Forza Kimi! Mercedes starlet Antonelli stuns with Monza win from 19th on grid

The 20-year-old championship leader carved his way through the field from the penultimate row, beating teammate George Russell to the checkered flag to secure a memorable one-two finish for the Silver Arrows.

In doing so, Antonelli became Italy’s first home winner since Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966, with P19 marking the second-lowest starting position a Grand Prix has ever been won from in Formula 1 history.

Having taken a new power unit to exceed his season allocation, Antonelli started alongside the backmarkers, but he was already up to P12 by the time the race was red flagged on lap 3.

Charles Leclerc’s high-speed crash at the famous Parabolica corner resulted in a second standing start, further bunching up the pack for the already-progressing Antonelli to continue his rise.

The Italian whizz rapidly scythed through the order after the restart and he was soon right on the back of the leaders, quickly passing the likes of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.

Antonelli rose to P3 and bided his time as Russell battled it out with Max Verstappen, before utilising his faster medium-compound tyres to join the fight himself.

Eventually, when a virtual safety car was deployed as Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll stopped at turn one, Antonelli was called in for new mediums and Russell, on hards, was left out.

Making the most of his cheap extra pit stop and his fresh rubber, Antonelli pushed to take around half a second per lap out of Russell to catch and pass his teammate with four to go.

“Unbelievable, I’m so happy and I could never have imagined being here today, but we managed to pull it off,” Antonelli said before his podium celebrations.

“It’s a dream coming true. After the second restart I was up there and I knew I could have a shot for the win.

“I definitely believed in it, especially when I was behind George, but it was really difficult to break away with the tow being so strong.”

What was expected to be a weekend of damage limitation ended with Antonelli extending his drivers' championship lead to 66 points, making it all the sweeter.

"It's one that I will remember forever," Antonelli added.

"Definitely seeing the grandstand cheering every lap it gave that little bit of extra to push more and to try and do even better to win it."

It’s a victory Antonelli will cherish, gathering him confidence ahead of this weekend’s visit to the new-for-2026 Madring.

The Spanish Grand Prix is likely to be better suited to McLaren and Ferrari due to its low-speed corners, but Mercedes - and Antonelli in particular - have momentum on their side.