Antonelli ‘could have never imagined’ Monza dream

Kimi Antonelli has spent much of his meteoric Formula 1 career being told he belongs at the front. Yet even the Mercedes prodigy admits that, not so long ago, he could never have pictured himself standing where he eventually found himself at Monza on Sunday: on the top step of the podium, in front of an ecstatic home crowd.

What made the achievement even more extraordinary was the mountain Antonelli had been asked to climb. A planned power unit change had pushed him beyond his seasonal allocation, leaving the 19-year-old to start his home race from 19th on the grid.

Mercedes had hoped merely to salvage a respectable haul of points. Antonelli had other ideas.

From 19th to a dream Monza victory

The Italian wasted little time turning an apparently hopeless starting position into a genuine opportunity. He sliced through the field in the opening laps, reaching sixth after just a handful of tours before Charles Leclerc's crash triggered a red flag and standing restart.

Suddenly, the impossible began to look plausible.

As George Russell and Max Verstappen fought for control at the front, Antonelli continued his charge, eventually joining the battle for the lead. The Mercedes youngster repeatedly exchanged positions with his team-mate before the strategic complexion of the race swung in his favour.

A virtual safety car allowed Mercedes to bring Antonelli in for fresh rubber while Russell remained on older hard tyres. With four laps remaining, the Italian was back on Russell's tail – and this time, there would be no denying him.

The significance of what he had achieved – becoming the first Italian to win his home race since Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966 – appeared to hit Antonelli immediately after taking the chequered flag.

"I did not expect it, unbelievable," Antonelli grinned after the race.

"I'm so happy, and I could have never imagined to be here today, but we managed to pull it off, and I'm really, really happy. It's a dream coming true."

For a driver who grew up dreaming of Formula 1 glory, the sight of himself standing above the field at Monza represented something far bigger than another victory. It was a moment that, by his own admission, had once seemed beyond imagination.

A scare almost ended the fairytale

Yet Antonelli's improbable triumph nearly unravelled just when victory was within touching distance.

Chasing Russell in the closing stages, he saw his team-mate run deep at the first chicane. Antonelli attempted to follow through, only to run himself onto the gravel. For a split second, the dream appeared to be slipping away.

"It was quite scary during the moment because the tarmac was breaking up, but I still thought I could make the corner," Antonelli reported.

"But once I went over a bit of gravel as well, I went straight, and I was like: 'Maybe I lost my chance'. But luckily we still had the pace and managed to bring it home."

The mistake proved to be little more than a heart-stopping detour. With Russell's hard tyres fading, Antonelli's fresher rubber gave him the decisive advantage and allowed him to complete a remarkable comeback.

Indeed, the turning point in his mindset had arrived much earlier. Once Antonelli found himself charging near the front after the restart, he stopped thinking like a driver simply trying to limit the damage from a back-row start – and began thinking like a potential race winner.

"I was up there and I knew I could have had a shot for the win, so I definitely believed in it. Especially when I was behind George," he said as he collected his seventh win of the season.

• 2026 Italian Grand Prix - Race results

The final phase was then a matter of patience and execution, with the tow effect around Monza making it difficult for either Mercedes to escape the other.

"But it was really difficult to break away with the tow being so strong. But we pitted and he stayed out and he struggled a bit with the hards at the end, while with fresher tyres I was able to increase the pace and managed to win it."

Antonelli's Monza triumph was therefore not simply another victory in a remarkable rookie campaign. It was a full-circle moment: a young Italian who once could not even imagine winning his home Grand Prix had just done exactly that – becoming the first Italian in six decades to conquer Formula 1's iconic race at Monza.

And with his championship advantage over Russell now standing at 66 points heading into the Madrid round, Antonelli's once-unthinkable dream is rapidly becoming the defining reality of his 2026 season.

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