Antonelli’s dream day at Monza brings ultimate F1 glory closer

60 years. That's how long Italy has waited to see one of its own drivers win the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

Ludovico Scarfiotti no longer holds the title of the last home winner, but there’s an even bigger prize that is now looming into view. 73 years on from Alberto Ascari becoming the last Italian world champion, Kimi Antonelli took a huge step towards ending that drought with a remarkable victory at the Temple of Speed on Sunday.

Perhaps everyone should have learned the lesson from Pierre Gasly’s unexpected pole position on Saturday, but Antonelli was not someone who was being spoken about as having a chance of winning from 19th on the grid.

The new power unit he had taken for this weekend would provide a welcome boost, and Monza is a track where you can overtake – hence being the venue chosen for his penalty – but Mercedes spoke of a podium being its most optimistic target and akin to a victory.

That’s partly because George Russell was expected to have a strong chance of winning, aided by Antonelli’s support in qualifying, even if Gasly had shocked the field 24 hours ago. But a clinical opening two laps of the race, followed by an equally decisive restart put Antonelli straight into contention as he ran fourth on lap 12.

For Antonelli, his own belief had risen by the end of the second lap, when he was up to 12th place when the race was red flagged, despite it erasing his tire advantage having started on the hard compound.

“Unbelievable, unbelievable,” Antonelli said. “I’m so happy and I could have never imagined to be here today.

“I thought a podium was possible, but then obviously with the red flag I was already P12, and then I knew that I could have had a shot to it. Then I found myself at the front and battling, but it was very difficult to break away, basically impossible. So I knew it would have been difficult. With the VSC we pitted and then we had to close the gap. Then in the end to bring it home, very happy with that.

“Today I didn’t really think about anything else other than trying to win, especially when I saw the opportunity. I was pushing hard and I had a little excursion off track with the marbles, which was not ideal. But today we were trying to push, trying to make smart overtakes, using the battery wisely, and then it worked out. But, of course, also the fact that this weekend we were clearly the best team, also that helped to recover.”

Self belief and execution in equal measure carried Antonelli through the field and past teammate Russell once again. Clive Mason/Getty Images

It was a remarkably matter-of-fact explanation of his win given the challenge that he faced when the lights first went out, but the performance had been clearly strong all weekend and appeared even more so in race trim. Where Antonelli was also helped, was in that lack of expectation. As the championship leader he had nothing to prove, and from 19th he had nothing to lose.

By not spending the whole build-up to the race dreaming of standing on the top step of the iconic podium, as emotional as he was, Antonelli similarly did not have the pressure release when he did cross the line.

“Definitely the fans gave that little bit extra to push more. For sure, the support has been great this weekend. And so definitely seeing the grandstand cheering every lap, for sure it gave that little bit of extra to push more and to try and do even better to win it.

“I think this is the most special podium of the season. To see all the fans on the straight, it’s just incredible. And then, of course, being at home, it adds that little bit of extra.”

If the expectation wasn’t particularly high this particular weekend, it certainly is when it comes to the overall championship picture. Antonelli’s drive opens up a 66-point advantage over a teammate in the form of Russell who the Italian just seems to have the measure of at every circuit.

Even in the midst of such elation, the mantra from the 20-year-old remains unchanged, but he’s sure to face ever-growing questions after leaving a race that was meant to be a case of damage limitation with an extended lead.

“I don’t want to really look at it because we’ve seen in this season how things can change very quickly," he said. "On my side I just need to take one race at a time, just try to maximize every result, every opportunity I get, and then we’ll see what happens at the end of the year.

“But there’s no point in thinking about the championship and we’ve just got to stay in the moment, present, and then take it race by race. And then we’ll see where we end up at the end of the season.”

Staying in the present is the right approach given Antonelli has ended a wait equal to three times his own age with his Monza win, but actually doing that will become increasingly difficult in the knowledge that he has a lead approaching three race victories.

If there was any doubt over whether he can join Ascari and Giuseppe Farina as an Italian world champion, it was on home soil that he proved it is surely a matter of when.

“The best [race] has yet to come," he said, "but I feel like it was one of the best races I’ve done so far and one that I will remember forever.”

If he does go on to win it all, then Antonelli will ensure his becomes a name that is remembered forever, too.