#1162 2026 Italian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton was all smiles as the F1 paddock reconvened at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza on Thursday, with the Ferrari driver hoping that an engine update will boost his and the team’s Italian Grand Prix chances. Hamilton started the Monza weekend in style with a statement arrival outside the paddock gates - turning up in a classic Ferrari F40 that he recently acquired while wearing a stylish black suit and tan overcoat. After posing in front of the world’s photographers, Hamilton headed to the pre-event press conference, during which he fielded plenty of questions about how special it is to represent the Scuderia on their home soil, as well as what might be possible on track over the next three days.

"I mean, it’s the best feeling to be a Ferrari driver. It’s such an honour and a privilege to arrive in Italy at this iconic race with the most iconic and best team in the world. It’s really phenomenal to experience it for the second year in a row, and it still feels new, so it’s not something you can get used to".

Asked about another engine upgrade that Ferrari are set to introduce this weekend, and whether it will be enough to put him in contention for victory, Hamilton add: 

"Every little helps; every little helps. I think up until this point of the year we’ve been losing… even in the last race, on such a short circuit, we were losing four tenths a lap through the race, so that’s a huge deficit and we’ve carried that through the year to this point. What I can say is I really, really am proud of when I go back to the factory and I see how hard everyone is working, that they’re really just heads down. Everyone’s so enthusiastic. I see a different focus this year to last year. Last year I felt like there wasn’t really a North Star, and we were kind of... I think doing the best we could, but not really knowing where exactly we were trying to aim for. Now we have a North Star, we know where we need to work towards, and I think they’ve [the team at the factory] done a tremendous job to really pull together and deliver. This is a step forward. It’s not the whole gap that we need, but we knew that would be the case. But to see bits coming each weekend, adding to the car, it’s exciting to see that we are pushing. I strongly still believe that we’ve got what it takes to win".

After a difficult first season at Ferrari, Hamilton admitted to arriving at this year’s event aware there could be a first ahead of me - in terms of potentially becoming an Italian Grand Prix winner at the wheel of a Ferrari, as well as moving clear of Michael Schumacher with six Monza triumphs. Pushed on his comments about challenging for the victory this weekend, Hamilton add:

"Well, my point was that I strongly believe that the team has what it takes to win. At this level, how close it is up front… I think for us to win this weekend, and in any weekend, it takes the whole collective to come together. It’s not just one thing; everything has to flow from the beginning. The pressure’s high. You want to deliver for the team. There’s all those people that are at the factory, and many of them will come to this race. The Tifosi come out in huge numbers, the passion is unmatched, and you want to deliver for them as well. My mum’s here this weekend. She’s never experienced… I don’t think she’s been to Monza, but also particularly on a Ferrari weekend, and I wanted her to experience that and bring any of the lucky dust she can bring".

Charles Leclerc has echoed team mate Lewis Hamilton’s optimism over an engine upgrade that Ferrari will deploy at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza - expressing his hope of delivering another very special weekend in front of the Tifosi. After an initial update in Austria earlier this season, Ferrari have made further changes to their power unit for the Italian Grand Prix, as part of the team’s 2026 ADUO (Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities) allowance.

With Hamilton talking about the possibility of challenging for victory on Ferrari’s home soil earlier in the day, Leclerc shared similar ambitions when he faced the media - as he pushes to claim what would be third win in red at the famous Temple of Speed. Asked about the engine update, and what he expects it to bring, Leclerc replies:

"It will have a bit more power, which is always a good thing. How much more power? Only time will tell. I’ll do my best in order to have a very special weekend like in 2019 and 2024, which are probably the best memories I have in racing, together with [the win in] Monaco in 2024. But we are against very tough competition and the engine is definitely our weak part. To do a step forward will help us close a little bit the gap to the guys in front".

However, Leclerc went on to highlight the perfect execution that will be required if Ferrari are to triumph for the third time this season - after Hamilton’s win in Barcelona and the Monegasque’s win at Silverstone.

"If there’s one track we can afford to maybe compromise a little bit Qualifying compared to the race, it’s this one. However, our job is to make the car faster, and that will be beneficial for Qualifying and the race. On a track like this, we expect to have a bit of a harder time because it’s lots of straight lines and we know that this is a bit of a weak point compared to our competitors so far, but I’m still optimistic. Silverstone and Spa weren’t meant to be positive for us and we had a good weekend, but by having a perfect execution. We need to target that here. We have a new engine, we have new parts on the car, and I hope that helps us to put the others under a bit more pressure".

As for how much energy he takes from racing in Ferrari’s backyard, Leclerc add:

"Italy has always been very special for me. I kind of grew up here through my karting career, I was very much living with my mechanics here, and so I have a very special connection with Italy and the people.To be racing with Ferrari in Italy is already a special experience, but even more so for me. I just really hope we can convert all that positive excitement into a victory on Sunday".

Lando Norris is optimistic that he can continue his superb form and win the Italian Grand Prix, but was keen to emphasise that McLaren still have plenty to work on when it comes to their place in the pecking order. After a lacklustre start to the 2026 season, the reigning World Champion finally returned to the top step at the Hungarian Grand Prix, following the achievement with another hard-fought win in the Netherlands to make him the only non-Mercedes driver to claim back-to-back victories so far. Although Norris has a chance to extend that streak in Monza, he admitted that predicting a result would be a pointless exercise due to how differently the car behaves at each circuit.

Asked how confident he felt about completing the hat-trick of wins, he says: 

"It's certainly the plan. It's still hard to know, I think we're at the stage where it's hard to predict where we're going to be. I think we also don't want to waste time trying to predict these things. We're just focused, working on the stuff that's in our control. I'm doing the same. Clearly in a good place as a whole team at the minute, we know we have things we really have to try and work on and improve and we'll see if we've been able to make any progress into this weekend. Looking forward to it, it's another weekend where we want to be hopeful and believe it's possible. We kind of just have to wait and see. It's another track where we want to prove things. I wouldn't say it's a bad circuit for us, we've been good here in the past. I think there are still tracks ahead that I'm not looking forward to quite as much. There's still some good high-speed corners here which we want to try and make use of. Still a very long season, lots of different types of tracks we still have ahead of us. The goal is to continue the performances we've had lately, but we'll have to see tomorrow how the pace is and see if we can have another good weekend".

Norris will be further buoyed by his latest contract that will see him remain at McLaren until the end of 2030, becoming the second driver on the grid to commit to a significant long-term deal after Max Verstappen made a similar announcement ahead of his home race.

"I just love where I am, simple as that. I don't want to change, don't want to be with other people. Don't want to have a reset and work with anyone else. Happy that I'm with people I love to spend time with, create memories. They're my family, the team I've been with since beginning in F1, and they're also the team that I believe can help me win races and win more championships. For me there's two big reasons, the people and the performance that we have. Not everything in life is about performance, I just want to be places that I'm happy and for now, only been with one team and I'm happy with them".

Oscar Piastri believes he and McLaren have got ideas on how we can make things better ahead of this weekend's Italian Grand Prix, after the Australian has struggled for performance in recent races. Team mate and reigning World Champion Lando Norris has put McLaren back on top in Formula 1 after winning the two previous races in Hungary and the Netherlands. Although Piastri fought for the win in the former before retiring, he was noticeably lacking pace compared with Norris at Zandvoort, finishing 32 seconds adrift of the race winner. The Dutch Grand Prix marked a complete year since Piastri stood on the top step of the podium, having watched his lead in last year's drivers' standings eventually surpassed by Norris. Speaking on Thursday's media day ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, Piastri admitted that his struggles were not due to one reason specifically, making it harder to rectify.

"I think it's never been the same issue or thing we're chasing every weekend. It's always been slightly different which I think kind of raises a bigger question. If it was just one thing we kept struggling with it would, in some ways, be a bit of an easy fix but I think the fact we've kind of found different ways of having difficulty, we've been trying to answer that question. And we are getting closer, finding more ideas and ultimately the only way you can really solve it is by trying stuff on track. Not saying that we've gone away and found this problem, we've definitely got ideas on how we can make things better, both from how I drive the car and how we set up the car. Hopefully we can find something that works a bit better. I think in Zandvoort, Qualifying was a much bigger step, Lando and I were very close but clearly in the race there was a deficit. That's the area we're trying to work on".

