Russell Loses Ground as Antonelli Wins Italian Grand Prix From 19th on the Grid
George Russell began at Monza far ahead of his penalised Mercedes team-mate but finished second, and now trails him by 66 points in the drivers' championship.
George Russell finished second at the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, beaten by his Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli, who won at Monza from 19th on the grid to stretch his lead in the drivers' championship to 66 points.
Russell began the race far ahead of a championship leader who had been sent towards the back by a grid penalty, yet crossed the line 3.857 seconds behind him. Lewis Hamilton was the leading Ferrari in sixth after Charles Leclerc crashed out early, Lando Norris took fourth for McLaren and the British rookie Arvid Lindblad finished eighth for Racing Bulls.
How Antonelli turned the race around
Antonelli's weekend started badly. Mercedes used more power unit components than the rules allow, and the resulting penalty left the Italian 19th on the grid.
The race was red-flagged in the opening laps after Leclerc crashed heavily, and the stoppage for barrier repairs was followed by a standing restart. From there Antonelli carved through the field, reaching seventh by lap 10 and the front of the race by lap 18.
The order shuffled through the pit stops. A stop under a virtual safety car on lap 26 gave Antonelli fresh medium tyres while Russell was left on ageing hards. An attempt to pass on lap 49 took Antonelli wide into the gravel, but a lap later he got by between the second Lesmo and the Ascari chicane and pulled clear.
The victory made him the first Italian to win the Italian Grand Prix since Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966, and 19th is one of the lowest grid positions from which a Grand Prix has ever been won. Antonelli said it was a result he "could never have imagined".
A setback for Russell's title hopes
For Russell, it was a missed opportunity. With the championship leader starting near the back, Monza offered a rare chance to take a large bite out of the deficit. Instead the gap grew by seven points, the difference between first and second place.
Because the two drivers share the same car, there is little obvious advantage for Russell to exploit. A win is worth 25 points, so overturning a 66-point deficit would require him to finish ahead of his team-mate consistently over a run of races, and to hope for misfortune on the other side of the garage.
Max Verstappen completed the podium for Red Bull, 14.718 seconds behind the winner. Norris beat his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri to fourth by less than two tenths of a second. Pierre Gasly, Franco Colapinto and Yuki Tsunoda also scored points.
Hamilton closes on second place
Hamilton's sixth place kept the seven-time champion third in the standings, now just ten points behind Russell. Norris, the reigning world champion, is fourth.
The top of the drivers' championship after 13 rounds:
- Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – 267 points
- George Russell (Mercedes) – 201 points
- Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) – 191 points
- Lando Norris (McLaren) – 171 points
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 155 points
Mercedes lead the constructors' championship on 468 points, 122 ahead of Ferrari, with McLaren third on 287.
What happens next
There is little time to regroup. The Spanish Grand Prix takes place next weekend, from 11 to 13 September, at the new Madring circuit in Madrid, where no team has raced a Formula 1 car in competition before.
An unfamiliar layout could offer Russell his best chance of halting Antonelli's momentum, while Hamilton and Norris will see Madrid as an opportunity in their own fight for second place in the championship.
Image: Yu Chu Chin via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
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