Antonelli Ends Italy's 60-Year Home Grand Prix Wait

Andrea Kimi Antonelli won the 2026 Italian Grand Prix at Monza on 6 September, starting from 19th on the grid. He became the first Italian to win his home race since Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966 — a wait of 60 years.

The prospect of a home victory looked distant before the 53-lap race. Antonelli was relegated to the back of the grid after taking new power unit components. An early red flag, triggered when Charles Leclerc crashed heavily at the Parabolica, found Antonelli already up to 12th.

Through the gravel, past his teammate

At the restart Antonelli cut forward relentlessly. A Virtual Safety Car on lap 28 handed Mercedes a strategic fork. The team brought Antonelli in for fresh tyres while his teammate and championship rival George Russell stayed out.

The pit call gave Antonelli a grip advantage that proved decisive. Attacking Russell at the first chicane, he ran wide onto the gravel and slipped 1.5 seconds behind. He recovered immediately and blasted past Russell on the approach to the Ascari chicane with four laps remaining.

Seven wins, sixty-six points clear

Antonelli crossed the line in 1:51:15.281, with Russell trailing by 3.857 seconds and Max Verstappen third. The 19th-place starting spot made it the second-lowest grid position ever converted into a Grand Prix win. It was his seventh victory of the season.

After the podium he told reporters, “I could never have imagined to be here today but we managed to pull it off and I’m really happy — it’s a dream coming true.” He added, “It was quite scary… I thought maybe I’ve lost my chance, but luckily we still had the pace.”

Six decades of waiting ended not with a procession, but with a recovery drive that tested every corner of Monza’s old parkland circuit.