Marco Rossi · F1-Korrespondent
A driver starting from 19th place wins his home race, a Ferrari crashes in the Parabolica, and the Tifosi experience an afternoon between terror and ecstasy.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli won the Italian Grand Prix on September 6, 2026, at Monza after having to start from 19th on the grid due to a power unit penalty. It marks the first victory for an Italian driver at Monza since 1966, achieved following a red flag, a heavy crash by Charles Leclerc, and a strategic shift triggered by a Virtual Safety Car phase in the race's second half.
A Ferrari crashes, the race comes to a halt
The starting lineup already promised drama, with Pierre Gasly delivering a surprise pole position in the Alpine while Mercedes had to send its championship leader from the back due to a power unit penalty. What unfolded at the start exceeded every expectation. At the first chicane, the two Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton made contact, with Leclerc reportedly pushing Hamilton hard to the outside, forcing him through the gravel and back to tenth place. Hamilton made his displeasure heard over team radio.
The real shock came moments later. Defending against Oscar Piastri, Leclerc lost control not under braking but mid-acceleration through the high-speed Parabolica at the end of the second lap: his left tires caught the green-painted run-off area beyond the white line, the Ferrari snapped out, and struck the tire barrier at high speed. Race control immediately deployed the red flag to repair the damaged track barrier. Leclerc was able to exit his car under his own power and was declared fit at the medical center, but his race was over, right in front of his own Tifosi. Regarding the earlier incident with Hamilton, he later acknowledged that it had simply been too tight in the first chicane and that such contact between teammates was something he did not want to see.
From the back through the field: Antonelli's charge
The restart after the red flag became Antonelli's stage. Starting from 19th, he worked through the field at a remarkable pace, already in the points by lap 15. Monza's straights suited the Mercedes power unit just as much as a series of bold, late-braking maneuvers through the chicanes, turning an early-grid disadvantage into a genuine charge within mere laps.
The decisive strategic opportunity came from a Virtual Safety Car period triggered by Lance Stroll's retirement on lap 26, when he came to rest at the Turn 1 approach with a suspected technical failure. Just before that, Fernando Alonso had also parked his Aston Martin with damage, a double retirement for the British team on an already difficult weekend. For Mercedes, the VSC window opened an opportunity for a favorable tire change: Antonelli switched to fresh medium tires while teammate George Russell, who had worked his way past Gasly and assumed the lead, stayed out on his older hard rubber.
The duel with Russell and a historic moment
With fresher rubber, Antonelli's deficit to Russell melted away quickly from around twelve seconds to nearly nothing. A lap before the decisive move, he was right there: at the first chicane, Russell locked up and couldn't exit the corner optimally, and Antonelli attempted his attack right there, briefly sliding through the gravel himself. But on lap 50 of 53, he made his decisive move: with DRS support, he passed Russell before Ascari and held on to the victory until the checkered flag. Russell took second, Max Verstappen secured third with a solid charge through the field, while Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri fought a tight battle throughout and crossed the line fourth and fifth. Lewis Hamilton salvaged points for Ferrari after his early setback and finished sixth, the only consolation for the Scuderia on an afternoon that had begun with Leclerc's retirement.
For Antonelli, the victory means far more than three additional points in an already comfortable championship lead. A 19th-place-grid win at home, on a track where Italian fans have waited sixty years for a homegrown winner, should further cement his standing in the paddock and build his championship lead comfortably at the top of the standings. For Ferrari, meanwhile, the day remains a setback with lingering consequences, both technical and personal, and how the team handles the incident between its two drivers internally will likely linger in the weeks to come.
