Italian GP 2026: Antonelli beats Russell at Monza from 19th

Kimi Antonelli won the Italian Grand Prix from 19th on the grid, passing his Mercedes teammate George Russell with three laps to go at Monza and finishing 3.857 seconds clear. Max Verstappen was third for Red Bull, almost 15 seconds back. It was Antonelli's seventh win of the season and the first by an Italian at Monza since Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966.

How Antonelli won from 19th on the grid

A power unit penalty sent Antonelli to the back half of the grid, while Pierre Gasly took the first pole of his career for Alpine. Russell was ahead of Gasly by the start of lap 2. That lap ended Charles Leclerc's afternoon: under pressure from Oscar Piastri, he lost the Ferrari on the exit of the Parabolica and hit the barrier hard. He was checked at the medical centre and released.

The red flag helped the man coming through. Antonelli had already gained six places on the opening lap, restarted 12th, and by lap 18 he led, having picked off Norris, Gasly, Piastri and Verstappen on the way. Verstappen had briefly taken the lead from Russell on lap 12 before Russell took it back.

The two Mercedes then swapped places several times until the pit wall told them to stop, with Verstappen still close. The race turned on a virtual safety car, called when Lance Stroll's Aston Martin stopped with a hydraulics problem. Antonelli pitted for mediums under it. Russell, leading on hards, stayed out, and Antonelli rejoined around 14 seconds behind.

He ran the gap down, then nearly threw it away on lap 49 with a trip through the gravel at the first chicane. A lap later he was back on Russell's tail and passed him on the run to Ascari, after Russell had run wide defending. Russell, whose hards had faded, was booed by part of the crowd on the podium.

Antonelli vs Russell and the other teammate duels

Mercedes. Russell had the edge on Saturday, by 0.302% of lap time, which counted for little once the penalty was applied. Sunday was Antonelli's. In our count he leads their head-to-head 7–6 in qualifying and 7–4 in races, a closer fight than the points table suggests.

McLaren. Piastri out-qualified Lando Norris but took a grid penalty and started sixth, two places ahead of him. Norris, who also had a brake issue, spent the closing laps on his teammate's gearbox and took fourth by 0.197 seconds at the flag. On F1 Duels, Norris leads Piastri 8–5 on Saturdays and 5–3 on Sundays.

Ferrari. Leclerc beat Lewis Hamilton in qualifying by 0.009% of lap time, about as small as a margin gets. The two touched at the first chicane and Hamilton went through the gravel, telling his team he had been pushed off. Our model excludes the race duel, so Hamilton vs Leclerc stays at 5–8 in qualifying and 6–5 in races. Hamilton recovered to sixth, missed the cheap stop under the VSC, and called the day "a bit devastating".

Alpine. Gasly's pole did not become a podium. He was passed by Antonelli, Hamilton, Piastri and Verstappen and finished seventh, still two places ahead of Franco Colapinto, who lost time with an off. Gasly leads that pairing 10–3 in qualifying and 9–3 in races.

What it means for the title

Antonelli leaves Monza 66 points ahead of Russell, up from 59, with Hamilton third and 76 behind. Aston Martin left with nothing: Fernando Alonso started from the pit lane, went off at the second Lesmo and retired with damage. Behind them, Alpine cut Racing Bulls' lead in the fight for fifth among the constructors to 13 points. Every duel from the race is on our Italian GP page.