F1 news: Kimi Antonelli claims home victory at Italian Grand Prix

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver Kimi Antonelli won the 2026 Italian Grand Prix on Sunday at Autodromo Nazionale Monza.

Starting from 19th position on the grid due to power-unit penalties, the 20-year-old phenom executed a relentless drive through the field. 

He became the first Italian driver to triumph on home soil since Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966.

Antonelli capitalized on an early red-flag restart caused by Charles Leclerc’s crash and utilized a fresh set of medium tires taken under a Virtual Safety Car period. 

He also closed down team-mate George Russell in the closing stages, executing a late pass to seal his seventh victory of the season by 3.857 seconds.

“I did not expect to win today, it is unbelievable. I am so happy we managed to pull it off. It was quite scary at times, the tarmac was breaking up,” Antonelli said, as quoted by ESPN.

1-2 for Mercedes 

The victory marked a dominant 1-2 result for Mercedes, though Russell admitted feeling caught off guard by the tactical calls late in the race. 

Russell led a significant portion of the Grand Prix on a one-stop strategy but struggled with tire degradation during the final stint on hard compound rubber. He placed second.

“Huge congrats to Kimi for an incredible result. It looked like a strong race for us but we were struggling with the tires at the end. I’ll take it but I would have loved to win,” he said, as also quoted by ESPN.

Meanwhile, Max Verstappen who came third, said: “There were some good battles out there. Top speed wasn’t our friend today, I tried to do my own race as the Mercedes were just faster than us.”

Antonelli’s victory extends his championship lead over Russell to 66 points heading into the final races of the season.

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