#Antonelli captures sensational home #ItalianGP victory at Monza. #F1

Antonelli Italian GP Victory – From 19^th on the grid due to power-unit component changes, championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli scored a brilliant seventh-career victory at his home Italian GP ahead of Mercedes team-mate George Russell whilst four-time World Champion Max Verstappen completed the top three for Red Bull.

 

 

Antonelli’s lead in the World Driver’s Championship increased to 66 points over team-mate Russell as the sport heads straight to the Madring next weekend in Madrid, Spain for the Formula 1 Tag Heuer Gran Premio De Espana 2026.

 

In the World Constructor’s Championship Mercedes’ lead over Ferrari increased to 122 points whilst McLaren are a further 181 points adrift of the Silver Arrows in third. (468-346-287)

 

When the 53-lap Italian GP began, pole-sitter Gasly got a great start as Leclerc tried to overtake Russell, but the latter covered both Ferrari’s of Leclerc and Hamilton on the rundown to the Variante Del Rettifilo.

 

Both Leclerc and Hamilton ran wheel-to-wheel making contact and out of turn two of the Variante Del Rettifilo, the former who was just in-front pushed his team-mate off into the gravel as the latter fell back a few places.

 

On the beginning of the second tour, Russell made his way past Gasly towards the Variante Del Rettifilo as Leclerc also made his way by the Ferrari.

 

Gasly then re-past Leclerc as later on in the lap – Verstappen also made his way ahead of the SF-26 into the Variante Ascari.

 

At the Parabolica, both Leclerc and Piastri ran wheel-to-wheel and at the exit the former ran onto the white-line, lost the rear and spun into the gravel and took a heavy hit into the barriers side on.

 

Leclerc got out of the car and thankfully was unscathed.

 

Championship leader Antonelli was up into 12^th place.

 

The safety car was brought out and then the red flag to remove Leclerc’s SF-26 entry and repair the barriers.

 

Following a lengthy delay after Leclerc’s SF-26 entry was cleared and barriers repaired, the race would return with a standing start.

 

Racing Bulls’ Yuki Tsunoda made an error going into the wrong starting box and then was parked incorrectly forcing the field to have an extra formation tour.

 

When the standing re-start began on lap five – now pole-sitter Russell got a very solid start as Gasly ran wheel-to-wheel, but the former covered the latter into the Variante Del Rettifilo.

 

Colapinto was up into third briefly, but Verstappen made his way ahead of the Alpine as between the two Lesmos in the gravel trap – Colapinto had a wild excursion and dropped all the way down to 16^th.

 

The seventh lap – Russell was leading, Gasly was second and Verstappen in third. Piastri was in-front of Hamilton and Lindblad – reigning World Champion Norris was struggling with tyre warm up on his hards.

 

All eyes were on Antonelli, he got ahead Norris and was up to sixth place. The Championship leader was absolutely flying.

 

Haas’s Esteban Ocon had a bad start; he was down in 13^th.

 

The eighth tour – Gasly lost second place to Verstappen, the Dutchman using Overtake Mode to good effect past the Frenchman. Hamilton was ahead of Piastri, plenty of overtakes going on all over the place at Monza.

 

Antonelli was lining up a move on fifth-placed Piastri.

 

The beginning of lap 10 – Russell held a 1.3 second lead over Verstappen as Hamilton with overtake mode blasted past Gasly into the Variante Del Rettifilo to take third place, Piastri was fifth, Antonelli sixth, Norris seventh, Lindblad eighth, Tsunoda ninth as Bearman rounded out the top ten.

 

Later on, in the lap – Piastri also made his way past Gasly on the rundown towards the Variante Ascari to move into fourth whilst Antonelli also breezed past the Alpine near the Parabolica.

 

The 11^th lap – Russell lead but his lead had been cut – Verstappen was within a second of the lead Silver Arrow. Hamilton needed to get back to those two as the seven-time World Champion did not have Overtake Mode.

 

Lap 12 – Verstappen closed down the main-straight and he got Russell into the Variante Del Rettifilo.

 

Behind them, Piastri overtook Hamilton, Antonelli followed suit on the Ferrari.

 

It was Verstappen from Russell, Piastri and Antonelli with the latter only 2.4 seconds off the lead.

