Antonelli wins Monza from 19th on the Grid

Kimi Antonelli rose from the back of the grid to win Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix, capping off a brilliant recovery drive by passing Mercedes teammate and championship rival George Russell in the closing laps to extend his lead in the standings.

A P19 to P1 recovery on home soil

Antonelli started his home race down in 19th position after an engine penalty, with Russell lining up on the front row. The young Mercedes driver climbed rapidly through the field, combining raw pace with a series of smart, decisive overtakes to reach the front by the finish.

A mid-race Virtual Safety Car played a key role in how the race unfolded. Antonelli used the caution period to pit for a fresh set of medium tyres, while Russell chose to stay out on his used hard tyres, which gradually lost performance and made his final stint increasingly difficult to manage.

A near flawless drive at Monza

Aside from a brief moment through the gravel while attacking Russell late in the race, Antonelli was faultless across all 53 laps at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, delivering another strong statement in his bid for the 2026 world title.

Russell had to settle for second place, crossing the line around four seconds behind his teammate. Max Verstappen completed the podium for Red Bull Racing, in a determined drive that also featured several bold overtaking moves.

Italian Grand Prix 2026 race result

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