Kimi Antonelli started the Italian Grand Prix 19th on the grid and finished it on the top step of the podium at Monza, passing his own team-mate George Russell at Ascari on lap 50 of 53 to become the first Italian to win his home race since Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966. It is the sort of drive that reorganises a championship and a career in a single afternoon, and it earns the highest mark of the season so far in these ratings.
Behind him, Pierre Gasly turned the weekend’s other headline: a maiden pole position for himself and Alpine, converted into a seventh-place finish that flattered nobody but the driver. Ferrari, meanwhile, had the sort of home Sunday that does not bear rewatching.
Antonelli: 10/10, and no argument
An engine-related penalty put Antonelli 19th on the grid, which made the win the second-lowest winning grid slot in Formula 1 history behind John Watson’s charge from 22nd at Long Beach in 1983. The lap-two red flag, triggered when Charles Leclerc spun into the barriers, reset the race but did not hand Antonelli anything: he still had a field to clear.
The decisive moment came with the virtual safety car on lap 29, deployed when Lance Stroll stopped. Mercedes split their cars — Antonelli took fresh mediums, Russell stayed out on worn hards. Antonelli rejoined 14.3 seconds adrift with 24 laps left, and the closing sequence was the best part. He hunted Russell down, went for the move at Turn One, ran wide on the breaking tarmac at the apex, reset without losing his temper or the tyres, and made it stick at Ascari three laps from home. Toto Wolff compared his traffic management to Lewis Hamilton’s, and on this evidence it was not hyperbole.
- Kimi Antonelli — 10: 19th to first, at Monza, without a single scruffy lap.
- George Russell — 8: Qualified second, led most of the afternoon, lost to a better tyre and a faster team-mate. Booed on the podium by a crowd that was never going to be neutral. He deserved better than that reception.
- Max Verstappen — 8: Third and 14.7s back in a Red Bull that has no business being near Mercedes at the moment. Maximum extraction.
Gasly’s weekend: the best Saturday of his career
Gasly’s pole lap was the surprise of the season, and it was not a fluke of the fuel loads — he put an Alpine ahead of both Mercedes on merit and then held the lead from Russell at the start. That the car eventually slid back to seventh, 27.4 seconds behind the winner, says everything about race pace and nothing about the driver. Franco Colapinto backing him up in ninth gave Alpine a double points finish they could not have projected on Friday.
- Pierre Gasly — 9: Maiden pole, defended the lead cleanly, brought home the maximum the car had on Sunday.
- Lando Norris — 7 / Oscar Piastri — 7: Fourth and fifth, split by two tenths, McLaren quietly banking points while the story happened elsewhere.
- Lewis Hamilton — 7: Forced into the gravel by Leclerc at the start and still recovered to sixth. A salvage job in a weekend that gave Ferrari nothing.
- Arvid Lindblad — 8: Eighth for Racing Bulls, ahead of Yuki Tsunoda in the sister car. The rookie keeps making the case.
- Charles Leclerc — 3: Out on lap two at his team’s home race, having also pushed his team-mate wide. A weekend to file away.
What it means for the title
Monza’s 50th world championship round has effectively settled the shape of the season. Antonelli leaves Italy on 267 points to Russell’s 201 — a 66-point cushion between two drivers in identical machinery, which is the only fair comparison in Formula 1. Hamilton is third on 191, Norris fourth on 171, Leclerc fifth on 155 and Verstappen sixth on 127.
Mercedes lead the constructors’ championship on 468 from Ferrari’s 346, McLaren on 287 and Red Bull on 204. The intra-team fight is now Mercedes’ only real competition, and Russell’s problem is that his team-mate is winning races from the fifth row.
For Ferrari, a home weekend that produced one DNF, one gravel trap and 24.7 seconds of deficit is the sort of result that shapes winter conversations. For Alpine, a first pole and nine points is a genuine step. And for Italian motorsport, a 20-year-old has ended a 60-year wait in the only place it would have mattered.
**Sources:** [The Race — 2026 Italian GP race results](https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/f1-2026-italian-grand-prix-race-results/), [RacingNews365 — Monza results](https://racingnews365.com/2026-f1-italian-grand-prix-monza-results)
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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