 

The 13^th lap – Antonelli started the race from 19th place and currently up into third place.

 

Russell was on the hards, Antonelli the mediums.

 

Lap 14 – Russell closed in on the Dutchman, he had half-a-look but pulled out of it. Verstappen held on. Russell had a look into the Variante Della Roggia chicane and still remained behind.

 

Further back, Hamilton ran wide and he had lost a place to Gasly – but the sole Ferrari had retaken fifth place.

 

The 15^th tour – Russell got a great run down Curva Grande and picked off Verstappen into the Variante Della Roggia chicane to re-take the lead.

 

Lap 16 – Russell lead from Verstappen and Antonelli – however, Antonelli past Verstappen taking seconds place from the Red Bull.

 

Piastri was fourth but starting to fall back. Hamilton in fifth, Gasly sixth and Norris seventh in-front of Lindblad, Tsunoda and Bearman.

 

Lap 17 – Verstappen had radioed to say his RB22 racer was broken on the rear axle – that was what he complained of yesterday in Qualifying.

 

Hamilton overtook Piastri for fourth place.

 

The 18^th tour – Antonelli was in the lead of his home Grand Prix from 19^th passing team-mate Russell into the Variante Del Rettifilo chicane.

 

Lap 19 – Russell had half-a-look into the Variante Del Rettifilo chicane but Verstappen doing likewise. There was just 0.8 seconds between the top three.

 

Piastri and Hamilton resumed their battle, the McLaren man just in-front of the Briton.

 

The 20^th lap – Russell got Antonelli into the Variante Del Rettifilo chicane, they were side-by-side, and then Antonelli got back past into the Variante Della Roggia chicane.

 

Lap 21 – Russell had half-a-look into the Variante Del Rettifilo, but there was nothing doing. No team orders at all for the duo. Both drivers were starting to drop Verstappen; the Red Bull driver was out of Overtake Mode range.

 

The 22^nd tour – Russell got the lead off team-mate Antonelli into the Variante Del Rettifilo, he was ahead, and ran wide, Antonelli had a look and switched across to re-take the lead into the Variante Della Roggia chicane.

 

The 23^rd lap – Russell took it into turn 1, and this time Antonelli did not fight back down Curva Grande and remained behind his team-mate.

 

Further back – both Red Bull’s Liam Lawson and Audi Nico Hulkenberg were under investigation by the stewards for an incident at turn four.

 

Lap 24 – Mercedes told their drivers to stop fighting, build a gap and then fight later on. Russell did not obey that. Antonelli stayed behind – but the Italian was not impressed.

 

The 25^th lap – Antonelli was told that he should remain behind, Russell would build the gap to Verstappen and then they would invert.

 

The 26^th tour – Antonelli ran straight off at the Variante Del Rettifilo chicane, and he now had some pretty gravely tyres as a result of the excursion. Behind, Verstappen had closed within-a- second on the Mercedes and had Overtake Mode.

 

Antonelli would need to start fighting back – they cannot call off the fight when the Dutchman remained in play.

 

Lap 27 – Russell lead on the harder tyres, Antonelli was second on the mediums. Verstappen held third, Piastri was fourth and still had Hamilton for company.

 

Then came Norris, Gasly, Lindblad, Tsunoda and Bearman.

 

Alonso had become the second retiree with damage.

 

On the 28^th lap – A Virtual Safety Car was deployed for Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll peeling off due to a technical issue – both Antonelli and Verstappen took the opportunity to box with the former on the mediums and Verstappen on the hards.

 

Antonelli dropped into sixth whilst Verstappen was right behind in seventh as the VSC ended.

 

Lap 30 – the top four are yet-to-pit with Russell leading by 5.7 seconds over Piastri with Hamilton third, Norris fourth, Antonelli up into fifth overtaking Gasly into the Variante Della Roggia Chicane, Verstappen seventh, Lindblad eighth, Tsunoda ninth whilst Colapinto rounded out the top ten and made-up places right at the end of the Virtual Safety Car period.

 

On lap 31 – Championship leader Antonelli was on the charge, setting a new fastest lap as he closed in on Norris and he overtook him with ease – Verstappen also breezed his way ahead of Gasly to move up into sixth place.

