Monza, Sept. 6 — Kimi Antonelli produced one of the drives of the season to win the Italian Grand Prix on home soil, charging from 19th on the grid to the top step of the podium at Monza and extending his stranglehold on the championship.
The Mercedes driver had been demoted to the back of the grid after taking power-unit penalties, but wasted no time clawing his way forward, working up to 12th before a red flag halted the race early when Charles Leclerc crashed out at the Parabolica on lap two.
After the restart, Antonelli kept carving through traffic and seized the race lead on lap 18. A virtual safety car on lap 29 handed him a free pit stop and fresh medium tyres, while teammate George Russell was left to defend on older hards, a strategic gap that set up the day’s decisive battle. Antonelli’s first attempt to pass Russell for the lead failed, but he made it stick on lap 50 and controlled the race from there to the flag, crossing the line 3.857 seconds clear.
“I believed in it, especially when I was behind George, but it was really difficult to break away with the tow being so strong,” Antonelli said afterward. Russell was gracious in defeat, saying, “Huge congratulations to Kimi, an incredible result from him.”
Max Verstappen completed the podium in third for Red Bull, ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in fourth and fifth. Lewis Hamilton finished sixth for Mercedes, with Pierre Gasly seventh for Alpine and Arvid Lindblad eighth for Racing Bulls.
The win was Antonelli’s seventh of the season and stretches his championship lead over Russell to 66 points, putting the Italian on course to become his country’s first Formula 1 World Champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953, a milestone that would make Sunday’s victory at Monza, in front of his home crowd, all the more fitting.