F1 Italian Grand Prix 2026 Recap: Antonelli wins at home with a drive for the ages

Kimi Antonelli put in one of the all-time great drives to win the Italian Grand Prix 2026, going from P19 to P1 in front of his home crowd. An engine penalty put him right to the back of the grid and despite starting 19th, it was no issue for Antonelli who stormed through the field and put in a drive for the ages to pick up his first-ever Italian Grand Prix. George Russell finished second, making it a 1-2 for Mercedes which Max Verstappen put in a stunning drive as well to finish P3 after starting in fifth place. 

In front of the Italian fans, the home team Ferrari had a race to forget as Charles Leclerc crashed out early on while Lewis Hamilton finished P6. Antonelli’s win at Monza also saw him become the first Italian in six decades to win the Italian Grand Prix. 

Pierre Gasly got things going as the lights went off with Russell holding on behind him. It were the two Ferraris who came close going into the first corner but Leclerc managed to hold on, forcing Hamilton wide which dropped him down six places. Verstappen made up a place to move to fourth at the start, making the most of the Ferrari tussle early on. Russell took the lead right at the end of Gasly and Leclerc sensed an opportunity to fight Gasly for second place and the Ferrari driver took second place momentarily before Gasly stormed past to retake second place going into Curva Grande. Leclerc was being pressed by Piastri for third place and Verstappen overtook Leclerc and Piastri tried to go on the inside of the Ferrari going but Leclerc held on going into Parabolica  Leclerc lost his rear and went straight into the barriers, ending his race early, much to the dismay of the Ferrari fans at home. 

After a short Safety Car, the race was halted with a Red Flag as the marshalls cleared the track, fixed the barrier and cleared Leclerc’s car off the track, with four laps completed in the race. As the race was Red Flagged, the order was Russell at the front leading from Gasly, Verstappen, Franco Colapinto and Oscar Piastri in the top 5. Amidst all the chaos, the other Mercedes car of Kimi Antonelli, who started right at the back of the grid due to an engine penalty, had made up places and was P12, on the fringes of the points already. 

After a stoppage of almost half an hour, racing resumed with a standing start as Yuki Tsunoda being out of position for the initial restart saw an extra formation lap needed. Once racing resumed, Russell saw off Gasly with Franco Colapinto picking up a place off Verstappen but it wasn’t to be for long as Verstappen regained third place while Hamilton made up places and was up to P5. Colapinto went off track at Lesmo, going onto the gravel but managed to continue but it dropped him down to P15. Hamilton on track continued to attack as he got past Piastri for fourth place while Kimi Antonelli was also charging at the restart and was up to sixth place, storming past the likes of Lando Norris and Arvid Lindblad. Verstappen stormed past Gasly to second place on lap 8 while Antonelli was flying a couple of places behind, making up places left right and centre. Gasly continued to fall down as Hamilton moved into the podium places, going around Gasly heading into Turn 1 on lap 10 to make up a place. 

By lap 11, Verstappen was just three tenths behind Russell as the quadruple world champion was not only the fastest man on track but hounding down the Mercedes and on lap 12, Verstappen blazed past Russell on the main straight to take the race lead. Rusell failed to get back the place while behind them Antonelli was on the charge and was up to P3 by lap 13. A couple of laps late, Russell came inches close to taking back the lead but Verstappen held on going into Turn 1 and the top two tussle saw Antonelli come within half a second of Russell. Russell eventually retook the lead on lap 15 going into Curva Grande. Hamilton meanwhile, made up a place on Oscar Piastri to move to P4 while Antonelli eased past Verstappen on lap 16 which saw Mercedes have a 1-2 at the front. 

After starting P19 due to engine penalty, Kimi Antonelli on lap 18 took the lead of the race as he continued to charge through the field, facing no issue in overtaking Russell at Turn 1. As Antonelli advanced ahead in the front, Verstappen was catching Russell and he came close to taking second place but Russell hung on while Antonelli was a second clear of Russell by lap 19. Russell  came close and retook the lead for a couple of corners before Antonelli retook the lead as the Mercedes duo fought for the lead and began to drop Verstappen. Russell took the lead again on lap 22 on the main straight but Antonelli wasn’t giving up and the Italian showcased his skill to take back the lead at Turn 5. The duo continued to exchange the lead as Russell retook the lead on the following lap once again on the main straight. The fight between the Mercedes drivers saw Verstappen catch up to the top two and the Dutchman was under a second behind Antonelli and 1.3s behind the race leader on lap 26. The race saw a Yellow Flag and then a Virtual Safety Car as Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin stopped on the track due to a hydraulic issue. 

Antonelli and Verstappen came into the pits on lap 29 under the Virtual Safety Car and the duo rejoined in sixth and seventh place respectively with Antonelli switching to another pair of Medium compounds while Verstappen switched to the Soft compound. Back on track, Antonelli was once again making up places on his new set of tyres and was up to P4 by lap 31 while Russell led Piastri at the front and was six and a half seconds clear of the McLaren driver with Hamilton almost two more seconds behind in third place. Verstappen meanwhile, kept the pressure on Antonelli and cleared Gasly and Norris to move to fifth place a couple of laps later and was two seconds behind Antonelli. Antonelli moved back to the podium places on lap 35 as Hamilton had a moment and went onto the escape road that saw Antonelli ease past the seven time world champion. Two laps later, Antonelli flew past Piastri on the main straight going into Turn 1 which saw Mercedes once again have a 1-2 with Antonelli just under nine seconds behind Rusell. Verstappen also made up a place behind the top three, as he moved up to P3, going past his old rival Hamilton and a couple of laps later, he got past Piastri as well to move back into the podium places and was two and a half seconds behind Antonelli on lap 41. 

Piastri retook the third place from Verstappen and on lap 42, Verstappen locked up going into Turn 1, which saw him go onto the escape road and lost a bit of time to Piastri. A lap later, Verstappen got third place from Piastri going into Turn 1, this time making the corner to make the move stick. With five laps to go, Antonelli was under half a second behind Russell and on lap 49, Antonelli tried to go on around Russell at Turn 1 but Russell held on which saw Antonelli go deep into the turn and went onto the gravel which saw him lose some time to his teammate and race leader. Antonelli was back at it and on lap 50 he took the lead of the race once again, going into the Ascar chicane and Antonelli stormed past Russell, pulling out a seconds’ gap inside a couple of corners. 

Russell had no answer to Antonelli for the last couple of races and Antonelli wrapped up an incredible charge through the field to win the Italian Grand Prix 2026, becoming the first Italian to win the Italian Grand Prix since 1966. Russell completed a 1-2 for Mercedes with Verstappen holding on for the final podium place. Norris got past Piastri at the end to finish P4 ahead of Piastri in fifth place with Hamilton, Gasly, Arvid Lindblad, Franco Colapinto and Yuki Tsunoda rounding out the points places. 

Antonelli’s seventh career win sees him extend his championship lead to 66 points While Hamitlon finishing a lowly eighth means that Russell extended the gap in second place while Verstappen has closed the gap to Leclerc in fifth place. Racing continues as the grid moves to Madrid for the Spanish Grand Prix next weekend with the new Madring circuit set to make its debut.