'Just unheard of! - Antonelli's miracle win likened to 'walking on water' — SkimNews
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- Kimi Antonelli won the Italian Grand Prix from 19th on the grid — the second-lowest starting position to win in F1's 76-year history — extending his championship lead from 59 to a joint season-high 66 points in the process.
- The 20-year-old Mercedes driver's victory ended a 60-year drought for an Italian driver winning their home Grand Prix, and marked his seventh win of an increasingly dominant second F1 season.
- Mercedes boss Toto Wolff revealed he had predicted before the race that "one of the two" Mercedes drivers would win, saying he sensed "a special moment" after speaking with Antonelli's father the previous day.
- Nico Rosberg called Antonelli's drive "unheard of" for a second-season driver who had just turned 20, while Sky Sports pundit Martin Brundle dubbed him "King Kimi" after the Monza performance.
- A lap-two crash by Charles Leclerc triggered a red flag and gave Antonelli a second race start, a reset that Wolff said ultimately disrupted Mercedes' strategy but opened the door for the comeback.
- Wolff compared Antonelli's ability to overtake through traffic to Lewis Hamilton during their title-winning years together, calling it the decisive differentiator in the race.
- Teammate and title rival George Russell, who started from the front row, was overhauled by Antonelli by lap 13; the pair traded the lead multiple times before a well-timed Virtual Safety Car allowed Antonelli to switch to fresher mediums and pull away.
- The race also produced a surprise pole sitter in Pierre Gasly, whose first career pole in 190 F1 appearances came a day before Antonelli's win capped the Monza weekend.
Why it matters: Antonelli's 19th-to-first drive pushed his championship lead to 66 points and reaffirmed Mercedes' control of the 2026 season, while Wolff's public comparison to Hamilton signals how seriously the team now views the Italian as a generational talent.
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