Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli believed that his shock victory at the 2026 Italian Grand Prix was “possible” from 19th on the grid.
As the first of four drivers to take new power units at Monza, Antonelli began the race from 19th on the grid and found himself 12th when red flags came out on lap 3 following a crash for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
On the restart following a switch from hard to medium tyres, he found himself in the top three by the end of lap 13 and cleared Red Bull’s Max Verstappen for second just three laps later, before he scrapped with teammate and title rival – George Russell.
Mercedes however opted to pit him under a Virtual Safety Car at the end of lap 28 for fresh medium tyres, which dropped him to sixth but he maximised his new tyres to pass Russell on lap 50 for victory on the run to Ascari and ended Italy’s 60-year wait for a home-grown F1 winner at Monza.
The last Italian to achieve that feat was Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966 for Ferrari.
Post-race, Antonelli hailed his drive as a memorable moment that he will cherish as he thanked Mercedes for the car and strategy.
“This is a day that I will remember forever! It is for sure the most special win of my career so far. It is the best podium of the season and to see the full pit straight packed with people cheering and showing their support was a dream.
“The team did an incredible job today; they gave us an amazing car, and I can’t say thank you enough to everyone that has supported me and helped get me to this point.”
The 20-year-old Italian proceeded to add that he didn’t feel that starting 19th could prevent him from fighting for the win, especially after the red flag but believed that he had the speed and pace to ultimately achieve his first home win.
“Even starting P19, I believed that this might be possible. On the first start, I made up a lot of positions and then realised we would get another good chance to gain positions after the red flag.
“That gave us a good chance, and I felt that I had the speed to fight for the win. We obviously gave up some positions under the Virtual Safety Car, but we had the pace on the Medium tyre to come back through and take the victory.”
Antonelli now leads Russell by 66 points in the drivers’ championship, with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton a further 10 points behind in third.
Leave a Reply