Twenty places gained in one race
Kimi Antonelli started last at Monza. He finished first. The Mercedes driver was serving a power-unit penalty that dumped him to the back of the grid for his home Grand Prix. A few hours later, he was raising his arms in front of the Italian crowd.
The strategy changed everything. Antonelli ran a different race from the rest of the pack. He was already up to sixth after the standing start, then started closing on the leaders. At the start of lap 18, he passed team-mate George Russell and took control. He never gave it back.
Russell finished second, 3.857s behind. The Brit did not pit under the virtual safety car triggered by Lance Stroll’s retirement. Antonelli and Max Verstappen did, and that paid off. The Dutchman completed the podium, 14.718s down.
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Leclerc in the wall, Gasly leads from the start
It had looked good for others, too. Pierre Gasly took the first pole of his career and held the lead at the start ahead of Russell. Charles Leclerc sent Lewis Hamilton into the gravel at the chicane. The Brit dropped to 10th.
Leclerc did not make it to the end of lap two. Overtaken by Verstappen and then attacked by Oscar Piastri, the Monegasque spun at the Parabolica and hit the tyre wall hard. He climbed out of the car unharmed. Red flag, then a standing start.
Verstappen led on lap 12 before the two Mercedes came back at him. Lando Norris and Piastri took fourth and fifth. Hamilton fought back to sixth, Gasly was seventh. Arvid Lindblad, Franco Colapinto and Yuki Tsunoda completed the top 10.
The championship picture shifts a little more
Antonelli was already leading the championship before Monza. He leaves with a bigger cushion. Winning from 20th is the sort of thing that happens once in a blue moon in Formula 1, where overtaking still comes at a premium away from the DRS zones.
Mercedes lands a one-two and makes a serious statement in the title fight. Aston Martin leaves empty-handed after the retirements of Stroll and Fernando Alonso. Ferrari lost Leclerc on lap two and salvaged something with Hamilton’s sixth place in front of the tifosi.
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