Sports06 September, 20262 min read
Ferrari’s Leclerc Crash and Hamilton Sixth Leave Mercedes 1-2 at Monza as Antonelli Wins
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Kimi Antonelli charged from 19th to win the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Mercedes secured a 1-2 finish with Antonelli ahead of Russell after strategy.
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Monza turns on VSC
At Monza, Ferrari entered the Italian Grand Prix weekend with an engine upgrade and hopes of challenging for the win, but a crash for Charles Leclerc and a sixth-place finish for Lewis Hamilton left Ferrari with “a harsh spotlight on its lack of decisive teamwork plans.” Hamilton said after qualifying that “the team was solely focused on trying to get an equal tow for Charles’s lap,” as Ferrari struggled to get its tow tactics right on Monza’s long straights.
The race’s decisive swing came when a virtual safety car period split strategies, with Mercedes securing a 1-2 finish as Kimi Antonelli recovered from 19th on the grid to win and George Russell finished second. Juan Pablo Montoya argued on F1 TV that Mercedes compromised Russell’s Italian Grand Prix by not double-stacking under the virtual safety car, saying, “When that virtual safety car came, at that point, it's quicker to stop than staying out.”
Radio, blame, and debate
Ferrari’s Monza disappointment also played out through team-radio and post-race messaging, with Hamilton reinforcing his view of teamwork needs by saying, “for us to win this weekend, any weekend, it takes the whole collective to come together.” Hamilton later framed the Monza qualifying focus on tow timing, telling reporters, “the team was solely focused on trying to get an equal tow for Charles’s lap.”
On the other side of the garage, Max Verstappen’s Italian Grand Prix radio revealed his assessment of Red Bull’s performance, as he told Laurent Mekies that Red Bull’s “weaknesses” were “clearly” on display at Monza. Mekies, reflecting after the race, said Red Bull made a “step in the right direction,” adding that “Mercedes were a bit too fast for us but we were strong enough to beat Ferrari and McLaren on merit.”
What comes next
Antonelli’s Monza win reshaped the championship picture, with the result giving him a 66-point advantage over Russell in the drivers’ standings, while the Constructors’ Championship showed Mercedes extending its lead over Ferrari.
“Yeah, it’s still there. Nothing changed. It’s just not good.”
The race also carried a technical and strategic aftertaste for Red Bull, as Verstappen said after Monza, “Yeah, it’s still there. Nothing changed. It’s just not good,” describing a rear-axle issue that “costing performance.”
For Ferrari, the Monza outcome left the team facing questions about intra-team priorities and execution, after the New York Times described the drivers’ teamwork plans as lacking when “the moment requiring flawless teamwork arrived.”
Looking ahead, ESPN reported that F1’s 22 drivers would share the grid with a life-size Lightning McQueen at Monza, while the same coverage said the championship now moves to Madrid for the Spanish Grand Prix on the new circuit in the Spanish capital.