Piastri believes that the new-for-2026 regulations have created a breed of car which he has struggled to adapt to, while bad luck and reliability problems have also played their part.

"There's definitely things that have not been as easy or as comfortable this year compared to last year. Some things we can fix quickly, some things we can't. I think these cars in general, the concept is very different, the tyres are quite different. There's a lot of things as well that are not necessarily in our control. Also this season not been easy for other reasons, we've had a lot of struggles with reliability or bad luck".

George Russell has revealed that Mercedes team mate Kimi Antonelli is primed to help him with a tow during Qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix, despite their respective quests for the 2026 world title. Russell arrives at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza 59 points behind Antonelli in the Drivers’ Championship standings, having claimed two Grand Prix victories to the Italian’s six so far this season. Antonelli, however, will drop to the back of the grid for his home race due to a full power unit change, ruling him out of pole position contention before the weekend has even started. That has raised questions over whether Antonelli might be used to support Russell’s own bid for pole by providing a slipstream along one of Monza’s many long straights - in turn giving the Briton a valuable top-speed boost.

Giving his response during Thursday’s media duties, Russell initially smiled, I hope so, before explaining that they offered it and we’ll go for it, see if it works as Qualifying develops. He continues:

"It’s not maybe as powerful as it once was with the wings open in Straight Mode the whole time, but we’ll work as a team. That’s how we do things".

In terms of Antonelli’s impending grid drop having any other impact on his preparations and approach to the weekend, Russell’s take was clear.

"For me, it doesn’t change anything, because I always want to focus on myself, focus on my limitations and the areas I want to improve. I always said it doesn’t matter if I have a seven-time World Champion as my team mate or a rookie. The job is still the same, so my approach will be exactly the same. I think I’m feeling much better since the summer break, and hoping just to continue building on that momentum. Of course, we know we’ve got fierce competition at the moment with McLaren and Ferrari bringing upgrades. We’re still on the back foot in terms of bringing these upgrades to the car. We know in that interim it’s not going to be as straightforward as it once was, but hoping to fight for pole and the win again".

Nonetheless, Russell suggested that any of the top-four teams have the potential to succeed this weekend - again being quick to highlight McLaren after their back-to-back victories in Hungary and the Netherlands.

"We can say all we want about the pecking order, but we’ll soon find out. I think there will be a lot of tough competition. The momentum is with McLaren right now. Ferrari has upgrades this weekend. We know Red Bull has a strong power unit. So, I honestly think this weekend it could be between any of the top-four teams, but I hope it’s us".

Kimi Antonelli has outlined his mindset as he prepares to start from the back in front of his home crowd at the Italian Grand Prix, with the Mercedes driver also explaining whether he will sacrifice his Qualifying to support team mate George Russell. Despite arriving at the event with a 59-point lead in the championship, it was confirmed ahead of the weekend that Antonelli will serve a grid penalty at Monza due to a planned engine change, posing an extra challenge for the Italian on Sunday. However, when speaking to the media on Thursday ahead of his local Grand Prix, Antonelli spoke of the opportunity he could take from the circumstances as well as admitting that his grid position helps to alleviate some of the pressure from racing at home.

"It feels very special to be leading the championship at my home race. Definitely a lot different compared to last year, and I'm very much looking forward to this weekend, despite starting from the back. But it's also a big opportunity I have, and very much looking forward to it. I think it's going to be very enjoyable - I will be able to enjoy it much more than what I did previously, and hopefully we can still do a great race. I think starting from the back in some ways helps to release pressure, although I'd very much rather fight for pole and start there at the front. But in some way it makes me a bit more relaxed going into the weekend. I think also that's why I'm going to be able to enjoy more the driving and the weekend itself. And of course it's a different opportunity, it's an opportunity to try something different during the weekend, a different work method as well in Free Practice especially, because we have the chance to do so. So yeah, I think it's going to a very interesting weekend".

In terms of what he believes might be possible from his starting position, Antonelli says: 

"In an ideal world, I think realistically top five you can do well, but it's all driven by also your pace, how fast you are, what's the gap between cars. We might be really quick, but Ferrari, McLaren or Red Bull, they might be very close and then it’s probably not enough to catch them during the race, but we'll see. Definitely I feel very free mentally going into this weekend. I'm actually very excited, very much looking forward to it, but with no real pressure".

Given his impending penalty, Antonelli was also quizzed on whether he might do anything to support fellow Mercedes driver Russell – such as providing a tow - during Qualifying.

"It has been discussed with the team, and yes, we have agreed on a few things. Let's see how the session develops, but if the team will ask me to do so, I will do it".

Overall, the championship leader conceded that he is carrying a very different mindset into the weekend compared to how he felt one year earlier, having experienced a difficult spell across the European leg of his rookie season.

"The main change this year is] that I don't have to prove as much as I had to do last year. Last year, obviously I was coming from a difficult period as well, and I felt like I had to prove myself, to prove that I could belong in F1. I feel like also that increased a lot the pressure on myself, and that made me drive very tense. I wasn’t really enjoying as well the time in the car. This year, obviously I'm lucky to have a great car, but as well, also the year of experience makes a huge difference. I feel much more mature, much more in control of the situation. And obviously then also when you get the good results in, it's always one less thing to prove and I've proven that I can win, I've proved that I can perform, and that's why coming into this weekend, yes it's my home race, it's great, but it is another race like the others".

Max Verstappen has admitted that he and Red Bull need to be realistic about their chances at the upcoming Italian Grand Prix, with the Dutchman setting out the aim of just trying to have a good weekend. Verstappen’s home event last time out in Zandvoort ended in disappointing fashion after he suffered a crash at the end of the first lap, putting him out of the running while stand-in team mate Liam Lawson salvaged points for the squad in P7. Looking ahead to Monza, Verstappen will sit out Free Practice 1 as Ayumu Iwasa gets behind the wheel before he returns to action for FP2 - and while it is a track that he claimed victory at last season, the four-time World Champion is keeping his expectations modest this time around.

"Let's see. Of course I'm not doing FP1, so we'll see afterwards how the car will be. Trying to get it into a nice window, but at the same time we also need to be realistic, where we are at the moment as a team and how we're performing. We’ll just try to have a good weekend. I know it's already going to be very complex with the energy around here, so we just need to try and understand that first and then we'll just see from there where we are in the pecking order. Just going off the last few races, I think we just need to be realistic".

Looking back at the difficult end to what will be the last Dutch Grand Prix, Verstappen conceded that he does not think it would have been a particularly strong outing even if he had been able to continue.

"I would have loved to have completed the race, even though I don’t think it would have been a magic race for us pace-wise. The whole weekend we were a bit off, and I was not feeling well so all the combinations were not there. But I look back at it with a lot of positives - I won races there, we had really great moments with the fans there, so overall it was a crazy experience and I’m very happy that I got to have a home Grand Prix like that".

The opening practice session in Monza features a few different names on the timesheets, with four rookies participating. Ayumu Iwasa is driving Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, while Williams’ Alex Albon makes way for Luke Browning, Paul Aron returns in Pierre Gasly’s Alpine and Colton Herta is getting his third run of the season in place of Cadillac’s Sergio Perez. Meanwhile Liam Lawson is embarking on his second consecutive weekend for Red Bull, with the New Zealander continuing to stand in for an injured Isack Hadjar - meaning that Yuki Tsunoda is also given another opportunity in Lawson’s seat at Racing Bulls. Iwasa leads out a queue of cars in hot and sunny conditions as FP1 gets underway at 12:30 local time, the majority of the pack sporting hard tyres for their early laps while some opt for the medium or soft compound. With the track busy from the off, traffic proves to be an issue for some - including the rookies, with Iwasa complaining about Aron after encountering the Alpine ahead of him on the racing line. Meanwhile Russell sets the fastest time during the first quarter of the session, the Mercedes driver recording a lap of 1m 23.802s to go nearly four tenths clear of Lando Norris. Shortly afterwards the yellow flags are thrown when Herta comes to a halt out on track with a suspected hydraulic issue, the American having been asked by the team to stop the car. A Virtual Safety Car is subsequently called before the session is red-flagged as the marshals work to clear the MAC-26. With just over half of FP1 left when the action resumes, Norris is leading the timesheets on a 1m 23.719s as the drivers return to the track. Some have switched to the soft tyres for their first flying laps, including the Mercedes pair of Russell and Kimi Antonelli. While this initially puts Russell at the top, Leclerc soon betters the Briton's effort on the medium tyres with a lap of 1m 23.008s - undoubtedly giving the watching Tifosi something to cheer about. This time puts the Monegasque three tenths ahead of Russell, with Hamilton in third and Antonelli - sporting a special Valentino Rossi-inspired helmet for his home race - holding fourth. Aron, meanwhile, again sparks the ire of another driver as Tsunoda takes to the radio to complain about the Estonian being in his path. As the final quarter of the session plays out, the track remains busy as the teams and drivers set about completing their programmes. Hamilton is amongst those to improve and moves up to P2, less than two tenths behind his team mate. Leclerc’s earlier benchmark ultimately proves unbeatable, the Monegasque leading a Ferrari 1-2 while Russell is three tenths adrift of the top spot in third. Lawson claims fourth in the Red Bull, followed by Antonelli and Norris while Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad, Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto, Franco Colapinto in the Alpine and Aron complete the top 10.

