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🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates /Sports

Antonelli wins sensational Italian Grand Prix after starting from back of grid

From Khaleej Times · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire From a news agency Outcome reported
  • Kimi Antonelli won his home Italian Grand Prix after starting 19th because of an engine penalty.
  • Mercedes teammate George Russell finished second, leaving him 66 points behind Antonelli after 13 rounds, while Max Verstappen took third.
  • Antonelli became the first Italian to win at Monza since Ludovico Scarfiotti drove for Ferrari in 1966.

Kimi Antonelli turned a 19th-place start into a victory at Monza, winning his home Italian Grand Prix in a dramatic charge that strengthened his grip on the Formula One championship. The 20-year-old Mercedes driver started at the back after taking an engine penalty, but finished ahead of teammate and closest rival George Russell.

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

· Kimi AntonelliAntonelli spoke after winning his home Italian Grand Prix.

Russell had hoped to close Antonelli’s 59-point lead. Instead, he finished 3.857 seconds behind and now trails by 66 points after 13 rounds. Max Verstappen finished a distant third for Red Bull, while Ferrari failed to reach the podium in front of its home crowd.

The race changed repeatedly between the Mercedes teammates. Antonelli and Russell exchanged the lead before Antonelli pitted during a virtual safety car period and Russell stayed out. Antonelli then cut an 8.9-second gap to less than one second in 10 laps. He went into the gravel while trying to pass with four laps left, but recovered and retook the lead on lap 51 of 53.

Our Italian hero. So deserved. That was a fantastic lap. I hated the last one, but it was fantastic.

· Toto WolffThe Mercedes team boss praised Antonelli over the team radio after the finish.

“ I am so happy and I could have never imagined to be here today. But we managed to pull it off and I'm really, really happy,” Antonelli said after taking his seventh win of the season. Team boss Toto Wolff called him “Our Italian hero” over the radio. Russell said he lacked the tyres to fight back after completing the race on one hard tyre. Lando Norris finished fourth, Oscar Piastri fifth and Lewis Hamilton sixth. Pierre Gasly, Arvid Lindblad, Franco Colapinto and Yuki Tsunoda completed the top 10.

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.

· George RussellRussell explained why he could not challenge Antonelli late in the race.
About this summary

Originally published by Khaleej Times in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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