Starting 19th. First in Monza: Kimi Antonelli’s historic triumph
Sunday, September 6, 2026, will remain a special date for Italian motorsport.
In front of his home crowd, Kimi Antonelli won the Italian Grand Prix, returning an Italian driver to victory at Monza for the first time since 1966.
But the result tells only part of the story.
To truly understand the scale of the feat achieved by the driver from Bologna, you have to look at the numbers.
The feat in numbers
19th: Kimi Antonelli’s starting position.
26: overtakes completed during the race.
60: years since the last victory by an Italian driver in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, that of Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966.
2nd: the second-largest comeback victory in Formula 1 history.
50th: the 50th victory achieved by an Italian driver in Formula 1 history.
From the back of the grid to the top step
This result places Antonelli’s race among the greatest comeback wins in Formula 1 history. Before him, only John Watson had made up more positions to win a race, starting 22nd at the 1983 United States Grand Prix West.
But statistics tell only part of the story.
In front of his home crowd and on one of the most iconic circuits on the calendar, Antonelli built a drive lap after lap that seemed hard to imagine when the lights went out.
Twenty-six overtakes to move from the back to the lead of the race. And then, victory.
Sixty years after Scarfiotti
The last Italian to win the Italian Grand Prix at Monza was Ludovico Scarfiotti, in 1966.
Generations of drivers, championships, and cars have passed since then. Monza remained the home Grand Prix, but for sixty years, the top step of the podium remained an unreachable goal for an Italian driver.
Antonelli ended that wait.
And this is probably the aspect that makes his victory even more significant: not just the result, but where it happened. Winning a Grand Prix is always special. Doing it at Monza, in front of the Italian crowd, sixty years after the last time, belongs to another dimension.
