Five Takeaways: Italian Grand Prix
- Mia Wallace
- 1 hour ago
- 8 min read
Monza, Italy: home to the coveted temple of speed. Dripping in historic stature and moments, expectations were high for the drivers as they prepared for 53 laps of high-speed battles and intense overtakes.
Three “home heroes” battled for the win, but ultimately, the youngest of the three stormed from the back to seal the first Italian win on the circuit in decades. Elsewhere, teammates battled, and an unlikely candidate rose towards the top.
Here are DIVEBOMB’s five key takeaways from the 2026 Italian Grand Prix.
Antonelli storms back from nineteenth to steal victory from Russell
For the first time since 1966, an Italian driver has seized victory at the Italian Grand Prix. Along with that piece of history, Kimi Antonelli became the driver with the most overtakes in a single Grand Prix. On his historic charge from nineteenth on the grid to a coveted first, the teenager completed 26 overtakes across the session.
How exactly did that happen, though? Antonelli was destined to start from the back of the grid, with Mercedes opting to give him new engine components. When asked about the possibility of Antonelli getting to the front, Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff was not entirely optimistic, saying “it is not possible” to get the car into podium contention from the back.
For Antonelli, who has delivered stellar performances all season long, the task of winning was not too tall. The Italian made quick work of the backfield, gaining seven places before the safety car restart alone.
After that, the teenager flew through the field, overtaking quickly and efficiently until he reached the back of his teammate George Russell, who started the race in second position. After a nail-biting series of passes and repasses between the pair, Antonelli was finally able to pass Russell once and for all.
Following the race, Antonelli was clearly emotional as the gravity of his recovery drive began to sink in.
"Unbelievable, I'm so happy, and I could never have imagined to be here today, but we managed to pull it off, and I'm really happy," he said. “It’s a dream coming true.”
Antonelli continues to lead the drivers’ championship, with his victory in Monza setting him 66 points clear of his teammate in the standings.
Leclerc crashes out, Ferrari crumbles
Along with Antonelli, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc raced on home soil this weekend in Monza. For Ferrari, a victory at the Italian Grand Prix would have meant the world, but unfortunately the win was just too far out of reach on both sides of the garage.
For Leclerc, disaster came early; devastating and shocking. The Monegasque had been battling his teammate early, with their side-by-side situation resulting in Hamilton taking a trip to the gravel. Not an ideal scenario for teammates, but regardless, Leclerc had to push on.
Unfortunately, his charge would be cut short on Lap 2, where a sudden snap at Parabolica sent Leclerc plummeting into the barriers. The crash took him out of the race instantly and brought the race to a full halt as the red flags were waved.
When speaking to the media after the race, Leclerc explained both the moment with Hamilton and the crash that devastated the Tifosi.
“With Lewis it was way too close into Turn 1 and unfortunately in Turn 2 – I don't know if we had contact or whatsoever,” he explained.
“I was quite a lot on the inside curve and tried to make the corner, which I didn't do it tight enough, and then I obviously only saw in the mirrors what happened, which is never what you want between two cars, between two cars of the same team.”
In terms of the crash, Leclerc said that the throttle had “felt a little bit weird” and that the team would look into it.
On Hamilton’s side, it was also a dicey race, despite crossing the line ahead of his teammate. The trouble started early for Hamilton with a squabble with Leclerc, which bumped him down a few places. Although he recovered and was even in contention for the win at one point, Hamilton couldn't convert his efforts into a podium finish.
Following the race, Hamilton commented on the moment with Leclerc: "Well, I ended up P10 or something. There's not really much to say. We'll take it offline."
Hamilton wound up finishing sixth in the Grand Prix after starting fourth. All in all, he stated that it was a “tough one to swallow”.
Gasly ignites: sets positive look for Alpine
To some, starting from pole and ending in seventh isn’t much cause for celebration, but for Gasly and Alpine, the result remains largely positive.
Rewinding to Saturday’s Qualifying, Gasly shocked by sliding into pole position at the conclusion of Q3. The Frenchman had been performing strongly the entire session, perfectly pushing the Mercedes engine to deliver the quickest times in both Q1 and Q3.
In a car that had spent most of last season at the back, Gasly proved that the Alpine challenger holds a lot of potential. To not only make it to Q3, but to outperform the frontrunners and the Mercedes of Russell was a feat that stole all of Saturday’s headlines.
On the other side of the garage, Gasly’s teammate Franco Colapinto demonstrated similar speed, resulting in his highest career start in Formula One.
Heading into Sunday, the team was optimistic that Gasly could finish within the points, and he accomplished just that in seventh. Gasly was able to hold Russell off out of Turn 1; however, it wasn’t long before the Mercedes surpassed him.