As the light at the end of the pit lane turns green at 4:00 p.m. local time, the majority of the field immediately heads out on track, fitted with a mix of medium and hard Pirelli tyres. After the opening 10 minutes, Antonelli leads with a 1m 23.417s, as just 0.055s covers the Italian, team mate Russell and Leclerc, with the Ferrari driver having briefly taken to the run-off area at the first chicane after locking up. Verstappen, meanwhile, complains about a lack of downforce in his Red Bull, pulling into the pits as the car's front wing is replaced, before posting a time only good enough for P8 with the medium tyre. Cars circulate in close proximity in an attempt to get a tow, with Lando Norris suffering a near-miss at the first chicane and taking to the grass in the braking zone after Lance Stroll moves over onto the racing line, the reigning World Champion commenting:

"It's dangerous".

Antonelli is one of the first drivers to bolt on a set of soft tyres, but the Drivers' Championship leader aborts his first effort after encountering traffic through the Parabolica. His second attempt is better, Antonelli the first driver to dip below the 1m 23s barrier with a 1m 22.700s. Russell also aborts his first stint on the soft tyre to pit for a front wing adjustment, but back up to speed and approaching the halfway point, the Briton fractionally lowers the benchmark down to a 1m 22.686s. It leaves the Mercedes duo more than seven tenths clear of the rest of the field, who soon begin to focus on their own Qualifying simulations. Leclerc replicates his form from FP1 by setting the fastest time, a 1m 22.679s, before Russell usurps the former with a 1m 22.559s. Russell's time remains unbeaten until the chequered flag, leaving him clear of Leclerc, who suffers a spin at the second chicane in the final 10 minutes but rejoins unharmed. Antonelli is P3 after complaining of understeer, as Norris, Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls), Ollie Bearman (Haas), Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda's Racing Bulls complete the top 10. Lewis Hamilton admits the prospect of pole position for this weekend's Italian Grand Prix in front of Ferrari's home fans is the ultimate dream, as he and team mate Charles Leclerc enjoyed a strong Friday. The Tifosi were left thrilled after the opening hour of practice at Monza, as Leclerc headed Hamilton at the top of the times, before the pair slipped to P2 and P5 respectively in the second session. Hamilton later explained that his deficit in Free Practice 2, which stood at nearly half a second to George Russell's Mercedes, was partly due to not having a tow down Monza's long straights.

"The long run wasn’t bad, just lacking a bit of pace. But a lot of the pace came from straight-line speed, a lot to do with tows and stuff. I was pretty on my own out there. But the Mercedes is very quick on the straights as always, so we have some work to do overnight to see if we can improve that and improve the balance a little bit. It’s going to be tight, it is very close. We are up against the McLarens and the Mercedes, they both look very, very competitive. Every weekend, the Mercedes is just really, really quick. It will be tough for sure, but we really need to knuckle down tonight and see if we can pull something out".

Hamilton has enjoyed a resurgence in form during his sophomore season with Ferrari, which included his first Grand Prix victory for the Scuderia in Barcelona. The seven-time World Champion sits joint-second in the drivers' standings, 59 points behind Kimi Antonelli, and has yet to take a pole position in red - admitting that doing it in front of the team's home fans would be special.

"I mean, that’s the dream, that’s the ultimate dream. Whether or not we can is the big, big question. It is going to take a lot of work tonight to try and figure out if we have gone wrong anywhere and if there’s any places we can improve. There are loads of places we can improve, but as I said, being in the right place at the right time on this track is going to help a lot".

Lando Norris cut a downbeat figure after Friday practice at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, claiming that McLaren are not in the fight for pole at all as things stand. Norris ended the first day of action in Italy in fourth position, behind Mercedes pair George Russell and Kimi Antonelli and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc - lapping 0.384 seconds off the pace. Summing up his two sessions behind the wheel, Norris comments:

"Not very decent. Just struggling a lot more with pace. To be honest, in the corners we expected to be good at, we’re bad at. And the corners we expected to be bad at, we’re not so bad at. But we’re still off. Not in a great place at the minute. We’ll see what we can do overnight, but it’s going to be tougher than before, for sure".

Norris was alluding to his pole position and victory doubles at the high-downforce Hungaroring and Zandvoort circuits - very different layouts to the low-downforce Monza track. Asked what he might be able to achieve with some positive car changes overnight, Norris add:

"I have no idea. It’s close between a lot of the guys at the top. The guys behind are not that far behind either, so they can easily surprise us. I don’t know. I definitely don’t feel we’re in the fight for pole at all. We just need to focus on getting a decent result, that’s all".

Neil Houldey, McLaren’s Technical Director of Applied Engineering, shared similar comments to Norris post-FP2, explaining that while he is sure we’ll be a little bit closer come Qualifying, fighting for pole will certainly be tricky this weekend. There was a standout positive for McLaren on Friday, however, as the team successfully ran a series of new parts on their MCL40 - including the rotating rear wing that they have called the H-Wing.

"The H-Wing worked exactly as we intended. Aerodynamically here it looks good. Mechanically, really pleased that it looks good as well. We’ve got a bit more inspection to do, but we expect to carry that forward for the rest of the weekend, which will add performance. Overall, four tenths down… it’s a little bit to make up. I think we’ve got good balance between the high-speed and the low-speed corners. Still work to do on how we maximise energy. It’s always a challenge around here, and I think there’s still opportunity there to find a little bit more harvest, a little more deployment, to get some lap time that way. A little bit from the drivers as well. It’d have been nicer to be slightly higher up the timesheet in terms of being closer to the front, but we’re there or thereabouts, and I’m sure we’ll put a little bit of performance on the car before tomorrow".

Kimi Antonelli has given his take on the first day of track action at the Italian Grand Prix, with the Italian admitting that having a particular focus on long runs felt a bit weird as he prepares to start from the back in Sunday’s race. After ending Free Practice 1 in fifth place on the timesheets - with the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton setting the pace - Antonelli moved up to third during the day’s second session, which was topped by team mate George Russell. Reflecting back on his Friday - marking the beginning of his home race weekend - the championship leader said:

"It's amazing to be here and the support has been incredible. Today was a bit of a different day compared to usual, a lot more focused on long runs. So yeah, it was a bit weird, not going to lie, but overall it was good day. We got a lot of data, and now looking forward to the next few days".

Antonelli will be faced with the challenge of trying to work his way through the order on Sunday, with the Mercedes driver set to serve a grid penalty due to a planned engine change. Pushed on what he now expects this fightback to be like after getting a taste of running alongside other cars in Friday’s practice sessions, Antonelli responded: “It's a track where you can really do so many different things.

"It was interesting in the long run today, running behind other cars to see what they were doing differently, where they were deploying compared to us, so it was very interesting. That's why I think we have got a lot of data and now we look forward to tomorrow".

Antonelli was also quizzed on the potential threat posed by Ferrari and suggested that the Scuderia are for sure in the battle for pole position.

"Ferrari definitely took a step forward with the new engine and now the speeds are the same, so we know how good their car is into the corners. So for sure, it's going to be a tight fight for pole tomorrow".

