Kimi Antonelli's dream of winning the Italian Grand Prix nearly turned into a nightmare. On lap 49, the Mercedes driver ran wide at Turn 2 and briefly ventured onto the gravel, a moment that made him think his shot at a historic home victory had slipped away.
Fortunately, Kimi Antonelli kept his composure. One lap later, he overtook George Russell and crossed the line 3.8 seconds clear. The victory was his seventh in Formula 1 and the 50th overall for an Italian driver.
Starting from 19th on the grid, Antonelli became the first driver to win from that position since Bill Vukovich at the 1954 Indianapolis 500. He is also the first Italian to win his home grand prix since Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966.
"Unbelievable. I'm so happy, I could never have imagined being here today," Antonelli said. "But we managed to pull it off, and I'm really, really happy."
The 20-year-old admitted he felt a moment of panic when the track began to break up. "It was quite scary because the tarmac was breaking up. I thought I could still make the corner, but once I went over the gravel, I went straight and thought maybe I'd lost my chance. Luckily, we had the pace and brought it home," he explained.
The win extends his championship lead over George Russell to 66 points. A different pit strategy proved decisive, as Antonelli pitted earlier for fresh tyres while Russell stayed out. "With fresher tyres, I could increase the pace and managed to win," Antonelli concluded.
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