Formula 1’s most historic circuit produced one of its most unlikely storylines this season. A driver who started 19th on the grid won his home race. A rookie quietly became the man his team is building around. And a Frenchman took a pole position nine years in the making. Monza wrote its own script — and the real winners weren’t necessarily the names splashed across Sunday’s headlines.
Two pieces of breaking news are worth knowing first, since they shape the storylines heading into Madrid.
Formula One veteran Bernie Ecclestone was stopped at Tires Aerodrome near Cascais on Monday after landing from Switzerland in his private jet, with customs officials finding an undocumented shotgun on board. Portuguese media initially suggested an arrest, though police denied this. Ecclestone, 95, said he was not arrested and had simply failed to bring the correct paperwork for a clay pigeon shooting competition. The firearm was surrendered after roughly an hour with customs and police.
Separately — and far more significant for the season ahead — Isack Hadjar’s wrist injury has not healed in time for Madrid. Liam Lawson keeps the Red Bull seat for a third consecutive weekend, while Yuki Tsunoda remains with Racing Bulls, both confirmed by the two teams.
Winner Number One: Kimi Antonelli’s Drive From Nowhere
Nineteenth on the grid. First across the line. At Monza, in front of the tifosi. Kimi Antonelli’s victory is the first home win by an Italian driver since Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966 — sixty years ago. It’s also the 50th Formula 1 win by an Italian driver, Mercedes’ 250th Grand Prix win as a power unit manufacturer, and the team’s eighth victory at Monza, their first there since 2018.
The route to the top step was unconventional. Antonelli started on hard tyres out of position, had already gained seven places by the time a red flag flew for Charles Leclerc’s crash, and used the stoppage to fit mediums. Teammate George Russell, on a more conventional one-stop plan, switched to hards under the same red flag hoping to run to the finish. A virtual safety car — triggered by Lance Stroll’s stricken Aston Martin — then exposed that Antonelli’s mediums wouldn’t last, prompting a cheap tyre stop. He rejoined sixth, sliced through the field, caught his teammate, and passed for the lead with three laps remaining.
Team principal Toto Wolff later admitted Mercedes hadn’t expected the two-stop to be the faster route, but praised how Antonelli pushed without unnecessary risk before picking off cars one by one — while Russell was left to finish the job with worn tyres and little room to work with.
Russell’s own reaction spoke volumes. He called the virtual safety car the moment that changed the race and praised the team’s decision to split strategy between the two cars, adding that they’d raced hard but with respect — a gracious response from a driver who could easily have won himself.
Mercedes left Monza with 43 points from the weekend and now leads the Constructors’ Championship by 122 points, with Antonelli 66 points clear of Russell in the Drivers’ standings. Superior car, superior driver, superior management — Monza was the proof.
Winner Number Two: Arvid Lindblad’s Quiet Rise at Racing Bulls
Before crediting the real story here, it’s worth shutting down a rumour circulating as fact: reports linking Yuki Tsunoda to a Haas seat for next season are unfounded. That seat remains a contest between a Ferrari-backed and a Toyota-backed candidate, driven by financial considerations rather than form. Ryo Hirakawa remains the pick to watch, against paddock consensus.
Tsunoda himself finished tenth from fifteenth in just his second weekend back in the car, on tyres he wasn’t sure would last, earning praise from the team for a strong recovery drive. Solid as it was, it wasn’t enough to make him the standout, especially with no confirmed seat for next season.
That distinction belongs to teammate Arvid Lindblad, who finished eighth from ninth on the grid and described it — unsentimentally — as the best result achievable given Alpine’s pace that weekend. That’s a rookie calling a points finish “damage limitation,” and it says everything about how quickly he’s maturing. When Liam Lawson eventually returns to Racing Bulls, he’ll find a different driver in the other garage: more confident, more settled, and increasingly the reference point in the team. Racing Bulls sit fifth in the Constructors’ Championship on merit, in a car proving competitive at every circuit on the calendar.
Winner Number Three: Pierre Gasly’s Long-Awaited Pole
Pole position at Monza — nine years in the making, on the same tarmac where Gasly won a Grand Prix back in 2020. Sunday brought a dose of reality: seventh place, best of the rest, after leading a lap and fighting hard with Lando Norris. Gasly himself was clear-eyed about it, calling the result realistic given Alpine’s current form.
The moment that captured what the weekend meant inside Alpine came from teammate Franco Colapinto, whose raw emotion after a difficult ninth-place finish reflected a team that has spent a long time on the back foot suddenly watching one of its own take pole position. Executive advisor Flavio Briatore sounded like a changed man by Sunday evening, pointing to the pole and points as proof the gap to Racing Bulls was narrowing.
The caution here is a firm one: this result is unlikely to repeat. Monza’s characteristics suited Alpine in a very specific way, and the team is expected to spend the coming races fighting Aston Martin rather than McLaren or Red Bull. But nobody can take that pole away from Gasly — it’s in the record book for good.
Your Turn: Who Was Your Winner From Monza?
Three standout performances, three different stories: Antonelli’s drive to victory for Mercedes, Lindblad’s steady rise at Racing Bulls, and Gasly’s emotional pole for Alpine. Who do you think was the real winner of the Italian Grand Prix?
Madrid is up next — a brand-new circuit nobody has raced on, and a race that could reshuffle the picture again.
Read more
- George Russell Was Booed at Monza — So Why Are Insiders Calling Him the Real Winner?
- A Bruising Weekend for Ferrari, But a Triumph for Style
- Monza Left Three Big Names Worse Off Than They Arrived
- Ferrari Crashed Out At Home, McLaren Imploded, Mercedes Won Everything
- Why Liam Lawson Is Becoming Formula 1’s Quiet Casualty at Monza