Deputy Team Principal Bradley Lord echoed Antonelli’s sentiment that it had been a solid day for Mercedes at Monza, commenting: 

"We had a clear programme of things we wanted to try - we've evaluated different wing levels on the cars, got the set-up pretty nicely balanced into a good place. Kimi's been focusing more on long run pace, a bit less on the single lap. George obviously was focused on both because he's aiming for pole tomorrow, but it's clear that it's very, very close. I think if you look at the Ferraris, they've been strong in both sessions, maybe a little bit less in FP2 than FP1, but I'm sure they've got more to come so they're probably the favourites heading into tomorrow".

While Russell reported a vibration on the car during second practice - and Antonelli experienced some understeer - Lord said that there were no dramas in any sense, adding that the fact that the long run pace had looked strong was super important for Kimi coming from the back and hopefully for George racing from the front. Lord went on to state that Antonelli’s goal in Sunday’s Grand Prix will be to gain as many positions as possible.

"The race can fall one way and really play into his hands or another way and sort of go against him. We've had a bit of a run this year of unlucky and unfortunate VSCs and Safety Cars, so maybe we can get one back in terms of the sort of karma wheel turning. But no, I think he's aiming to get back into solid points positions. We saw George able to do that in Hungary where overtaking was much more difficult, but we don't want to put too precise a prediction on it because, yeah, let's see what he can make happen".

It was a quiet start to Saturday’s session when the green light appeared at 1230 local time, with the Audi pair of Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg initially having the track to themselves during the opening moments before the Alpines joined the action soon afterwards. Meanwhile there was early trouble for Alex Albon, who reported an issue with his steering wheel that saw his car wheeled back into the Williams garage. As the action picked up, the problem appeared to have been resolved as the Thai driver joined other drivers on an increasingly busy track. Pierre Gasly had gone fastest after the opening 15 minutes, with many of the frontrunning cars still to head out. Elsewhere, Ferrari sent Charles Leclerc and Hamilton out a few minutes later in a welcome sight for the watching Tifosi, both cars sporting the soft tyres. Kimi Antonelli soon shot to the top of the timesheets, the Mercedes driver setting a lap of 1m 23.032s on a weekend in which he will start from the back of the field due to a grid penalty for a planned engine change. The yellow flags were briefly thrown when Liam Lawson suffered a spin into the first chicane, the Red Bull driver reporting struggles with the rear in low speed. Albon, meanwhile, had been issued with a warning for failing to follow the Race Director’s instructions regarding the escape road. Antonelli remained on top as the final practice hour reached its halfway point, the Italian two tenths clear of Leclerc while Gasly followed in third. Other drivers sounded less happy, with Oscar Piastri having to take to the escape road after a lock-up into the first corner before sarcastically commenting that things were great. Russell was the next to go fastest on a 1m 22.697s, going three tenths quicker than his team mate - but the Briton still had to contend with traffic soon afterwards, radioing in that there was nothing he could do after getting caught up in a group of cars. 

As the final 15 minutes of the session ticked down, the likes of Antonelli, Russell and Verstappen were amongst the first to bolt on fresh soft tyres for their closing laps, leading to a flurry of quicker times going on the board. Meanwhile Williams were utilising the power of the tow, with Albon - who, like Antonelli, will start from the back due to engine penalties - towing Carlos Sainz in a move that they will be hoping to gain from later in Qualifying. Separately, it was confirmed that both drivers will be investigated after the session for a yellow flag infringement.Elsewhere Verstappen was voicing his annoyance after feeling that a Ferrari was always in the way ahead of him amid a very busy track. Russell had been noted for potentially impeding Piastri, before the stewards decided that no further investigation was necessary. There was a feisty moment between former title rivals Hamilton and Verstappen, with Hamilton overtaking before the pair went side-by-side down the main straight and engaged in a tense moment into Turn 2, sparking unhappy comments from both on the radio. The incident was noted by the stewards, but it was subsequently not investigated. Ultimately Russell remained on top with his effort of 1m 22.219s, two tenths clear of Hamilton in second with Verstappen third. Antonelli placed in fourth, with McLaren’s Lando Norris fifth and Leclerc sixth, while Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad, Piastri, Gasly and the sister Alpine of Franco Colapinto completing the top 10.

After Saturday’s third and final practice session, topped by Russell over Hamilton and Verstappen, attention swiftly turns to Qualifying, and how the battle for pole position - gaining an effective tow again looking set to be a key part of that - will play out. When the green light switches on at the end of the pit lane at 14:00 p.m. local time and Q1 begins, three drivers know they will be dropping down the grid as a result of power unit changes and penalties - those being championship leader Antonelli, Albon and Lawson. It begs an obvious question: will Antonelli and Lawson be used to assist Russell and Verstappen’s respective Q3 bids? First, they all have to get there, with the field squabbling for track position - and that fine balance between clear air and a slipstream - in the early stages of the opening phase. While the Mercedes, Racing Bulls and Alpine cars bide their time in the pits, the first flurry of lap times brings a 1m 22.631s from Verstappen, followed closely by Hamilton, Piastri, and Leclerc, with Norris backing out of a lap but going again and slotting into fifth. A few minutes later, Gasly (1m 22.612s) and Colapinto (1m 22.662s) surge to P1 and P3, sandwiching Verstappen’s Red Bull, before Antonelli takes P4 and Russell P5 (the latter on mediums, rather than softs) with efforts in the 1m 22.7s bracket. Another eye-catching lap then comes from Bearman with his upgraded Haas machine and new Ferrari power unit, which puts him a provisional P8, between the works red cars of Hamilton and Leclerc, and the papaya McLarens of Piastri and Norris. At the other end of the timing screen, Hulkenberg, Albon, Bottas, Alonso, Stroll and Perez are the drivers in the drop zone, with some five minutes left on the Q1 clock and another round of laps set to follow through to the chequered flag. After the slipstreaming train of cars crosses the line one more time, Gasly is confirmed as the Q1 pace-setter with his earlier effort, in front of Verstappen, an improved Norris, Colapinto and FP3 star Lindblad, who also makes gains on his final run. All is not well at McLaren, though, with Norris asking his engineer:

"Is there nothing else I can do about these brakes right now? I just think it’s going to go wrong into Turn 1".

His team mate, Piastri, has similar struggles en route to P11, behind the Mercedes and Ferrari cars, and Bearman’s Haas. Bortoleto and Hulkenberg make it safely through to Q2 for Audi in P12 and P14, around the other Red Bull of Lawson, with Sainz (aided by a tow from his team mate) and Ocon the final drivers to progress at the expense of a struggling Tsunoda, Albon, the Cadillacs and the Aston Martins. After a short break, Q2 gets under way, with Red Bull quick to make their move and deliver banker laps – Verstappen clocking a 1m 22.573s and Lawson a 1m 22.828s. All is not well for the Dutchman, as he reports: 

"The car is broken on the rear axle again. It’s really undriveable in Turn 2, 4 and 5".

Once the rest of the remaining 16 drivers get in on the action, Piastri holds the P1 time on a 1m 22.017s, just ahead of team mate Norris, with Gasly again flying high in third from Mercedes pair Russell and Antonelli, Lindblad, Colapinto and Leclerc. Hamilton, meanwhile, is back in 11th, behind Bortoleto and Verstappen, meaning the seven-time World Champion has work to do on his second run. Bearman, Lawson, Hulkenberg, Sainz and Ocon are the other drivers in the drop zone at this point. Amid a flurry of improvements, Antonelli finishes Q2 at the top of the times via a 1m 21.882s, from the McLarens, Gasly’s Alpine, team mate Russell and Verstappen, with Lindblad, Colapinto, Leclerc and an under-pressure Hamilton grabbing the final Q3 spots. It is a genuine scare for Hamilton, who winds up just 0.001s faster than Bortoleto, while there are no other significant changes in the drop zone - Lawson is left furious at being baulked by Piastri through the first chicane, which the stewards duly note. Another breather behind them, the top-10 drivers emerge from the pits for the decisive pole position shoot-out - Russell gets a tow from Antonelli en route to a provisional P1 time of 1m 21.929s, marginally up on Piastri and Gasly. Leclerc is the fastest Ferrari driver over the first runs in fourth, ahead of Verstappen, Norris, Lindblad, team mate Hamilton and Colapinto.

