A crash, a penalty… what next? For a man who’s just turned 20, Italian hotshot Kimi Antonelli has already endured a tumultuous relationship with his home grand prix: the electrifying, old-school Monza circuit, long christened Formula 1’s Temple of Speed.
Two years ago, on the same weekend that Toto Wolff announced that then-F2 driver Antonelli would have the small shoes of Lewis Hamilton to fill in 2025, Antonelli took part in his first F1 session. On his second flying lap, full-send around the final high-speed Parabolica corner, the teen dumped his car violently into the wall. Then, in 2025, Antonelli crashed again in practice before receiving a penalty for track limits and running Alex Albon off the circuit.
Coming in the midst of a helter-skelter rookie year, Wolff acknowledged that Antonelli’s ninth-place performance had been “underwhelming,” urging his protege to “just free up”. Fast-forward 12 months, Antonelli is potentially 11 races away from becoming F1’s youngest-ever world champion. And on Thursday, he acknowledged he feels “very free mentally.”
Yet Antonelli’s chances of becoming the first home driver to win the Italian Grand Prix since Ferrari’s Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966 are slim, bordering on zero. The championship leader, 59 points clear at the top, will take a 20-place grid penalty this weekend as he exceeds his engine allocation for the season. Mercedes’s thinking is that, with Monza’s mammoth long straight, overtaking from the back of the grid will be easier come race day. Still, it feels a shame to lose the budding romance of a potential first Italian winner in 60 years.
“In some ways, it makes me a bit more relaxed going into the weekend,” Antonelli said in the FIA press conference. “That’s why I’m going to be able to enjoy more the driving and the weekend itself. Also, it’s a different opportunity.
“It’s an opportunity to try something different in the weekend, a different work method in free practice especially.
“We might be really quick, but Ferrari, McLaren or Red Bull, they might be very close. It’s probably not enough to catch them during a race. We’ll see. But I feel very free mentally going into this weekend. I’m actually very excited, very much looking forward to it.”
As well, he should. Antonelli’s rapid rise to the top of the rankings – with six wins and 10 podiums in 12 rounds – has taken his team and the sport by storm, leaving pre-season favourite George Russell languishing more than two race victories off the pace. With the clock ticking, boy does the Briton have some catching up to do.
Much like Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, especially early in their careers, the influence of Antonelli’s father, Marco, should not be understated. A former racer at the domestic level, Antonelli Snr. has repeatedly been the voice of reason (in fluent English no less) throughout his son’s early-season ascent.
After his inaugural win in China, side-by-side with Wolff, a very proud but forthright Marco told Sky Sports: “Kimi is young, but not perfect. Experience is very important, but George is a super driver, and it’s difficult to beat him.” In hindsight, shifting the early spotlight on Russell, whose season has been blighted by errors and rough luck thus far, was a clever strategy.
open image in galleryBut as Oscar Piastri exemplified at an identical point last year, it can all easily slip away. Twelve months ago, the Australian held a 34-point lead after Zandvoort following a late retirement from Lando Norris. This, however, had the impact of bolting the Brit back into life, catapulting him to a first world championship. Russell, no matter how much he tries, is yet to find that killer edge in performance and results.
Of course, with his teammate at the back, could this be the weekend which sparks the fightback? Hamilton, whose extravagant paddock entrance in a F40 sports car on Thursday certainly got eyes glinting, is level on points with Russell and chasing what would be a career highlight on Sunday: winning in Monza wearing Scuderia red.
On a weekend where Ferrari will pay tribute to Michael Schumacher with a special livery, 30 years after his Ferrari debut, Hamilton said: “Coming into this weekend, I’ve really been thinking about the sheer magnitude of this grand prix.
open image in gallery“Firstly, I didn’t know that I was equal with Michael (Schumacher) for wins at Monza, and then there’s the thought of a ‘first’ ahead of me in the sense of potentially winning at Monza for Ferrari and going into new territory.
“That would be phenomenal.”
Don’t rule out Norris, either, coming off the back of two emphatic race victories in Hungary and the Netherlands, at what will feel like a very different Monza circuit, given the emphasis on energy management and the anticipated cry of power units at the end of the home straight. “No record speeds this year,” noted British rookie Arvid Lindblad on Thursday.
Yet for all the traditional scarlet red in the grandstands, expect more black-and-white merchandise on show this time around. Antonelli is now right up there with Jannik Sinner in Italian sport’s next generation cream of the crop. A solid outing here, a damage-limitation Sunday afternoon in the Monza sun, will see that championship trophy inch ever closer into view.