Italian GP 2026: Antonelli wins at Monza from 19th on the grid

Andrea Kimi Antonelli won the 2026 Italian GP from 19th on the grid, gaining 18 places. He led a Mercedes one-two ahead of George Russell, while Max Verstappen finished third for Red Bull. The race was decided by Antonelli's stop under the Virtual Safety Car on lap 28: on fresh medium tyres, he took the lead back from Russell on lap 50. On our Italian GP race page you can relive the whole race in 3D.

Conditions at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza were hot and dry: air temperatures ranged between 31.4 and 32.9 degrees, track temperatures between 51.1 and 57.1 degrees. Pierre Gasly started from pole position for the first time in his career, driving for Alpine. He held the lead through the first chicane and was still in front after lap 1. But Russell was already past him on lap 2.

Further back, there was home drama at Ferrari. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton collided at the first chicane. Hamilton was forced through the gravel and dropped back. The stewards looked at the incident at Turn 2 and decided no further investigation was necessary. Shortly afterwards, Leclerc lost a place to Verstappen in the middle sector. On the exit of Curva Alboreto, the Ferrari snapped away from him and he hit the barrier heavily without anyone else involved. Leclerc climbed out unhurt.

Race Control first deployed the Safety Car and then red-flagged the race on lap 3, as the barrier needed repairing. Because teams were allowed to change tyres during the stoppage, everyone could fit new tyres for free. The restart was a standing start. The first attempt was aborted because Yuki Tsunoda missed his grid position. The stewards decided to investigate that incident after the race. After an additional lap, the race got under way again, and Russell made a good getaway.

Antonelli only started 19th because he had been given a grid penalty for power unit components. He had qualified seventh. By the time of the red flag, he had already worked his way up to 12th. Three laps after the restart, he was running 8th.

At the front, the lead changed hands several times. Verstappen led from lap 12 to 14 before Russell took over again. On lap 18, Antonelli outbraked his teammate into Turn 1 to take the lead. On lap 23, Russell reclaimed first place.

In the end, the fresher tyres paid off. On lap 49, Antonelli ran wide once more at the exit of the first chicane and lost time. On lap 50, he passed Russell between the second Lesmo and the Ascari chicane and pulled away. He also set the fastest lap of the race.

After the tyre change under the red flag, the top teams had two options. Russell, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Gasly switched from mediums to hards and ran them to the finish. For Russell, that meant 50 laps on one set, from lap 4 to 53. Antonelli started on hards and switched to mediums during the stoppage.

Antonelli timed his next stop perfectly: under the VSC on lap 28, together with Verstappen. Before the stop he was running 2nd; three laps later he was 4th. So he only lost two places. From then on he had new mediums for the final 25 laps, while Russell had to make do with his old hards. The plan worked: P1 with a margin of 3.857 seconds. Verstappen benefited too. He switched to hards under the VSC and dropped from 3rd to 6th. He still finished third.

Out of luck were Nico Hülkenberg, Carlos Sainz, Esteban Ocon, Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas. They all pitted on lap 27, just one lap before the VSC, and paid the full time loss. Ocon dropped from 14th to 16th. Alexander Albon (Williams) took softs on lap 46. That cost him three places, from 14th to 17th, and gained him nothing.

Three cars failed to finish:

• Charles Leclerc (Ferrari): His race was over after one completed lap. He crashed on his own at the exit of Curva Alboreto, which brought out the red flag.
• Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin): His race ended after 23 laps. Fernando Alonso had started from the pit lane after a change of power unit components. According to the team, he went off at Turn 7 and damaged his car. The team called him in and retired the car to check it for further damage. Alonso said: “I picked up some damage to the car when I hit a kerb.”
• Lance Stroll (Aston Martin): He was out after 26 laps. Lance Stroll slowed on the start/finish straight and parked his car in the escape road at Turn 1. A hydraulics problem was suspected. Shortly afterwards came the VSC period on laps 28 and 29.

The only penalty of the race went to Pérez (Cadillac). On lap 25 he had ignored Race Control's instructions for the escape road at Turn 1. He was handed a five-second time penalty for it on lap 30. Pérez and Franco Colapinto were also investigated after the race for illegal practice starts. Tsunoda's case concerned the start procedure. Russell escaped a penalty: the stewards examined a possible yellow flag infringement from lap 33 and took no further action on lap 40. The incident between Liam Lawson and Hülkenberg at Turn 4 on lap 14 also had no consequences.

Winners:

• Antonelli gained 18 places and set the fastest lap. That was the drive of the day.
• Lawson started 22nd from the pit lane after engine and rear wing changes and finished 14th. That's eight places gained. And that despite an extra stop on lap 12, with 31.1 seconds in the pit lane, dropping him from 11th to 21st.
• Tsunoda went from 15th to 10th for the RB F1 Team, picking up a point. His teammate Arvid Lindblad finished eighth.
• McLaren: Norris climbed from 8th on the grid to 4th. Piastri finished fifth, despite a three-place grid penalty for impeding Lawson.

Losers:

• Ferrari: At their home race, Leclerc retired, and Hamilton could only finish sixth after their collision.
• Gasly started from pole position and crossed the line seventh. That's six places lost, but he still scored points.
• Aston Martin: Both cars retired.
• Oliver Bearman (Haas) lost four places, from 11th to 15th. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) dropped from 11th to 16th after the restart and narrowly missed out on points in eleventh.

In the drivers' championship, Antonelli outscored Russell by seven points. He now leads with 267 points, 66 clear of Russell (201). Behind them are Hamilton (191), Norris (171) and Leclerc (155). Leclerc stayed 5th despite his scoreless retirement. Verstappen is sixth with 127 points, Piastri has 116. There was no change in the order of the top 10.

In the constructors' championship, Mercedes extended their lead with the one-two: 468 points to Ferrari's 346. McLaren are third with 287 points, Red Bull fourth with 204. You can find the full 2026 standings on our site. And you can relive the scenes from Monza in 3D on the race page.