Antonelli then completes a lap out of sync with his rivals - after that tow for Russell - to move up to sixth place. Despite sitting at the top of the order, Russell is not feeling comfortable behind the wheel of his Mercedes. 

"I’m really struggling with the car compared to FP3".

He comments over the radio. 

"Just front locking and instability in high-speed".

Drama ensues at the start of the final runs when Piastri again misses his entry to the first chicane, but there are plenty of green and purple sector times behind - particularly from Gasly and his Alpine. As the mini-sectors tick by, an upset looks more and more possible, with Gasly ultimately posting a 1m21.786s to jump ahead of Piastri and Russell (despite the latter’s own improvement) and take pole for the first time in F1. While Gasly screams over the radio in delight, the Ferraris of Leclerc and Hamilton have to settle for fourth and fifth, as Verstappen, Antonelli (before his penalty), Colapinto, Norris (who fails to improve on his last lap) and Lindblad complete the Q3 order. Pierre Gasly was suitably delighted after the Alpine driver caused an upset to claim pole position for the first time in his F1 career during Saturday’s Qualifying session at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza. Having impressed throughout the Q1 and Q2 phases, Gasly posted a stunning time of 1m 21.786s on his final Q3 run to jump ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. That earned the Frenchman a maiden pole to go with the breakthrough victory he achieved around the Temple of Speed with the then-named AlphaTauri team (now Racing Bulls) back in 2020. Speaking after he jumped out of the car and embraced Alpine team members, Gasly says:

"It was amazing. It was an incredible Qualifying. From the first lap in Q1, I felt very good in the car. I was trying to chip a little bit away every single session and then in the end [in Q3], it felt like a very good lap. I’m so happy. It’s been nine years in F1 trying to chase and get the opportunity to take pole position. I won my first race in Monza, and to get my first pole position on this track… I think is something special around here".

Asked in his subsequent interview where that result came from, Gasly laugh:

"I’d like to tell you, but I don’t know! I’m so happy. I’m so pleased for all the guys, for the whole team, for myself. To feel these emotions, seeing on the last lap… putting everything out there and being rewarded for it, it’s just very special. I’m very grateful for the race car I’ve had today. I felt very confident, very comfortable to absolutely put everything there was out there, and squeeze every hundredth out of it on the last lap. I’m going to enjoy that one".

Gasly admitted to feeling continuously surprised by his and Alpine’s progression throughout the weekend - which began with him missing FP1 to give reserve driver Paul Aron another run out.

"I didn’t drive in P1, which is never too great, then P2 was not ideal. I felt like there was potential in the car, and in P3 I felt again better. I never really had a tow the whole Free Practice. Quali already Q1 I was P1, and I was a little surprised: Okay, others are going to turn it up. Q2 we were still up there, and Q3 run one, I found myself in P3. I was like, ‘I’ve never thought about it, but actually today I might get a shot at it".

Alpine’s day was made even better by the recently re-signed Franco Colapinto also making it into Q3 and placing eighth, which will become seventh when Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli takes a grid penalty for a power unit change. Colapinto took his hat off to Gasly post-session, describing the result as amazing for Alpine as they recover from a mid-season slump.

"Q1 I was in the same lap time as Gasly, and then he kept doing big steps, and my steps were smaller. Personally, I need to understand and learn from that, how he improved so much session after session, and he was doing big steps. I’m happy for the team. It’s an impressive result for the team. It’s amazing to do it here in Monza. Seeing both cars in Q3 is very positive, but even more when one is on pole".

George Russell shared his predictions for the Italian Grand Prix after settling for second place in Qualifying, as Alpine driver Pierre Gasly executed a remarkable lap to clinch pole position at the last moment. With the second Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli set to start at the back of the grid, and Ferrari struggling to replicate their timesheet-topping pace from earlier in the weekend, it looked as though Russell had a relatively clear path to pole position. His first effort - assisted by a tow from his team mate - saw him take P1 early in Q3, and while he complained about front locking and instability in the car, Russell went even faster on his final lap. However, the possibility of a shock result quickly grew as Gasly also improved after showing eye-catching speed through the session, and the Frenchman ultimately snatched pole by a margin of 0.060s.

"Firstly, massive congrats to Pierre because that's an incredible performance. We were actually finishing a game of chess about 15 minutes before Qualifying and he beat me there, but I thought 'well I'll beat you on Qualifying' and here we are. He's ahead of me again, so huge congrats to him. Of course I was disappointed not to get the pole position, was a bit messy with Max Verstappen opening the lap. I did the lap very close but Pierre and Alpine have been super fast, even from Q1, so happy to see them get a good result".

He will be hoping to capitalise on both his front-row start and Antonelli’s grid penalty to recover some points in the Drivers’ Championship, where he sits in second place 59 points adrift of the Italian. Despite the unlikely way Qualifying unfolded, he maintained that it didn’t impact his optimism for the rest of the weekend due to the numerous overtaking spots that Monza offers.

"Of all the circuits, this is probably the least important one to be on pole for to fight for victory. I was very happy to see Pierre on pole because he’s a great driver, a great person, hasn't had many opportunities of having the car beneath him to fight for pole. This weekend they were flying. We’re going to probably look back on the data from FP2 a bit more closely now because we didn’t really think they were a threat at all. We knew they looked more competitive, but sometimes teams are running less fuel or they’re using high power in practice. I wouldn’t say we disregarded it, but I don’t think anybody expected them to be fighting for pole".

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton admit that Ferrari failed to execute a good enough strategy during Qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix, with the pair only achieving P4 and P5 respectively. With the slipstream at Monza proving pivotal, teams and drivers tried to work in unison to give themselves a shot at pole position ahead of Sunday's 53-lap race. But the Scuderia failed to deliver in front of their home fans, as both Leclerc and Hamilton found themselves two tenths adrift of surprise polesitter, Pierre Gasly. The pair had been fortunate to even reach the final stage of Qualifying, as both were left on the cusp of Q2 elimination, with Hamilton only squeezing through by 0.001s over Gabriel Bortoleto's Audi.

"A very tough session, just in terms of getting consistency and ultimately we didn't do it, I think. Didn't execute that well. My first lap felt really good in Q1 and I stopped to save the tyre, and then went into Q2 and I was meant to do a push-cool-cool-push. But because Charles didn't want to go out, they just delayed, delayed, so I only got one push and yeah, that was basically the whole session".

Leclerc admitted that the session had been messy in general, as well as having a technical issue which put himself and the team on the back foot.

"We've had way too many problems. Unfortunately, Q2 we had a big problem with the battery which then we understood, we kind of fixed for Q3, but just a messy session. When you want to go and get the last hundredths, we need to be perfect as a team and we haven't been, so we need look at what's going on".

Leclerc was keen to stress that the result might have been different had Ferrari executed better, something he believed Gasly and Alpine achieved with a shock result.

"I spoke to Pierre yesterday and he was asking me some things for Turns 6-7. I was like, okay, with Pierre I can share things – and today he beat all of us for pole. I'm very happy for Pierre. I think it's a big, big surprise for everybody, but it shows that with these cars, especially on tracks like this, if you do everything perfect then it can make a massive difference. I don't think they've got the best car, but I think they have done the best job today and, on a track like this, it makes a much bigger difference to other tracks".

One solace that the Ferrari pair can take after their struggles in Qualifying, is after Oscar Piastri's three-place grid penalty for impeding Liam Lawson in the first turn, it'll be an all-red second row as Leclerc and Hamilton have been pushed up to third and fourth respectively. Oscar Piastri has been handed a three-place grid penalty for the Italian Grand Prix after the stewards found him guilty of impeding Liam Lawson in Qualifying. Red Bull substitute Lawson closed in on Piastri’s McLaren (which had just left the pits) through Monza’s first chicane during the closing stages of Q2 – the New Zealander subsequently expressing his frustration over the radio and missing the Q3 cut. After hearing from both drivers, Red Bull and McLaren team representatives, and reviewing the range of data available to them, the stewarding panel settled on a grid drop for the Australian. That means Piastri will fall from third to sixth on the grid, promoting Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, as well as the Red Bull of Lawson’s team mate, Max Verstappen. Lawson meanwhile, is set to start from the back of the grid due to his Red Bull being fitted with new power unit components. The stewards’ decision document and explanation read: 

"On leaving the pits, the driver of Car 81 (Piastri) was advised that Verstappen, Lawson and Sainz just crossing, Sainz has pitted, just Verstappen and Lawson, watch out for them as you join. The driver of Car 81 stated that he was not alerted to the fact that VER and LAW were on push laps, but realised as he was almost at Turn 1 that VER was on a push lap. He slowed significantly and kept to the right to allow VER to pass, but was unable to do anything to avoid impeding LAW who was close behind. The stewards accept that with the information he had, and the situation he was placed in, the driver of Car 81 had, at this stage, no other options available and hence, inadvertently, and also unnecessarily, impeded Car 30".