 

The 32^nd tour – Russell was 13 seconds ahead of Antonelli. The Italian was lapping around seven tenths faster. And there were lots of laps remaining.

 

Antonelli had four seconds to make up on Hamilton.

 

Lap 33 – Verstappen got past Norris into the Variante Del Rettifilo chicane, so the four-time World Champion was up to fifth. The Dutchman was around two seconds behind Antonelli.

 

Antonelli was just 2.5 seconds behind Hamilton, with the gap rapidly dropping.

 

Antonelli was 11.7 seconds behind team-mate Russell.

 

The 34^th tour – Russell had been noted for a yellow flag infringement.

 

The Briton lead Piastri by eight seconds so he was extending his lead over the McLaren driver -but the issue was Antonelli’s rapid pace behind.

 

The 35^th lap – “Just let me drive, I’m driving as quick as I can,” Russell said, after being told about Antonelli’s pace.

 

Further back, Hamilton misses the turn one chicane and Antonelli was through into third.

 

Lap 36 – Russell’s lead was 8.6 seconds over Piastri, and 9.7 seconds from his team-mate Antonelli in third. Hamilton was fourth and complaining about his tyres.

 

Verstappen was fifth and would be all over the Ferrari soon enough.

 

Norris was sixth, in-front of Gasly, Lindblad, Tsunoda and Colapinto.

 

The 37^th tour – Antonelli eased by Piastri, who did not fight that, with the gap to his team-mate at 8.9 seconds.

 

Behind them Verstappen got Hamilton with Piastri next on his radar.

 

Lap 38 – Russell was under investigation for the yellow flag infringement. The Briton’s lead was 8.3 seconds over his team-mate Antonelli – who was lapping nearly a second a lap faster.

 

Piastri was told about Russell’s investigation and given the hurry up in-case Russell gets hit with a time penalty.

 

The 39^th tour – Russell’s lead over Antonelli went under eight seconds. It was 7.8 seconds – Over the last lap, Antonelli was over half-a-second quicker.

 

Verstappen had just past Piastri for third place. That Red Bull was showing very good race pace.

 

Lap 40 – Race leader Russell set a new personal best lap and only lost three tenths on the last tour.

 

Russell’s yellow flag infringement verdict was no further investigation.

 

The 41^st lap – Russell lead by seven seconds. The laps were ticking down. Could the Briton hang on here was the question? Antonelli was not taking as much out of his team-mate per lap after his tyres took a beating navigating through the traffic.

 

Behind them, Piastri fought back and overtook Verstappen for third place.

 

Lap 42 – Antonelli was told he needs to lap in 1:24.5s, and his last tour was a 1:24.6s.

 

Further back, Verstappen locked up and goes straight on at the Variante Del Rettifilo chicane. That helped Norris behind, who was battling with Hamilton but would love to get back past the Dutchman later on.

 

It also helped Piastri in third place.

 

The 43^rd tour – Antonelli set a new personal best lap, and the gap is down to 5.5 seconds as Russell began to report about the hard tyres opening up, that were 39 laps old.

 

Further back, Verstappen got Piastri for third place again – he had cleaned up his tyres and suddenly looked good.

 

Lap 44 – Tsunoda could be on course for a point, Norris had a tough Italian Grand Prix, Hamilton was struggling after his initial recovery.

 

Antonelli was now 4.7 seconds behind team-mate Russell, seven-tenths coming out of that lead on the last tour.

 

The last time an Italian won this race was in 1966 courtesy of Ludovica Scarfiotti.

 

The 45^th lap – Antonelli started 19th. The championship leader was second. The home favourite was less than four-seconds behind. And he had fresher tyres.

 

But could Antonelli catch up with enough time to get past – and stay ahead was the question?

 

Lap 46 – The timing screens say the gap is 2.8 seconds as Russell was told Mercedes could see his tyre opening up.

 

“Take no risks. Bring this home,” Russell was told by race engineer Marcus Dudley.

 

The 47^th tour – The gap between the two Mercedes was 1.3 seconds with both race leader Russell and team-mate Antonelli.

 

Lap 48 – It was under a second, and Antonelli had the advantage of Overtake Mode. He was nine tenths behind; take no risks both would be told.

