Russell hindered or just Antonelli brilliance? – F1 Q&A
Russell hindered or just Antonelli brilliance? – F1 Q&A. But Russell and Verstappen were fighting at the front, costing each other time, and Antonelli was up to third by lap 13, just 1.
What happened
Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, George Russell trails Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli by 66 points in the drivers' championshipPublished8 hours agoMercedes' Kimi Antonelli climbed from 19th on the grid to win the Italian Grand Prix – his home race – in one of the great Formula 1 drives. Antonelli extended his lead at the top of the drivers' standings to 66 points over team-mate George Russell. Antonelli 'walks over water' for win that will go down in F1 folklorePublished1 day agoWhy wasn't George Russell given the opportunity by Mercedes to pit under the virtual safety car in the Italian Grand Prix?
At the time, George Russell was leading the race on the hard tyre and Kimi Antonelli was second on the medium, a few laps after the Mercedes drivers had been advised to call off their 'yo-yo' scrapping to allow them to optimise their pace and build a gap to Max Verstappen's Red Bull. It was an eye-opening statement given they started the race 17 places apart on the grid, George Russell on the front row alongside shock pole winner Pierre Gasly's Alpine; Antonelli on the penultimate row.
"Antonelli in no mood to obey a computer algorithmImage source, EPAImage caption, Kimi Antonelli has now won seven of the 13 grands prix so far this seasonBriefly, for a few laps, Russell and Max Verstappen threatened to break away in the lead while Antonelli was finding a way past Gasly, the two McLarens and Hamilton's Ferrari. If Russell could not do so, they said, they would "invert the cars" – put Antonelli into the lead to try himself.
The wider picture
Antonelli caught Russell with five laps to go and the win now looked inevitable. There was a hiccup when he ran off the track at turn one with four laps to go after Russell blocked his attack on the inside, and Antonelli lost grip on the loose rubber off line and slid into the gravel trap. "Russell hurts with title almost a lost causeImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, George Russell finished in second at Monza and trails 66 points behind Kimi AntonelliAfter the race, Russell tried to put a brave face on it, but it was impossible not to see how much it was hurting him.
But there has not been a hint all year of Russell being able to put together a run of results where he consistently beats Antonelli, which is now his only hope. Without a VSC, the question was whether the mediums on Antonelli's car would last to the end – probably not – and what Mercedes would do about that. The VSC changed the complexion of the race, but Russell, who had fitted hards at the red flag with the express intention of going to the end, said he had given no thought to changing tyres at the time.
And that's why I was just a little bit annoyed with the timing of that VSC because I think it would have been tough for those guys on the medium to have competed with anybody on the hard tyre. "All of which goes to underline the main takeaway – the sublime quality of Antonelli's drive.
What has been reported
"Figure caption, Is Antonelli a generational talent? Hamilton is not happy about the way the team have effectively disregarded his – albeit slim – title hopes this year in favour of driver equality, and he said after dropping more points to Antonelli on Sunday that it was "far too late for those decisions to come". Lewis in Turn One, then Turn Two, I tried to do the tightest corner possible, but that was just not enough and doing it here is not good.
Have the upgrades just failed? – ColinAston Martin had a major car upgrade in Hungary two races ago, and a "spec two" Honda engine at the race before Italy in Zandvoort, on either side of the summer break. Spanish Grand Prix11-13 SeptemberListen on SoundsLive commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2; live text updates on BBC Sport website and appFull coverage guideGet in touchSend us your question for F1 correspondent Andrew BensonContact formContact formRelated topicsFormula 1More on this storyEcclestone stopped by police for taking shotgun into PortugalPublished21 hours agoFar too late for title fight priority – HamiltonPublished1 day agoAntonelli extraordinary as Gasly has superb weekend – driver ratingsPublished1 day agoAntonelli 'disrupting rules of fandom' in Ferrari's ItalyPublished3 days ago
Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Kimi Antonelli's victory from 19th on the grid is the second furthest back a driver has come from to win a grand prixByAndrew BensonF1 Correspondent at MonzaPublished6 September 2026Kimi Antonelli's stunning victory in the Italian Grand Prix from 19th on the grid will go down in Formula 1 folklore – and, remarkably, his team boss Toto Wolff said that he had seen it coming on Saturday. "Antonelli takes stunning Monza win from 19th on gridPublished1 day agoAntonelli extraordinary as Gasly has superb weekend – driver ratingsPublished1 day agoFor the Mercedes drivers, this race was all about the context of the weekend.
Antonelli knew coming in that he would be starting at the back because of a grid penalty for using too many engines this year.
What happens next
Russell knew that he had to make the most of this opportunity and cut as much as he could out of his team-mate's 59-point championship lead. Fifth or sixth was the general consensus for what might be realistically possible for Antonelli, who himself said after the race that he had "thought a podium was possible". Antonelli was 14th after a relatively conservative first lap, then 12th at the end of lap two, when Charles Leclerc crashed his Ferrari to bring the race to a temporary halt.
"With the red flag, I was already P12," Antonelli said. By now, Russell was in the lead, having wasted little time dispensing with Gasly. "A great race from the neutral perspective," Russell said. 8secs off Verstappen in the lead, with Russell between them.
The report has been compiled by The Daily Waves using information reported across bbc.co.uk. Details are presented according to the information available at the time of publication and may change as authorities, organisers or other relevant parties provide updates.