Giving his take before the penalty was applied, Piastri says: 

"It was a tricky situation to manage. I was coming out of the pits and got told that Lawson and Verstappen were coming, but I kind of had to jump on the brakes pretty heavily to get out of Max’s way, and then I was just stuck in a very awkward spot with Liam".

Lawson, meanwhile, says:

"To be honest, we should really have the speed to get through to Q3 anyway. We had quite good speed yesterday, and then today, we’ve lost some performance. In general, the goal was to obviously try and help Max in Q3 and I never got there, so it’s not what we planned for, but I think our Qualifying was a bit compromised anyway".

Max Verstappen has confirmed that he immediately picked up a problem at the start of Qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix that limited the Red Bull driver to only fifth on the grid. The four-time World Champion was less than three tenths behind surprise polesitter Pierre Gasly ahead of Sunday's 53-lap race at Monza, and also had no tow from a car in front on his final effort in Q3. The Dutchman had complained about a broken rear axle earlier in proceedings, admitting after Qualifying that it had limited what was possible.

"I think FP3 was actually quite decent for us. We made a really good step overnight, but unfortunately going into Qualifying on my first lap I immediately picked up a problem on the rear axle, which we have already a lot during the season. It happens at different phases on the weekend, unfortunately it happened in Qualifying so you just jump around a lot more, the car is not good on the kerbs anymore, the bumps, and it's just costing performance on a track where it is of course super close".

When asked if he could challenge for a podium, Verstappen add: 

"If we can fix it then yes, I think the car will be in a better window. Is that enough for a podium? I don't know. We'd like to race with a car that is 100%, that would be nice".

Red Bull team mate Liam Lawson, still standing in for the injured Isack Hadjar, failed to reach Q3 after only setting the 13th quickest time, with the New Zealander set to start at the back of the grid after power unit changes. Knowing that he would not feature in the main battle for pole, much of Lawson's focus was on long runs and he only received a tow from Verstappen for his final Q2 effort. But being blocked at the first chicane by McLaren's Oscar Piastri, with the Australian handed a grid penalty, prevented Lawson from advancing and ultimately helping Verstappen.

"We had quite good speed yesterday and then today, we've lost some performance. In general, the goal was to obviously try and help Max in Q3 and I never got there, so it's not what we planned for, but I think our Qualifying was a bit compromised anyway. The weekend in general has just been focused on the race anyway because we knew we were taking the penalty. It's not ideal, we didn't put that much focus on just the pure one-lap speed, but outside of that, obviously getting blocked in Turn 1 doesn't help. I spent the whole of Qualifying in clean air until that last lap as well, so I hadn't even driven behind a car before. Wasn't ideal".

Gasly and Alpine deliver the shock of the season so far during Saturday’s Qualifying session at Monza, making the most of their recent chassis upgrades - and Mercedes power unit - to claim a sensational pole position. Russell, beaten by Gasly in a game of online chess beforehand, takes second position, with Piastri initially third before the stewards dock him three places on the grid for impeding Lawson in the Q2 phase. That promotes Leclerc and Hamilton for an all-Ferrari second row, and Verstappen to fifth, while championship leader Antonelli drops from seventh to the back of the grid due to his power unit-related penalty. Albon and Lawson also serve engine penalties, with Lawson later being required to start from the pit lane after changes to his Red Bull’s rear wing assembly under parc ferme conditions - Alonso joining him there due to his own post-Qualifying power unit changes. As the 53-lap encounter approaches, via a special demonstration run from Sebastian Vettel in Michael Schumacher’s 2002 Ferrari, intrigue grows as to whether or not Gasly has the raw pace to convert his unexpected pole into victory. There is also widespread expectation of early drama, given the different battery deployment patterns seen across teams and cars through Free Practice and Qualifying, and how that could lead to back-and-forth overtakes up and down the field. Just before 3:00 p.m. local time, with cars in position on the grid, it is revealed that Gasly and Russell are starting the race on the medium tyre, while Leclerc, Hamilton and Verstappen all go more aggressive with the soft compound. Other drivers on mediums are Piastri, Colapinto, Norris, Lindblad, Hulkenberg, Albon and Lawson, with Bortoleto, Bearman, Sainz, Ocon, Bottas, Perez and Stroll going for softs, and Tsunoda, Antonelli and Alonso choosing hards. As the five red lights go out, polesitter Gasly makes a smooth getaway to hold the lead over Russell into the first chicane, where Ferrari pair Leclerc and Hamilton go wheel-to-wheel – the latter seemingly forced into the gravel and tumbling down the order.

"Charles pushed me off".

Hamilton shouts over the radio a few moments later, as the seven-time World Champion briefly falls out of the points-paying positions. Behind, Piastri and Verstappen come close to contact themselves, as the Dutchman sneaks ahead for P4. Heading onto the second lap, Russell tucks in behind Gasly and makes a clean move stick into the first chicane, where Leclerc also gets ahead of the Alpine, only for the Frenchman to come back fighting into the second chicane and regain a place. Drama then strikes for Leclerc, who holds a couple of slides in the middle sector and falls behind Verstappen, before losing control of his Ferrari exiting the Curva Alboreto and slamming into the barriers. Race Control initially deploys the Safety Car, before throwing a red flag. Thankfully, Leclerc gets out of his heavily damaged Ferrari unaided and looks to be unharmed. He then hops over the barriers and crouches down - head in hands - in the shade, bringing back memories of Mika Hakkinen’s race-ending despair at Monza in 1999. As the remaining 21 cars return to the pits, Russell heads the queue from Gasly, Verstappen and a fast-starting Colapinto. McLaren pair Piastri and Norris hold fifth and sixth, with Lindblad, Hamilton, Bearman and Ocon rounding out the top 10. Antonelli has already worked his way up to 12th, splitting Audi duo Bortoleto and Hulkenberg, followed by Tsunoda, Lawson, Sainz, Perez, Albon and Bottas, as the Aston Martins of Stroll and Alonso complete the train. After a period of barrier repairs, the pack heads out of the pits for a standing start. Most drivers are now on hards: Russell, Gasly, Colapinto, Piastri, Norris, Lindblad, Bearman, Ocon, Hulkenberg, Lawson, Sainz, Albon and Stroll. Meanwhile, Verstappen, Hamilton, Bortoleto, Antonelli, Tsunoda and Bottas are on mediums, and Perez and Alonso are on softs. With Tsunoda missing his grid slot and lining up out of position, the start procedure is abandoned, meaning one more lap before the race gets going again. When it does, Russell nails his getaway to slot in front of Gasly, as Colapinto initially gets the jump on Verstappen - only for the latter to reclaim P3 with a bold move at the second chicane. Colapinto then hits trouble when he dramatically runs off the track and through the gravel at Lesmo 1, promoting the squabbling Hamilton and Piastri to P4 and P5. A lap later, the other Alpine of Gasly also loses ground when Verstappen charges past him down the back straight. Incredibly, Antonelli is already up to seventh position, with his sights now set on the McLarens of Norris and Piastri - the Italian managing to edge in front of the reigning World Champion in an entertaining battle over the next few laps.

Lindblad, Tsunoda and Bearman hold the final top-10 places, from Lawson, Hulkenberg, Ocon and Bortoleto, with Colapinto all the way down in 16th, between the Williams cars of Sainz and Albon, following his off-track excursion. At the start of Lap 10, Gasly loses another position to Hamilton on the run down to the first chicane, before being swallowed up by Piastri and Antonelli in quick succession - the Alpine not enjoying quite so much pace in race conditions. A couple of laps later, Verstappen jumps Russell for the lead at that popular first chicane overtaking spot, with Piastri also managing to make a move on Hamilton and get himself back into the podium places. Antonelli then follows Piastri through for P4 at the second chicane, as his phenomenal rise continues. Despite his best efforts, Verstappen cannot shake off Russell’s Mercedes as the race develops - the Briton fighting back to reclaim P1 into the second chicane on Lap 15, before Antonelli repeats the move on the four-time champion next time around.

