist fracture caused in a summer boxing mishap, and, as in the Netherlands, Liam Lawson continued to cover for him, with Yuki Tsunoda again getting a further outing for Racing Bulls.

Mercedes knew that at some stage it would need to replace power unit elements on Antonelli’s car, which would incur grid penalties due to being outside the season’s allocation, and, despite being the young Italian’s home event, it was decided that Monza would be the best round to do so, as overtaking here would be easier than elsewhere. As a result, after a full power unit change, the Drivers’ Championship clear leader was set to start the race from the rear of the grid, which was actually a positive for him as it took some of the pressure to deliver off the shoulders of the now 20-year-old. The other Mercedes driver, George Russell, could well potentially face something similar in terms of a grid penalty later this season, but at least at Monza he knew that, with Antonelli having absolutely nothing to gain in qualifying, the Italian would seek to help give him aerodynamic tows on the fast straights during qualifying.

Over the years Ferraris have often tended to set the early pace on F1 weekends at Monza, and Friday’s opening free practice session simply followed this trend, as Charles Leclerc led the way from Lewis Hamilton. But, later the same day, Russell topped the timing screens ahead of Leclerc, before the British driver again went fastest in final practice ahead of the all-important qualifying hour on Saturday afternoon.

Italy has long waited for a truly successful Formula 1 driver to support, and this is now very much the case with Antonelli, who has become a national sporting hero despite his youth, and, come qualifying, this of course left Ferrari’s massed tifosi fans at Monza with a dilemma as to whether to get behind their iconic national team, as usual, or to show a preference for their favourite driver, who just happens to compete for Mercedes.

Saturday proved to be another awful day at the office for the Aston Martin team, as both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were eliminated in Q1 as the two slowest cars ontrack, outpaced even by the Cadillacs. Then, Hamilton survived Q2 elimination by a mere one thousandth of a second ahead of Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto before the focus shifted to the top ten Q3 shootout. Russell looked set to take pole position before he was usurped by a stunning final effort from Alpine’s Mercedes-powered Pierre Gasly, who helped himself to a first-ever Formula 1 pole and at the circuit where he had won his sole F1 victory to date too. Who says F1 is predictable?

What a weekend it was proving to be for the French driver, claiming his inaugural pole position so soon after losing his podium finish from the Monaco Grand Prix in the FIA’s International Court of Appeal. Meanwhile, the McLaren of Oscar Piastri and the Ferrari of Leclerc were set to occupy the second row on the grid, but the Australian was later given a three-place grid penalty for impeding Lawson, which promoted Hamilton to fourth.

Pierre Gasly earned a thoroughly deserved pole position for Alpine

Qualifying well is important, but Sunday is when the points are earned on a normal Grand Prix weekend, and the pre-race atmosphere at Monza was, as always, special. Antonelli was joined at the rear of the grid by Lawson and Williams’ Alex Albon due to power unit penalties, but up front the focus was on who would lead into and out of the first chicane on the crucial opening lap, which proved to be eventful. Russell gained an early advantage over Gasly, and, as the Ferraris squabbled, Verstappen climbed to third.

Worse was to follow for Leclerc, as he had a huge crash at the end of the Parabolica on lap two, leaving him winded and bitterly disappointed and causing a red flag race stoppage for barrier repairs. So, what a nightmare start it proved to be for Ferrari, with Leclerc out and Hamilton dropping from fourth to eighth. In contrast, Antonelli quietly made his way up to 12th position before the stoppage and thus was already almost in the points.

At the restart, Russell, Gasly, Verstappen and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto headed the grid, and the Grand Prix proved a feast of close racing and overtaking, leaving the renowned tifosi ecstatic about young Antonelli’s amazing drive from 19th to victory as they transferred allegiances and forgot about Ferrari’s poor showing.

Russell had initially looked very likely to win, but Verstappen claimed the lead from him on lap 12, with a flying Antonelli rising to third place just one tour later. Soon Russell was back out front, but Antonelli had also dispatched Verstappen for second place before leading himself by lap 18. A great scrap followed, and Russell was back out front five tours later.

A Virtual Safety Car intervention followed after Stroll had been instructed to park his car trackside with a hydraulic issue, and, although Mercedes kept Russell on the circuit, they called Antonelli in for fresh tyres, as did Red Bull with Verstappen. This left Russell with a 15-second advantage over his teammate, but the latter gradually clawed his way back from sixth to second, still eight seconds behind Russell with 16 laps remaining. Soon the young Italian was posting fastest laps, while his teammate started to suffer from tyre wear, and on lap 50 Antonelli swept past Russell for the lead and a victory that will go down in F1 history. Verstappen joined them on the post-race podium, with Norris, Piastri and Hamilton completing the top six finishers.

The result left Antonelli with an increased 66-point lead over Russell in the Drivers’ rankings, as Mercedes also furthered its advantage over Ferrari.

Next up comes another first for Formula 1, as in a few days’ time the sport makes its first visit to the brand new Madring venue in Spain’s capital city, Madrid, after Barcelona had hosted the Spanish Grand Prix for many years.



2026 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix
1 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) 1hr51m15.281s
2 George Russell (Mercedes) +3.857s
3 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +14.718s
4 Lando Norris (McLaren) +19.056s
5 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +19.253s
6 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +24.655s
7 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +27.351s
8 Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) +45.136s
9 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +47.353s
10 Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls) +58.187s
11 Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) +1m5.187s
12 Nico Hülkenberg (Audi) +1m6.187s
13 Carlos Sainz (Williams) +1m14.117s
14 Liam Lawson (Red Bull) +1m15.609s
15 Oliver Bearman (Haas) +1m18.958s
16 Esteban Ocon (Haas) Lapped
17 Alex Albon (Williams) Lapped
18 Sergio Pérez (Cadillac) Lapped
19 Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) Lapped
20 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) Retired
21 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) Retired
22 Charles Leclerc(Ferrari) Retired



2026 Drivers’ Championship
1 Kimi Antonelli 267
2 George Russell 201
3 Lewis Hamilton 191

2026 Constructors’ Championship
1 Mercedes 468
2 Ferrari 346
3 McLaren 287