At the Ferrari frustration race in Monza, the famous catcher Kimi Antonelli gave the Tifosi a lot of Formula 1 excitement. The young Italian Mercedes star raced to victory in his home race from 19th place on the grid ahead of his helpless Silver Arrows colleague George Russell and is getting ever closer to the world title. For Ferrari, on the other hand, hopes of a Red Festival were dashed early on; Charles Leclerc retired after a major accident. Lewis Hamilton only finished sixth and fell further back in the overall championship standings.
Behind the Mercedes duo, Max Verstappen took third place on the podium. Behind them were the McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and world champion Lando Norris, who recently won in Budapest and Zandvoort. In the World Championship standings, Antonelli is now 66 points ahead of Russell. Hamilton is already 76 points behind. Even a hefty grid penalty for an illegal engine change didn't stop Antonelli.
Completely surprisingly, the Frenchman Pierre Gasly was able to take the best starting position. The Alpine driver had duped the entire competition in qualifying and secured the first pole position in Formula 1 for himself and his team. «Formula 1 is so much more exciting when you start from the beginning. I hope we can provide a nice surprise,” said the 30-year-old at the drivers’ parade.
Gasly's coup initially did little to dampen the Ferraristi's anticipation of their emotional home game. "It's absolutely crazy, this red everywhere. The energy is stronger than anywhere else," enthused Hamilton as he looked at the stands at the Autodromo Nazionale, which, according to the organizers, were packed with 404,000 spectators over the weekend.
Vettel drives in the old Schumacher Ferrari
With the memory of Michael Schumacher, the Scuderia also created great emotions in the Royal Park. Both Ferraris started with special paintwork, the drivers with racing suits dedicated to “Schumi”.
30 years after Schumacher's first Ferrari victory in Monza and 20 years after his last, Sebastian Vettel drove one of the Kerpener's cars around the track as a tribute in the opening program. “The roles are reversed a bit, so I can ride with him for a bit. We would have loved to see him here ourselves, it's incredibly emotional," explained Vettel on the Sky microphone.
The nostalgia was soon followed by horror. At the start there was a tough duel between Hamilton and teammate Charles Leclerc, the Brit went off the track and fell back into midfield. A little later things got even worse when Leclerc lost control of his car in the famous Parabolica corner and crashed violently into the side of the track.
Apparently in pain, the Monegasse crouched on the edge of the piste and the race management interrupted the Grand Prix. Many Ferrari fans had tears running down their cheeks. At least the team soon reported: “Charles has left the track clinic. He's okay."
After a half-hour break to clean up the accident site, the restart took place. At the front was Russell, who had pushed Gasly off the lead before the crash. After a few meters, Verstappen also overtook the Alpine driver, who was subsequently passed on.
Rows of overtaking maneuvers
Antonelli, on the other hand, made rapid progress. Even before the race was interrupted, he had raced from 19th to 12th on the grid. After the restart he moved irresistibly towards the podium, after 13 laps Antonelli was third - and already past his World Championship rival Hamilton. On lap 18 the Italian even took the lead.
The statisticians could hardly keep up with the number of overtaking maneuvers in the field. Antonelli and Russell swapped first place several times. Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff was sweating in the garage because of the tough duel - and at some point had the two brawlers called to order.
When Lance Stroll had to park his defective Aston Martin, Antonelli and Verstappen used a virtual safety car for a time-saving pit stop. Russell struggled up front to secure his cushion. But Antonelli came irresistibly closer. During his first overtaking attempt, the Italian slipped into the gravel and briefly complained. In the end, however, he couldn't be stopped anymore.