"The car is completely broken on the rear axle".

Reports Verstappen at this point, as he watches Antonelli close in on team mate Russell. When the trio heads onto Lap 18, Antonelli completes his back-of-the-grid charge by taking the lead from Russell into Turn 1. Behind, Piastri and Hamilton continue their battle for fourth, ahead of Gasly, Norris, Lindblad, Tsunoda and Bearman. Bortoleto and Hulkenberg remain just outside the points - the latter involved in an incident with Lawson at Turn 4 that is noted and then dismissed by the stewards. As predicted pre-race, the differing battery deployments lead to a thrilling back-and-forth battle between Antonelli and Russell - the former falling behind at the first chicane and fighting back at the second chicane on multiple occasions. TV cameras cut to Mercedes boss Toto Wolff in the middle of their squabble, with heart rates in the Mercedes garage no doubt raised when the team mates come perilously close to making contact through the Curva Grande on Lap 22.

"Kimi, we’re going to try and stop yo-yoing; we just need to build that gap to Verstappen".

Is the message to Antonelli at this point. 

"Yeah right, and in the meantime, he passed me".

Comes the youngster’s response. 

"Do you want me just to sit behind, or what?"

The tension steps up a gear at the start of Lap 26 when Antonelli goes too deep at the first chicane and runs over the inside strip of gravel - Verstappen continuing to watch on from third position, and ready to pounce on any opportunity. Elsewhere, Alonso becomes the second retirement of the day due to suspected car damage. That becomes both Aston Martins when Stroll stops with a hydraulic issue shortly afterwards. Hulkenberg, Ocon and Sainz pit immediately, with Antonelli (taking on more mediums) and Verstappen (hards) doing the same a lap later. Russell stays out and presses on in the lead, ahead of Piastri, Hamilton, Norris and Gasly, with Antonelli and Verstappen rejoining in P6 and P7, from Lindblad, Tsunoda and Bortoleto. Antonelli and Verstappen make light work of Gasly’s Alpine and Norris’ McLaren, putting them up to fourth and fifth almost immediately. With some 20 laps remaining, the pair sits just over 10 seconds away from race leader Russell, who is doing his best to pump in consistently quick times - and has been noted for a potential yellow flag infringement.

A mistake from Hamilton into the first chicane on Lap 35 hands another position to Antonelli. Kimi 25.0, Russell is told over the radio, in reference to his team mate’s lap times. He firmly responds:

"Just let me drive. I’m driving as quick as I can".

Only a lap later, Antonelli clears Piastri into the first chicane for P2 - nine seconds now standing between himself and Russell, and a potential home win. Moments later, the stewards’ note involving Russell is ominously stepped up to a full investigation. Behind the Silver Arrows, Verstappen slots back into the podium places with overtakes on Hamilton and Piastri. Norris remains sixth, over Gasly, Lindblad and Tsunoda, while Colapinto has recovered to 10th and the final point on offer as things stand.

"Are the lap times good enough at the moment?"

Russell asks over the radio with 15 laps to go. Comes the response:

"Kimi’s forecast to catch [you] right at the end of the race".

The stewards’ subsequent ‘no further action’ message confirms a straight fight to the chequered flag. While Antonelli does all he can to catch Russell, more battling ensues between Verstappen and Piastri, and Norris and Hamilton, behind them - the positions changing several times and the action looking set to run and run over the closing tours.

"The tyre is opening up".

Says Russell as he heads into the final 10 laps, with the concern in his voice growing. 

"Let’s take no risks. Just bring it home".

Is the follow-up message from the Mercedes pit wall, as they brace for another intra-team scrap. With five laps to go, Antonelli has Russell in his sights, and a move for the win looks inevitable. He gets close heading into the first chicane on Lap 49, only to run wide at the exit, put all four wheels in the gravel and drop back. Antonelli is not going to let the chance of a home win slip, however, and he soon recovers to challenge Russell once more - this time making a pass stick between Lesmo 2 and the Ascari chicane midway through Lap 50, and then storming into the distance. While Antonelli duly confirms victory over Russell, and Verstappen follows them home for a well-deserved podium, Norris grabs fourth from team mate Piastri in a tight wheel-to-wheel moment through the Curva Grande - the Briton not impressed by such fine margins. Hamilton salvages sixth on a difficult day for Ferrari, from original P1 starter Gasly, Lindblad, Colapinto and Tsunoda, though the latter is making a trip to the stewards post-race for a potential start procedure infringement. Bortoleto and Hulkenberg follow for Audi, in front of Sainz, Lawson, the Haas cars of Bearman and Ocon, and Albon, while Perez and Bottas are the final drivers to reach the flag after Alonso, Stroll and Leclerc’s respective retirements.

Kimi Antonelli admits his sensational victory in the Italian Grand Prix from P19 on the grid was like a dream coming true. Antonelli's prospects of a first victory on home soil at Monza seemed unlikely ahead of Sunday's 53-lap race, with the Italian starting towards the back of the grid after taking new power unit components. But after the race was red flagged early after Charles Leclerc's dramatic crash at the final corner, Antonelli had already reached P12 and quickly scythed through the order at the restart. Battling Mercedes team mate George Russell for the lead, Antonelli was brought into the pits under a mid-race Virtual Safety Car, before using fresher tyres to catch and pass the Briton with four laps remaining.

"Unbelievable, I'm so happy and I could never have imagined to be here today but we managed to pull it off and I'm really happy".

said Antonelli immediately after the race, who added it's a dream coming true.

"After the second restart I was up there and I knew I could have a shot for the win. Definitely I believed in it, especially when I was behind George but it was really difficult because it was really difficult to break away with the tow being so strong. At the end, we pitted and he Russell stayed out and he struggled a bit with his tyres at the end. With fresher tyres I was able to increase the pace and managed to win it".

The victory at Monza is the first for an Italian driver since Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966, with P19 the second-ever lowest starting position a Grand Prix has been won from in Formula 1 history. Antonelli's seventh win of the season moves him 66 points clear of Russell in the drivers' standing, with the pair almost making contact in the closing stages at the first chicane. Antonelli took to the gravel on the exit, before recovering and blasting past Russell on the run to the Ascari chicane with four laps remaining.

"It was quite scary during the moment. I thought I could still do the corner but once I went over a bit of gravel I went straight, and I was like maybe I've lost my chance, but then luckily we still had the pace and managed to bring it home".

George Russell has given his take on an eventful Italian Grand Prix in which he lost out on victory in the latter stages to team mate Kimi Antonelli, with the Briton admitting that his team mate’s pit stop during the Virtual Safety Car phase surprised him. Russell had looked in strong form throughout much of the race, having taken the lead early on from polesitter Pierre Gasly while Antonelli faced the challenge of working his way forwards from his P19 grid slot. However, having rapidly making gains, the Italian was soon in the thick of the action at the front and engaged in a close battle with Russell for the lead. When a Virtual Safety Car was called after Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin came to a halt, Mercedes pitted Antonelli for fresh tyres while Russell remained out on track. This initially dropped the championship leader backwards, but he again climbed up the order again and returned to second place. Just a few laps from the end of the race, Antonelli finally found a way past Russell and held on to seal victory, with Russell having to settle for P2. Despite his disappointment at missing out on the win, the British driver praised his team mate’s performance and admitted that it was a relief to claim a solid result after some ups and downs towards the end of the first half of the season.

"Huge congratulations to Kimi of course - an incredible result from him. When I looked on the leaderboard at the beginning and I saw he was already in P5, P4, I knew straight away he was going to be in the mix. Huge congrats to him. It was looking like a pretty strong race from us and then I was just struggling with the tyres towards the end - obviously we did the whole race on that one hard tyre. I'll take it, it's been more positive than it was pre-summer break and that's what I needed to try and achieve. Of course I would have loved to be P1 today".

