Kimi Antonelli Wins Italian GP After Starting 19th

Kimi Antonelli turned a compromised weekend into a statement of intent at Monza, storming from 19th on the grid to win the Italian Grand Prix and tighten his grip on the world championship – while Liam Lawson’s shot at impressing Red Bull evaporated under a pile-up of misfortune and worn-out tyres.

Antonelli, penalised by an engine change that dumped him to the back, sliced through the field and then cashed in when a late safety car flipped the race on its head. Mercedes left George Russell out in front on older rubber; Antonelli dived into the pits, bolted on fresher tyres and did the rest. Seventh win of the season. Perhaps his most emphatic.

By the flag, the Italian teenager had landed another heavy blow in the title fight. Russell, who had controlled the race for long stretches, had to swallow second and watch Antonelli’s championship lead stretch to 66 points. Max Verstappen salvaged third for Red Bull, while surprise polesitter Pierre Gasly slid back to seventh as Alpine’s one-lap sparkle faded over 53 bruising laps.

Lawson’s long weekend

For Lawson, this was supposed to be an opportunity. Red Bull elected to take an engine change “free hit” while Isack Hadjar continues to recover from injury, dropping the Kiwi to the back but theoretically arming him with fresh power and a clear runway to race forward.

Instead, he spent three days chasing the weekend.

The new engine left him playing catch up in practice, then in qualifying, and when the lights finally went out, his race became a study in damage limitation and stubborn persistence rather than a showcase of raw speed.

Starting from the pit lane at least spared him the usual Monza chaos into the turn one chicane. Lawson kept his nose clean, picked off two cars on the opening lap and was up to 15th by lap three. Momentum was building. Then came Charles Leclerc’s heavy hit at turn 11, the Ferrari in the wall and a red flag that froze everything.

After more than half an hour in the pit lane, the restart offered Lawson another chance to climb. He went for it – and paid for it. Contact with Nico Hülkenberg into turn four on lap 13 damaged his front wing and forced Red Bull to call him in again. From there, the day became a grind.

He rejoined down in 21st. The car had pace, plenty of it against the backmarkers, but clean air only gets you so far at Monza. It took him until lap 20 just to latch back onto the tail of the pack, the start of an unlikely, exhausting chase for a single, lonely point.

The climb, though, never really stopped. Lawson carved past both Cadillacs on track, then gained another spot when Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin retired, lifting him to 17th as the race approached halfway.

A twist on lap 29 offered him a lifeline. Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin ground to a halt and triggered a virtual safety car, compressing a gap of more than 20 seconds to the cars ahead. The field bunched. The problem for Lawson was simple: everyone around him now had fresher tyres. His gamble would be to stay out and stretch his rubber to the limit.

He fought on. He reeled in both Haas cars of Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman, then picked up another place when Williams brought Alex Albon in for a late stop. By the chequered flag, Lawson had dragged himself into the midfield fight, crossing the line on tyres that had survived an astonishing 41 laps.

“It’s a shame. I think we would have come through,” he reflected, and it was hard to argue. The raw speed was there; the race never quite bent his way.

Mixed emotions for the Red Bull family

While Lawson toiled, Red Bull still had reasons to be satisfied. Verstappen’s third place added another solid haul of points, even if he never truly threatened the Mercedes pair out front. Gasly’s Alpine, electric over a single lap on Saturday, simply could not live with the race pace of the frontrunners and slid to seventh.

Racing Bulls, running without Lawson, quietly delivered one of their more efficient Sundays of the year. Arvid Lindblad took eighth, Yuki Tsunoda 10th, banking a double points finish that kept the team in the thick of the battle for fifth in the constructors’ standings. The gap, though, shrank to 13 points, a reminder that nothing about this midfield scrap will come easy.

Up front, Antonelli’s charge from 19th to first will echo through the paddock. A teenager, in front of the Italian tifosi, coming from the back to beat his more experienced teammate and stretch his championship lead – it felt like more than just another win.

For Lawson, the focus now is simpler, and more urgent. He will hope Red Bull hand him at least one more outing in Hadjar’s seat, starting with the inaugural Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid next weekend, the second leg of this European double-header.

One more race. One more chance to turn gritty survival drives into something that forces Red Bull’s hand for next season’s grid.