Italian Grand Prix 2026: Antonelli's Challenge at Monza

Monza waits. The old royal park, the endless straights, the tifosi already painting the grandstands red. Round 13 of the 2026 Formula 1 season arrives at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza with history on the line and a championship leader starting from the wrong end of the grid.

Antonelli’s Homecoming, With a Twist

Kimi Antonelli comes home as the man everyone is chasing. Twelve rounds in, the 20-year-old Mercedes driver leads the drivers’ championship by 59 points, with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton locked together on 183 points in second. It is the kind of cushion that usually lets a driver breathe.

Not this weekend.

Antonelli will start his first Italian Grand Prix as a title contender from the back, hit with an engine penalty after exceeding the season’s allocation of four power units. The dream is clear enough: become the first Italian to win at Monza since Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966. The reality is harsher. He will have to carve his way through the field at a circuit where the margins are measured in slipstreams and braking points at 340 km/h.

Monza has never been gentle on romantic storylines.

Norris on a Charge, Mercedes Scenting Blood

The form book, though, is not written solely in silver. Lando Norris arrives as the man in rhythm. The McLaren driver has just stitched together back-to-back victories, the latest a composed and clinical drive at Zandvoort in the final running of the Dutch Grand Prix, where he beat both Antonelli and Russell to the flag.

Norris sits fourth in the standings, 83 points off Antonelli. It sounds distant. But a third straight win at Monza, with the championship leader starting in traffic, would drag him firmly back into the conversation.

For Russell and Hamilton, the opportunity is even clearer. With their team-mate marooned at the rear, the Mercedes pair suddenly have a clean shot at hacking into that 59-point lead. A strong points haul here, on a weekend that should have been all about Antonelli and the Italian anthem, could tilt the title race away from the home hero and back toward the old guard.

The tifosi will roar for one man. The standings may reward another.

The Temple of Speed, by the Numbers

Monza needs no sales pitch. It has been on the calendar since 1950 and remains Formula 1’s purest high-speed test.

• Circuit length: 5.793km (3.600 miles)
• Race distance: 306.72km (190.586 miles)
• Laps: 53
• Turns: 11

Lando Norris holds the fastest lap of the current layout, a 1:20.901 set in 2025 for McLaren. The record books lean heavily towards the greats: Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton share the mark for most wins here with five apiece, and both also top the podium charts on eight visits each.

Ferrari, of course, owns the place statistically:

• Most wins (constructor): 20
• Most pole positions (constructor): 23
• Most podiums (constructor): 72

Hamilton stands alone on seven poles at Monza, a testament to his one-lap dominance in the turbo-hybrid era. Last year, though, it was Max Verstappen and Red Bull who ruled, the Dutchman taking the 2025 race win.

This weekend, the script feels more open.

When and Where the Action Starts

The Italian Grand Prix weekend unfolds to a familiar rhythm, but with a global audience juggling time zones to keep pace.

Friday, September 4 – Practice Day (Local time CEST)

• FP1: 12:30 p.m.
• FP2: 4:00 p.m.

In the United States and Canada, that means early alarms: FP1 at 6:30 a.m. EDT (5:30 a.m. CDT, 4:30 a.m. MDT, 3:30 a.m. PDT). In the UK, FP1 begins at 11:30 a.m. BST, with FP2 at 3:00 p.m.

Across the rest of the world, fans will be tuning in at all hours:

• Tokyo (JST): FP1 at 7:30 p.m., FP2 at 11:00 p.m.
• Beijing and Kuala Lumpur (CST/Malaysia): FP1 at 6:30 p.m., FP2 at 10:00 p.m.
• Riyadh: FP1 at 1:30 p.m., FP2 at 5:00 p.m.
• New Delhi (IST): FP1 at 4:00 p.m., FP2 at 7:30 p.m.
• Brasília: FP1 at 7:30 a.m., FP2 at 11:00 a.m.
• Mexico City: FP1 at 4:30 a.m., FP2 at 8:00 a.m.
• Australia: FP1 at 8:30 p.m. AEST (6:30 p.m. AWST, 8:00 p.m. ACST); FP2 at midnight AEST on Saturday (10:00 p.m. AWST, 11:30 p.m. ACST).

Saturday, September 5 – Final Practice and Qualifying (Local time CEST)

• FP3: 12:30 p.m.
• Qualifying: 4:00 p.m.

Again, 6:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. EDT for FP3 and qualifying in North America. The UK sees FP3 at 11:30 a.m. BST and qualifying at 3:00 p.m.

Elsewhere:

• Tokyo: FP3 at 7:30 p.m., qualifying at 11:00 p.m.
• Beijing/Kuala Lumpur: FP3 at 6:30 p.m., qualifying at 10:00 p.m.
• Riyadh: FP3 at 1:30 p.m., qualifying at 5:00 p.m.
• Abu Dhabi: FP3 at 2:30 p.m., qualifying at 6:00 p.m.
• New Delhi: FP3 at 4:00 p.m., qualifying at 7:30 p.m.
• Brasília: FP3 at 7:30 a.m., qualifying at 11:00 a.m.
• Mexico City: FP3 at 4:30 a.m., qualifying at 8:00 a.m.
• Australia: FP3 at 8:30 p.m. AEST (6:30 p.m. AWST, 8:00 p.m. ACST); qualifying at midnight AEST on Sunday (10:00 p.m. AWST, 11:30 p.m. ACST).

Qualifying will be brutal. With Monza’s long straights and heavy braking zones, the tow games will be intense, the margins microscopic. For Antonelli, it will be academic: his engine penalty will send him to the back regardless. For everyone else, it will decide who controls Turn 1 and who risks chaos.

Sunday, September 6 – Race (Local time CEST)

• Race start: 3:00 p.m.

That translates to 9:00 a.m. EDT, 8:00 a.m. CDT, 7:00 a.m. MDT, and 6:00 a.m. PDT in North America. The UK sees lights out at 2:00 p.m. BST.

Around the globe:

• Tokyo: 10:00 p.m. JST
• Beijing/Kuala Lumpur: 9:00 p.m. CST/Malaysia
• New Delhi: 6:30 p.m. IST
• Riyadh/Ankara: 4:00 p.m.
• Abu Dhabi: 5:00 p.m.
• Brasília: 10:00 a.m.
• Mexico City: 7:00 a.m.
• Australia: 11:00 p.m. AEST, 9:00 p.m. AWST, 10:30 p.m. ACST.

Fifty-three laps. Eleven corners. One of the shortest race times on the calendar, but rarely a quiet one.

How to Watch

For viewers in the United States, the entire Italian Grand Prix weekend will be shown live on Apple TV, covering every session from first practice to the podium ceremony. In the United Kingdom, Sky Sports carries full live coverage, with extended build-up and analysis, while Channel 4 will provide free-to-air highlights.

In territories where it is available, F1 TV Pro offers live coverage on multiple devices, plus full session replays and highlights on demand. Official highlights from each day of the weekend will also be published on Formula 1’s YouTube channel.

A Title Race at Full Throttle

So the stage is set: the Temple of Speed, a home favourite sent to the back by an engine penalty, a pair of Mercedes veterans circling, and a McLaren driver chasing a hat-trick of wins.

Antonelli wants to make history for Italy. Russell and Hamilton want to rip into his lead. Norris wants to turn momentum into a genuine title bid.

Monza will not wait for any of them.