F1 leader Kimi Antonelli wins Italian GP after epic charge from the back

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MONZA, Italy (AP) — Kimi Antonelli took a big step to becoming the youngest champion in Formula 1 history with a fightback for the ages at his home grand prix on Sunday.

Antonelli stormed to victory at the Italian Grand Prix, despite having started 19th on the grid. It took the Mercedes driver fewer than 17 laps to fight his way to the front.

The rest of the race was spent tussling with teammate and title rival George Russell for the lead. Antonelli passed him for the final time with three laps remaining, going on to become the first Italian to win at Monza in 60 years.

“Oh my God ... It feels like a dream,” Antonelli said on team radio after crossing the line.

“I did not expect it," Antonelli said later. “Unbelievable, unbelievable. I am so happy, I could not have imagined to be here today but we managed to pull it off and I am really, really happy.”

It was the second furthest back anyone has come from to win a grand prix. John Watson won at Long Beach in 1983 despite starting 22nd.

“The best (race) is yet to come. But I feel like it was one of the best races I've done so far and one that I will remember forever,” said the 20-year-old Antonelli, who is in his second season in F1.

Antonelli’s triumph at least gave the crowd something to cheer about after Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc crashed out of the scuderia’s home race early on. In the other Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton finished sixth.

Max Verstappen was a distant third behind the two Mercedes, just ahead of the McLaren duo of defending champion Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

It was Antonelli’s seventh win of the season — and his fledgling F1 career — and extended his lead in the overall standings to 66 points ahead of Russell.

Russell had been hoping to make up some ground on Antonelli in the title race as his teammate took on a hefty grid penalty at Monza after Mercedes opted to swap his car’s power unit.

“Kimi is in control of it and he’s deserving to be in control of it,” Russell said about the title race. "For me personally, I’m not even thinking about a fight or a comeback or anything.

“He’s performing incredibly well. It’s going to be exceptionally challenging to overcome that gap so I’m just sort of accepting that it is what it is.”

Russel started Sunday's grand prix second and got ahead of surprise polesitter Pierre Gasly at the start of the second lap.

Moments later the race was red-flagged after Leclerc lost control coming out of Parabolica at the end of Lap 2 and swerved off into the barriers at high speed. He got out of his car and sat down near the track, looking heartbroken.

The hordes of passionate, red-clad tifosi around the track looked similarly despondent, with many in tears.

By that point Antonelli was already up to 12th and — as he later admitted — starting to believe in victory. When the race resumed, he continued to slice swiftly through the field, picking off the cars one by one until he only had Russell ahead.

The Mercedes duo were told off by their team as they yo-yoed for the lead and instructed to build a gap over Verstappen before fighting it out for the victory.

Antonelli was brought into the pits under the virtual safety car on lap 29, while Russell stayed out. Antonelli came out in sixth but, with fresh tires, started reeling Russell in for the second time in the race.

“To be honest, I thought we were both going to stay out,” Russell said. "I was surprised to see him pitting.

"In the end it was a roll of the dice both ways. In the moment, the team wouldn’t have known which strategy was better, made sense to split the car. In the end Kimi had great pace.”

Antonelli looked as though he may have blown his chances of a stunning comeback win when he ran through the gravel as he attempted to get past Russell on Lap 49. But such was his pace that he soon closed the gap that had opened up and breezed past the following lap.

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