Kimi Antonelli came through from the back of the grid to finish first at an exciting Italian Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver had a fun battle with his teammate George Russell, swapping P1 for many laps and in the end taking a popular victory at Monza.
In an action-packed display of battery-led yo-yo racing, Antonelli overcame a grid penalty following a power unit change and a mid-race pitstop to fly through the field and defeat long-time leader Russell, with Max Verstappen defeating McLaren to the final podium position.
The race started with a bang for the sold-out, tifosi-filled grandstands. As shock polesitter Pierre Gasly held firm against Russell, Lewis Hamilton attempted to pass teammate Charles Leclerc down the inside of the tight Turn 1 chicane, with Leclerc pushing Hamilton wide on exit, costing Lewis six positions as he dropped to ninth.
The incident was noted by race control, but on the end of lap 2 Leclerc suffered a huge crash on the exit of the final Parabolica corner as he fended off McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. Leclerc skated across the gravel and went into the outside wall at high speed, escaping unhurt but bringing out the red flag for lengthy barrier repairs.
Russell had been able to pass Gasly on the front straight earlier on the lap, ensuring the Mercedes driver would take the restart from pole, while Verstappen and Franco Colapinto worked their way up to third and fourth from Piastri.
All drivers were afforded a free tyre change under the red flag, with Verstappen the only frontrunner to pick mediums instead of hards. Following an extra formation lap for Yuki Tsunoda being out of position on the grid, Russell defended the lead from Gasly, while Colapinto passed Verstappen for third. But after Verstappen strike back a trademark move around the outside of the second chicane, Colapinto went off the track in the first Lesmo right-hander, dropping the Alpine driver down to P16.
In the chaos behind the pair, Hamilton moved up to fourth at the expense of Piastri, who was battling teammate Norris and Arvid Lindblad. After a rocket start, Antonelli took advantage of that fight to move up to sixth with a double pass on Norris and Lindblad on the main straight.
On lap 7, Alpine’s hopes of a shock win for Gasly was reduced further when he was passed for second by Verstappen. Three laps later, Gasly also lost third to Hamilton, and he was powerless to keep Piastri and Antonelli behind as Alpine dropped to sixth.
Clearing Gasly quickly was supposed to hand Russell a clear path to victory, but on an day where slipstreaming was key, the Mercedes driver was unable to break away from Verstappen and instead starting coming under pressure from the Red Bull, with the pair trading the lead two more times on lap 12 and 15.
But rather than Russell, Antonelli quickly emerged as the more likely of the two Silver Arrows drivers to take victory despite starting from P19. As the last driver of the three cars, some two seconds behind the leaders, Antonelli had already picked off Hamilton and Piastri in quick succession.
Russell’s battle with Verstappen allowed Antonelli to rapidly close in on the lead battle, snatching second away from the Red Bull driver on lap 16. Antonelli only needed one attempt to pass Russell for the lead, claiming control on lap 18 at Turn 1.
The so-called yo-yo racing, with battery deployment dictating straight-line speeds, continued at a speedy pace, with Russell twice retaking the lead on lap 22 and 23. Suggestions from the pit wall to halt the yo-yo racing and build a gap to Verstappen were met with a grumpy reply from Kimi, but he did comply as he tucked in behind Russell and conserved his medium tyres.
The story of the race changed when Lance Stroll ground to a halt in his Aston Martin, with Antonelli and Verstappen using the virtual safety car to swap from the medium and switch to new tyres. The pair came out in sixth and seventh, just 15 seconds behind Russell, who was nursing his hard tyres to the end.
By lap 37 of 53, Antonelli had worked his way past Hamilton and then Piastri to second place, giving himself 16 laps to close the nine-second gap to his leading teammate while Verstappen followed him through into third.
Antonelli was quick but not initially catching Russell fast enough to close the gap, as George escaped for action for a suspected yellow flag infringement. But Russell’s hard tyres started showing worsening signs of wear towards the end of the race, allowing Antonelli to close the gap by the end of lap 47.
The first clash followed at the start of lap 49, with Russell cutting Turn 2 as he desperately tried to keep Antonelli behind. But Kimi went off as well, drifting through the gravel trap on the outside, allowing George to retain the lead.
Not best pleased by the Turn 1 moment, Antonelli tried again on the following lap but opted for a more straight-forward pass between Lesmo 2 and the Variante Ascari.
The Mercedes driver held onto his hard-fought lead until the finish, winning the Italian Grand Prix at the second time of asking. Russell was a defeated second, with Verstappen joining them on the podium.
Piastri and Norris brought home fourth and fifth for McLaren at the expense of Hamilton, who dropped back on worn medium tyres to finish sixth. From pole, Gasly eventually taking seventh at the finish ahead of Lindblad and Colapinto, with the Racing Bulls car of Tsunoda claiming the final point in tenth on his second weekend as a replacement driver.
In an exciting Monza race, Antonelli is the first Italian winner in 60 years as he increasing his championship lead by seven points, now heading Russell by 66 points into next weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix on the newly-built Madring in Madrid.
Italian Grand Prix, race results:
1 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:51:15.281
2 George Russell Mercedes +3.857s
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford +14.718s
4 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes +19.056s
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes +19.253s
6 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +24.655s
7 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes +27.351s
8 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford +45.136s
9 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes +47.353s
10 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls-Ford +58.187s
11 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi +65.187s
12 Nico Hulkenberg Audi +66.187s
13 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes +74.117s
14 Liam Lawson Red Bull-Ford +75.609s
15 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari +78.958s
16 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari +1 lap
17 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes +1 lap
18 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari +1 lap
19 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari +1 lap
Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda DNF
Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda DNF
Charles Leclerc Ferrari DNF
