Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s home triumph was the obvious highlight at Monza, but the Italian GP offered plenty of other clues about the F1 order
The scene was set during FP1 at the 2024 Italian Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton was on his way out of Mercedes, and everyone knew he would be replaced by an inexperienced youngster. Mercedes was already preparing Andrea Kimi Antonelli for the step up, giving him an FP1 outing as soon as he turned 18. His first opportunity after reaching the required age came at his home race.
Antonelli climbed into George Russell’s Mercedes, headed out for his first run and immediately lost control, crashing into the barriers. Two years can make a remarkable difference.
On Sunday (6), that same 18-year-old who had crashed within his first few metres of F1 running returned to Monza as a 20-year-old championship leader and delivered the defining performance of his young career. Starting 19th after a power-unit penalty, Antonelli fought through the field and eventually beat Russell in a perfect reversal of expectations, turning his Monza nightmare from two years ago into one of the greatest home victories in recent F1 history.
Beyond Antonelli and Mercedes, Ferrari once again saw its drivers clash, although Charles Leclerc’s race lasted barely two laps before a heavy crash at the Parabolica.
There was plenty more to take from the Italian GP. Further down the field, several midfield teams revealed important clues about where they stand. And for the home crowd, there was the historic sight of an Italian driver winning at Monza for the first time in 60 years, since Ludovico Scarfiotti did it for Ferrari in 1966.
GRANDE PRÊMIO highlights five things we learned from the 2026 Italian Grand Prix.
Antonelli is now the “Record Boy”
The most striking aspect of Antonelli’s victory was arguably not the scale of his recovery from 19th, but the aggression with which he made it happen.
The 2026 championship leader — and now firmly in control of the title race — delivered perhaps his most confident and aggressive drive of the season. Yes, Mercedes’ power unit was a major advantage at Monza, and the team was always likely to recover into podium contention. That is not the point. What stood out was how comfortable Kimi looked attacking.
And attacking again.
And then attacking a little harder.
The victory came with an extraordinary collection of records and milestones. Antonelli became the first Italian to win at Monza in 60 years, the first Italian to stand on the podium at the circuit in 21 years and the 50th Italian winner in F1 history. He also matched the second-lowest starting position from which a driver has won a Grand Prix.
At 20 years and 12 days old, he also became the youngest driver ever to win his home Grand Prix.
Just 20 years old, but Kimi does not have the personality of a reckless kid anymore.
He is starting to look more like the Record Boy.
Mercedes left Russell vulnerable
Despite Antonelli’s dominant comeback, it is important to acknowledge that Mercedes ultimately chose which of its drivers would have the better strategic position.
When Lance Stroll stopped and triggered yellow flags, Mercedes had an opportunity to pit one driver. It chose to stop Antonelli and leave Russell out on worn hard tyres.
That meant Russell remained on the same set of hard tyres for almost the entire race, while Antonelli completed two stints on medium tyres. By the closing stages, George simply did not have enough tyre performance left to increase his pace or defend the lead.
Was it really necessary?
The championship was not under any immediate threat, and both Mercedes drivers had already pulled clear of their rivals. Mercedes appeared to be responding to Max Verstappen, who had stopped, but with the opposition no longer presenting a meaningful threat and so much of the race still remaining, it was obvious that the driver who stopped later would eventually have an advantage.
Mercedes itself later acknowledged that the strategy was risky, with Russell admitting he was surprised by the decision but accepting the team’s call.
The opening-lap incident involving Leclerc and Hamilton also distorted the race. Russell and Antonelli were effectively racing under completely different tyre circumstances, and by the end the younger Mercedes driver had the tools he needed to turn his recovery into victory.
Ferrari is starting to smell like sulfur
Leclerc crashed early, but Ferrari’s problems began even earlier.
At the start, Hamilton attacked at the first chicane at the end of Monza’s pit straight. Leclerc defended aggressively through the second part of the chicane, the two Ferrari drivers made contact and Hamilton was forced off the track, losing several positions.
There are two ways to assess the incident.