After that, Gasly continued to drop back as the top four teams pushed on, but the Alpine driver was still overly satisfied with the weekend’s results.
“I mean, the part of me that is realistic is very satisfied,” said Gasly. “Basically, starting on pole, you must have a side of you which thinks, ‘Okay, what can happen over 53 laps, this and that?’
"But I've got to be honest, before the race, we knew that with the pace in the race it would be extremely difficult to stay up there and fight with the top guys,” he said to the media after the race.
“I'm very happy with the two starts—we took two great starts, managed to keep the lead on the first one, great on the second, battled slightly, stayed in the right train for the first 10 laps, which was really good. And we battled with Lando Norris, who won the last two races.
“So, from where we come from, it's very positive and finished three seconds behind Lewis, who has been fighting for podium this year, so I'm not going to be disappointed with that,” he concluded.
Battle of the McLarens
While it evidently didn’t look like the McLarens would be battling each other for the majority of the Grand Prix, the two clashed in the closing laps before one ultimately emerged with fourth place.
At the beginning, it was Oscar Piastri who enjoyed most of the action up front, with the Australian getting his McLaren into podium contention even after his grid drop from Saturday’s Qualifying. Piastri spent much of the opening phases of the race going back and forth with Hamilton’s Ferrari, all while the Red Bull ahead held the final slot on the podium.
Eventually, Piastri was able to pass Hamilton once and for all, with his hard tyre selection outlasting the medium tyres on the Ferrari. With Hamilton cleared, Piastri set his sights on third position; however, by that point he had fallen ever closer to the clutches of his teammate behind.
Lando Norris had up to this point been having a pretty uneventful drive, struggling to pass Pierre Gasly’s Alpine ahead in P6 for a large portion of the race. Still, the Briton’s continuous efforts got him right to the back of his teammate, where the two yo-yo-ed positions for a few turns.
Ultimately, Norris was able to make the late move on Piastri, sealing a fourth-place finish and forcing his teammate to settle for fifth.
On-track, Norris complained on the radio that Piastri had pushed him off at one point during their battle; however, after the race, he was a lot more understanding of the situation.
“I still need to review things, but I think it's just a perception of when you're in the car, when someone's kind of opening the gap a bit and then kind of go straight, you get that perception when you're going at 200mph. So that's all,” he explained.
“But I think what he did was fair. It's just when you're in the moment, and you're half on the grass, you realise how quickly things can end pretty badly – just in the heat of the moment. But from that side it was fine, and it was a good battle. So yeah, a good result from a tough race.”
On the other side of the garage, Piastri agreed that the battle with Norris was “good racing” and was pleased with the results the team was able to achieve across the weekend.
Russell in trouble?
Heading into Monza, one of the biggest narratives was the fact that the championship leader would be starting from the back of the grid. Surely, this would present Russell with the perfect opportunity to win the Grand Prix and close the gap to his teammate in the points, right?
Antonelli finishing within the points would have been annoying for Russell; finishing on the podium, even more so. But Antonelli surging back from nineteenth place and surpassing Russell for the win? That was a nightmare scenario that wound up coming true for Russell, as he was forced to watch his teammate celebrate from the second step.
There was a fair bit of intense battling between the two by the time Antonelli made it to the back of Russell, but ultimately, Antonelli’s fresher medium tyres granted an advantage over Russell’s fading hards. Antonelli made the pass and left his teammate behind in his quest for the chequered flag.
Frustration ensued for Russell, as a season that had seemed so promising after his win at the opener has continued to deteriorate with him. After the race, Russell was congratulatory towards his teammate, but honest about the sting.
“Huge congratulations to Kimi of course—an incredible result from him,” said Russell. “When I looked on the leaderboard at the beginning, and I saw he was already in P5, P4, I knew straight away he was going to be in the mix. Huge congrats to him.”
When asked about finishing second, Russell said: “I'll take it; it's been more positive than it was pre-summer break, and that's what I needed to try and achieve. Of course I would have loved to be P1 today.”
Going into next week, Russell finds himself sitting 66 points behind his teammate, a gap that he could’ve ideally shortened with a win today. As a result, the pressure remains heavy on the Briton's shoulders, as the races tick down until the season finale.
Looking ahead
In the next round of the F1 World Championship, we revisit Spain, where the drivers will continue pushing to the limit.
Will we have another new pole sitter? Will Russell continue to chase after Antonelli, or will another candidate step up to challenge the seemingly unstoppable teenager? All those answers and more are coming your way next week.
Edited by Marit Everett
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