Pushed on whether there had been any discussion about whether he would pit under the VSC, Russell responds:

"To be honest I thought we were both going to stay out. I was surprised to see him pit. I think at the end it was a roll of the dice both ways. In the moment, the team wouldn't have known which strategy was better. It made sense to split the cars but, in the end, Kimi had great pace, and there we are".

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff hailed Kimi Antonelli for an amazing drive from P19 to win the Italian Grand Prix, arguing there was nothing that would have stopped him throughout Sunday’s race. Antonelli started at the rear of the grid due to a power unit change but impressively worked his way up the order across an action-packed encounter - showing consistently strong pace and pulling off a series of clean overtakes. He made up seven places in only a couple of tours, before Charles Leclerc’s heavy crash at the final corner brought out a red flag, and managed to make an initial move on team mate George Russell for the lead on Lap 18 of 53. A mid-race Virtual Safety Car saw Mercedes split their strategies, with Russell staying out on old hards and Antonelli pitting for fresh mediums, which the Italian put to good use to beat the sister Silver Arrow and claim victory. Toto Wolff says: 

"He kept his head down, took no risks at the beginning with the restart, and then one by one, one by one passed his rivals… I must really say, an amazing drive".

Asked about the early red flag potentially working against Antonelli, who had started on hard tyres, and the VSC pit stop bringing things back into his favour, Wolff add: 

"Yeah, it was after all… the two-stop was the best, but we didn’t think it was the case. That was good for him, actually. But, you know, today there was nothing that would have stopped him. Obviously George fought with worn out tyres at the end, but I’m really happy for the one and two - it’s great".

Max Verstappen was pleased to come away from the Italian Grand Prix with a podium finish in P3, having conceded after the race that a lack of deployment in comparison to other cars cost us a lot. Starting from fifth on the grid, Verstappen had climbed up to third in the opening laps - and when the event was restarted following a crash for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, the Dutchman even moved up into the lead at one stage.

While he was eventually overtaken by the Mercedes cars of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, there was another charge for Verstappen when he pitted for fresh tyres under a later Virtual Safety Car phase. The four-time World Champion enjoyed a number of battles - admitting later that he had to send it many times around the outside - en route to a third place finish. Speaking in more detail about the Grand Prix later on, Verstappen explained why he was particularly pleased with the result as he detailed what he had struggled with.

"I tried to battle but we were just too slow on the straight. We just lacked the same deployment, and that basically cost us a lot because at one point it's not defendable anymore. Once of course I had Kimi and George in front of me, I could just hang into the Overtake Mode. We just lack a bit of deployment on tracks like this, but for us to be on the podium is a very good result".

Quizzed on the overtakes he had made - and whether being able to fight was a positive to take from the weekend - Verstappen responds: 

"I mean, I had to. I was so slow on the straight that the only chance was just to try and brake late and try to get my positions back all the time, in the start, if we were battling, but it worked. So, of course, happy with that and happy to be on the podium".

Lewis Hamilton admits that finishing only sixth in the Italian Grand Prix is a tough one to swallow, as Ferrari endured a difficult home race. The Tifosi had high hopes ahead of Sunday's 53-lap race at Monza, with Hamilton starting fourth and directly behind Ferrari team mate, Charles Leclerc. But things began to unravel as early as the first corner, with Hamilton moving up the inside of Leclerc, only to find himself in the gravel on the exit of Turn 2 which dropped the seven-time World Champion to the fringes of the top 10. Says Hamilton when asked what impact the moment had on his race:

"Well I ended up P10 or something. There's not really much to say. We'll take it offline". 

Leclerc's race came to an end at the final corner on Lap 2, the Monegasque driver suffering an over correction before hitting the barrier hard which brought out a red flag. On the Hamilton incident, Leclerc says: 

"With Lewis it was a way too close into Turn 1 and unfortunately in Turn 2 - I don't know if we had contact or whatsoever. I was quite a lot on the inside curve and tried to make the corner, which I didn't do it tight enough, and then I obviously only saw in the mirrors what happened which is never what you want between between two cars of the same team".

At the restart, Hamilton started on the medium tyre and battled Oscar Piastri's McLaren for P4 initially, but unlike other drivers who were running on the medium-walled Pirelli tyre, he did not pit under a mid-race Virtual Safety Car. It meant Hamilton lost further positions to the recovering Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen, as well as Lando Norris before reaching the chequered flag a distant sixth.

"A bit devastating. Tough one to swallow. Lost a lot of points and ultimately couldn't keep a Mercedes engine behind. They were just out and out quicker. I think we probably chose the wrong tyre. Whether that really would have made much difference, maybe we would have been able to hold onto them a bit longer but they just kept flying past us. They were just quicker today".

Charles Leclerc has explained what caused his dramatic crash out of the Italian Grand Prix, with the Monegasque also giving his take on his way too close wheel-to-wheel battle with team mate Lewis Hamilton. After starting from P3 and P4 on the grid - Leclerc ahead of Hamilton - the two Ferraris went side-by-side into the second corner as the race got underway. Hamilton then had to take to the gravel and dropped backwards, leading the seven-time World Champion to suggest over the radio that he had been pushed off. Leclerc’s subsequent charge did not last long as the 28-year-old ran off the track at Parabolica and into the barriers on Lap 2, putting him out of the race to the disappointment of the Tifosi watching on. Fortunately he was unharmed in the incident. Speaking to the media later on, Leclerc firstly shared his thoughts on his fight with Hamilton and conceded that it is never what you want to see between team mates.

"With Lewis it was a way too close into Turn 1 and unfortunately in Turn 2 - I don't know if we had contact or whatsoever. I was quite a lot on the inside curve and tried to make the corner, which I didn't do it tight enough, and then I obviously only saw in the mirrors what happened which is never what you want between two cars, between two cars of the same team".

Reflecting on his exit from the race, Leclerc add: 

"Then for the crash itself, I went on throttle - on the first lap it felt kind of weird, I had to go back off and on throttle. On that second lap, I tried to do the same thing but, I don't know, it just felt a little bit weird, so we'll look into it".

Lando Norris believes his late tussle with McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri in the Italian Grand Prix was a good battle which was fair, despite initially complaining over the radio. Despite entering the weekend at Monza having taken two consecutive wins, reigning World Champion Norris was only able to start P8 for Sunday’s 53-lap race. The Briton was able to make steady progress though, and was challenging Piastri for P4, sealing the position on the final lap into the Ascari Chicane, but only after an earlier moment where Norris took to the grass. 

"No, it was okay".

Said Norris when reflecting on the incident on the exit of Curva Grande and heading into the second chicane.

"I still need to review things, but I think it's just a perception of when you're in the car, when someone's kind of opening the gap a bit and then kind of go straight, you get that perception when you're going at 200mph. So that's all. But I think what he did was fair. It's just when you're in the moment and you're half on the grass, you realise how quickly things can end pretty badly - just in the heat of the moment. But from that side it was fine, and was a good battle. So yeah, a good result from a tough race".

Piastri started P6 after being handed a three-place grid drop for blocking Liam Lawson in Qualifying, and the Australian battled Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari for much of the race. Having been unable to keep pace with Max Verstappen on a fresh set of tyres ahead, Piastri ultimately fell into the clutches of Norris, but also believed their battle to be fair.

"It was a tough battle for sure. I think we both seemed pretty even, especially in the last few laps, so it was definitely challenging to know when to use your battery, when not to. I think that we saw a good battle. From my point of view, I thought it was good racing - exciting, that's for sure, and ultimately I think that was the best result we could have got as a team, so I'm pretty happy with it".

Despite having the same power unit as Mercedes, which claimed a 1-2 with Kimi Antonelli and George Russell, McLaren were unable to extract the same performance. The progress of Piastri and Norris wasn't helped by losing the tow to the Mercedes drivers and Verstappen ahead in the middle phase of the race, leaving them out of the slipstream and adrift.

"We needed someone to kind of pull us along, and then we could compete, because then we're more on a level playing field compared to them. I think on a day like today, it was almost a good thing to not be ahead for too often, because generally you would always go backwards. But then when you were behind, you always felt like you could go forwards. So it was always a tough position to be in. Sometimes you just had to be a little bit patient, and kind of for me, that worked on the final two laps. I think P4 was the best we could achieve, and P4 and P5 for us as a team is also good".