Leclerc defended extremely hard against a teammate, perhaps harder than would normally be recommended. But, at least from this journalist’s perspective, he remained within the boundaries of legality. Hamilton, meanwhile, was somewhat naive to attack in that manner, in front of the Italian crowd, while remaining on the outside through the second part of the chicane against a teammate with whom tensions had already been rising since the previous race.
There was little reason to expect that move to end cleanly.
This is the sort of problem that can still be fixed. It should probably have been addressed after Zandvoort, but the rivalry has continued to simmer.
If Ferrari were a volcano, you could already see the sulfur glowing from a distance.
The next step would be an eruption — the kind of explosion that can destroy everything around it.
The question now is what Ferrari will do to prevent its two drivers from becoming genuine enemies.
Alpine has plenty to celebrate
Gasly’s fairytale weekend ended rather quickly on Sunday. Starting from pole, he survived the opening corner, but once the race settled down he was swallowed up by the faster cars from the leading teams.
That was the reality.
The expectation of a second consecutive Cinderella moment was always a different matter.
Within realistic expectations, Alpine has plenty to celebrate. Gasly finished seventh as the best of the rest, while Franco Colapinto took ninth after a costly mistake. Had the Argentine avoided the error, eighth place would have been a realistic outcome.
Colapinto actually climbed as high as third after the restart before running wide at Lesmo and dropping to 16th. He then recovered to ninth, turning what looked like a potential podium into two valuable points.
But the biggest positive for Alpine was the performance of its aerodynamic package.
The updates made to the wings proved to be a major success at Monza. It remains to be seen how the package performs at Madrid’s new circuit next weekend, but Alpine at least has a much clearer idea of which direction it needs to pursue.
And yes, the Mercedes power unit clearly helped at the Temple of Speed. Even so, the way Colapinto was able to escape from the cars chasing him was something McLaren, for example, struggled to do.
Monza was a very valuable weekend for Alpine.
Audi is working well as a newcomer
At the other end of the midfield, Audi left Monza without points but with Bortoleto and Nico Hülkenberg finishing 11th and 12th.
That is obviously not the ideal result, but the expectation was arguably worse.
As a newcomer developing its own power unit, Audi knows it has an outright power deficit compared with some rivals. Yet the team still came close to the points at one of the most demanding power-sensitive circuits on the calendar.
Mercedes-powered Williams cars and Ferrari-powered Haas cars did not simply disappear into the distance.
Audi has a well-balanced car and, more importantly, appears to have a clear understanding of how to extract its potential. That allows the team to stay in contention even at circuits where its power-unit weakness should be particularly damaging.
Bortoleto and Hülkenberg’s poor starts complicated their race. Without those problems, points were certainly within reach.
Even so, and as strange as it may sound for a team that has scored only a handful of points this season, Audi’s performance is better than expected.
It is comfortably one of the strongest midfield teams and can occasionally move even higher in the order.
For a manufacturer in its first year, that is about as much as could reasonably have been asked.
Formula 1 now heads straight to Madrid for the 14th round of the 2026 season, with the Spanish Grand Prix taking place from September 11-13 at the new Madring street circuit. The event will mark F1’s first visit to the new venue, and GRANDE PRÊMIO will follow all the action.
FAQ
Can Kimi Antonelli win the 2026 F1 championship?
Antonelli strengthened his position as the clear championship favorite by winning at Monza and extending his lead over George Russell to 66 points. With seven victories in 2026, the Mercedes driver has established a significant advantage as the season enters its final phase.
What happened between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc at Monza?
Hamilton and Leclerc made contact at the opening chicane after Hamilton attacked his teammate on the first lap. Hamilton was forced off the track and lost several positions, while Leclerc later retired after crashing heavily at the Parabolica.
What should fans expect from F1’s first Madrid Grand Prix?
The Spanish Grand Prix will debut the new Madring street circuit from September 11-13. The new Madrid venue is one of the biggest remaining unknowns of the 2026 calendar, with teams facing a completely new track layout and a different set of aerodynamic and tyre demands from Monza.
