With a boatload of grid penalties ahead of the 2026 F1 Italian GP, there was little left of the original qualifying result. Kimi Antonelli and Alex Albon were demoted to the back of the grid because of new power unit elements, whereas Fernando Alonso and Liam Lawson were sentenced to a pit lane start due to changes under parc fermé conditions. And there was of course the three-place penalty for Oscar Piastri for impeding Lawson.
Huge Leclerc shunt brings out red flag
Starting from the first pole postion of his career, Pierre Gasly had a great getaway, as did Lewis Hamilton. He attacks Charles Leclerc on the inside of turn 1, but the Monegasque driver forces the seven-time world champion wide. This costs Hamilton a few places and adds to the already simmering frustration.
At the start of lap 2 George Russell and Leclerc overtake Gasly, but the Alpine driver manages to take back second place in the Curva Grande. Antonelli is 13th in the meantime, netting seven places in just one lap.
Max Verstappen passes Leclerc into the Variante Ascari, which puts the Ferrari driver under pressure from Piastri. Leclerc defends into Parabolica, but loses the car on exit and crashes hard into the barrier. After a brief Safety Car the red flag is out as the barriers need repair. Leclerc himself looks to be ok, but is tended to by the medical team, as is protocol in such cases.
In all the chaos Franco Colapinto is in fourth, making it look like an interesting day for Alpine.
Verstappen vs. Mercedes for the lead
After a delay of about half an hour, the field lined up for the second start of the Italian GP. All but Sergio Pérez have switched to a different compound of tyre, meaning a pitstop to adhere to the tyre regulations is no longer needed. The second start is delayed again when Yuki Tsunoda fails to park his car properly inside his gridbox, prompting a third formation lap for the day.
At lights out it Verstappen with a poor start, and gets passed by Colapinto. He takes back the position around the outside of the second chicane. Colapinto then proceeds to make a mistake in the Lesmo corners, dropping him out of the points.
Arvid Lindblad passes Lando Norris into the Variante Ascari, but coming the end of lap 6, both Norris and Antonelli pass by the rookie. Antonelli also passes Norris for good measure, putting him in sixth at the moment. At the end of lap seven it is Verstappen who passes Gasly for second.
In lap 10 Gasly loses positions to Hamilton, Piastri and Antonelli, dropping him to sixth.
Up front Verstappen is closing the gap to Russell to under a second, putting pressure on the Mercedes driver into Parabolica. His momentum blasts him past Russell for the lead. Behind them Piastri overtakes Hamilton, followed by Antonelli, dropping the Ferrari driver off the podium.
Next lap Antonelli overtakes Piastri for the podiumn as Russell tries to re-take first place. This continues into next lap as Antonelli creeps closer to the lead. Hamilton goes straight in the Variante della Roggia.
Starting lap 15 Russell finally manages to take back the lead, knowing Antonelli is on his tail. Antonelli overtakes Verstappen in the next lap as Hamilton and Piastri are furiously battling for fourth.
Antonelli and Russell slugging it out
The new PU elements for Antonelli seem to give him wings, as he overtakes Russell for the lead of the 2026 F1 Italian GP. The next lap both Russell and Verstappen get a run at Antonelli, but the order stays the same, despite almost nothing separating them. Behind them Piastri overtakes Hamilton with Norris and Gasly battling behind those two.
Russell briefly overtakes Antonelli for the lead, but loses out into the Variante della Roggia. They do seem to make a gap to Verstappen despite them battling. The Silver Arrows keep swapping position, with mere millimeters between them. Russell manages to stay ahead starting lap 23, prompting Mercedes to issue a team order.
For fourth place the battle between Piastri and Hamilton is as captivating as is the one for first, with the Ozzy and the Briton swapping places regularly. For sixth behind them it was the same for Norris and Gasly, with Norris finally seeming to create a gap to the pole-sitter.
Buried in all the action is an investigation for an incident in turn 4 between Nico Hülkenberg and Lawson, which caused Lawson to pit for a new front wing. Alonso has also retired, and Pérez is penalised for failing to follow the race directors instructions.
Antonelli and Verstappen go agressive with extra stop
Lance Stroll, who got the record of 100 Q1 knock-outs on Saturday, parked his car at the end of the pit straight, causing a Virtual Safety Car. Antonelli and Verstappen use this to take a cheap pitstop, switching to the medium and hard tyres, respectively. It drops them both behind Pierre Gasly with 23 laps left to go.
Colapinto passes both Ollie Bearman and Gabriel Bortoleto as soon as the VSC ends, tactically deploying his energy. Antonelli quickly disposes of Gasly and Norris, with Verstappen doing the same in somewhat slower fashion, due to his harder tyres.As Verstappen goes past Norris, Russell is noted for a yellow flag infringement.
Hamilton makes a tiny mistake into the first turn, forcing him through the escape road. It costs him the place to Antonelli. This means only Piastri is still between both Mercedes drivers. And the McLaren driver is quickly disposed of, with Verstappen passing Hamilton behind them.
It means Antonelli has 16 laps to get Russell, who now is also officially under investigation. Fastest lap in the meantime is for Verstappen, who is closing the gap top Piastri.
Piasti drops off the podium in lap 39 as Verstappen passes him into the Variante della Roggia. Piastri tries to re-take the position a lap later, but cannot manage to.
Grand-stand finish for first Italian home win since 1966
Race direction reveals there is no further action for Russell, meaning there will be a straight fight for the lead. Piastri manages to pass Verstappen, and as the Dutchman tries to retake the position into the first chicane he out-brakes himself. He does manage to re-take the final podium spot a lap later, as the battle between Antonelli and Russell is projected to be at the final few laps.
Verstappen seems to break away from Piastri a bit, meaning the focus goes to the battle for the lead. Antonelli takes the fastest lap, underlining his intent for the win today.
As Albon pits his Williams, Antonelli is within a second of Russell, with yet another fastest lap for the championship leader. Behind them Norris overtakes his teammate for fourth.
With five laps to go Antonelli tries to overtake around the outside of the first chicane, but Russell out-brakes himself. This forces Antonelli through the gravel in the second turn. He manages to get back on the track to close the gap again.
A little over three laps to go Russell’s tyres begin to give up the ghost and with better traction out of the second Lesmo Antonelli takes the lead in his home race.
Norris tries to overtake Piastri over the grass, complaining being psuhed off, but cannot make the move on his teammate. Starting the final lap Norris goes straight in the chicane and has to let Piastri by.
The lead for Kimi Antonelli is not threathened again, and the Italian youngster is the first one to win his home GP since 1966. Russell comes second, as Verstappen completes the podium. Norris pips Piastri on the line for fourth. Hamilton is sixth, from Gasly, Lindblad, Colapinto and Tsunoda. Full F1 2026 Italian GP results can be found here.