 

The 49^th lap – Antonelli looked close enough to make his move down the main-straight, but the Italian seemed indecisive for the first time.

 

He let Russell take his line, pulled out, and ran wide into the gravel trap

 

Antonelli kept his foot in enough to escape the gravel trap and came back out in second.

 

The Championship leader would have got past easily on the next straight.

 

Lap 50 – Antonelli came out the gravel trap with very dusty tyres. They were clean, he was back within-a-second as Russell was told to “keep it clean, no risks.”

 

And Antonelli grabbed the lead into the Variante Ascari.

 

Lap 51 – Behind the race leading Mercedes – Norris had finally found some pace and was fighting with team-mate – and ran onto the grass before backing out.

 

The penultimate tour – Russell was throwing everything he could – the Briton set a personal best somehow. But the gap was 1.2 seconds, and he did not have Overtake Mode.

 

Antonelli was so close to a famous win.

 

Verstappen was assured of third, as Piastri continued to hold team-mate Norris at bay in the battle for fourth.

 

Antonelli crossed the line to take a sensational home victory after starting 19^th on the grid by 3.8 seconds over team-mate Russell to make it a Mercedes one-two as Red Bull’s Verstappen completed the top three.

 

Reigning World Champion Norris lead his McLaren team-mate Piastri to take fourth place whilst the sole running Ferrari of Hamilton placed sixth.

 

Pole-starting Gasly settled for seventh and in-front of Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad who took eighth.

 

The other Alpine of Colapinto and Racing Bull of Tsunoda rounded out the final points’ places.

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2026 Italian GP – The Top Three

 

 

2026 Italian GP Winner – Andrea Kimi Antonelli, #12, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team – F1 W17 – (25 Points):

“I did not expect. Unbelievable. I am so happy. I could never have imagined to be here today. We managed to pull it off, and I am so, so happy. It was quite scary in the moment [going into the gravel] but I was like, maybe I lost my chance. Luckily, we still had the pace and managed to bring it home. After the second restart, I was up there and knew I had a shot for the win. Definitely I believed in it, especially when I was behind George.”

 

2^nd Place – George Russell, #63, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team, F1 W17 – +3.857s – (18 Points):

“Huge congrats to Kimi of course, incredible result from him. When I saw he was P5, P4 I knew he would be in the mix. I was just struggling with the tyres at the end. I’ll take it, it’s been more positive than it was pre-summer break. I thought we were both going to stay out, I was surprised to see him pitting. The team rolled the dice.”

 

3^rd Place – Max Verstappen, #3, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Ford-RBPT, RB22 – +14.718s – (15 Points):

“There were some good battles out there, I had to send it around the outside many times as I was struggling with deployment. I was trying to hang in there, but they were just too fast. Happy with P3 and to be on the podium here.”

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Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio D’Italia 2026 Race Results Classification (53 Laps)

 

 

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	53	1:51:15.281	25
2	63	George Russell	Mercedes	53	+3.857s	18
3	3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	53	+14.718s	15
4	1	Lando Norris	McLaren	53	+19.056s	12
5	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	53	+19.253s	10
6	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	53	+24.655s	8
7	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	53	+27.351s	6
8	41	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	53	+45.136s	4
9	43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	53	+47.353s	2
10	22	Yuki Tsunoda	Racing Bulls	53	+58.187s	1
11	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	53	+65.187s	0
12	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	53	+66.187s	0
13	55	Carlos Sainz	Williams	53	+74.117s	0
14	30	Liam Lawson	Red Bull Racing	53	+75.609s	0
15	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas F1 Team	53	+78.958s	0
16	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas F1 Team	52	+1 lap	0
17	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	52	+1 lap	0
18	11	Sergio Perez	Cadillac	52	+1 lap	0
19	77	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	51	+2 laps	0
NC	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	26	DNF	0
NC	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	23	DNF	0
NC	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1	DNF	0

* Provisional results.

https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2026/races/1293/italy/race-result

Click here for the 2026 Formula 1 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructor’s Championship Standings

 

Round 14 of the 2026 FIA Formula 1 World Championship heads to the new Madring Circuit in Madrid, Spain for the Formula 1 Tag Heuer Gran Premio De Espana 2026 from Friday September 11-Sunday September 13.

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