Home Hero: Kimi Antonelli’s Monza masterclass among F1’s greatest comeback wins

In emphatic fashion, Formula One’s (F1) rising star Kimi Antonelli further cemented his status as a generational talent when he claimed victory in his home Italian Grand Prix from an initial start on the back of the grid.

After taking an engine grid penalty that dropped him to 19th in Monza on 6 September, a points finish, based on his performances so far this season and how strong the Mercedes car has been, still seemed likely, but a win less so.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said that beforehand he thought that one of his drivers would stand on the top step of the podium.

It was a bold statement given that Antonelli and teammate George Russell started the race 17 places apart on the grid – Russell lined up on the front row alongside surprise pole sitter Pierre Gasly of Alpine.

“I thought one of the two is going to win,” said Wolff. “Either George, because he was on the front row, or Kimi because he’s going to walk over water, here at Monza.”

With this win the 20-year-old further added to the history books by becoming the first Italian winner at Monza since Ludovico Scarfiotti for Ferrari in 1966, while the victory was the 50th by an Italian driver since the championship started in 1950.

“It’s probably going to be one of his biggest moments for all of the future. Even if he wins another 200, that one will remain special,” said Wolff.

Additionally, the win puts Antonelli joint second in the rankings for the lowest grid positions from which an F1 Grand Prix has been won.

Back-of-the-grid wins

While ranking performances across eras is never straightforward, Antonelli’s charge from 19th at Monza has immediately been stacked up alongside similar victories by F1’s statistically all-time greatest drivers Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher.

Hamilton’s best in this regard is, so far, his win from 14th in the chaotic mixed conditions of the 2018 German Grand Prix, while Schumacher’s is winning the 1995 Belgian Grand Prix from 16th for Benetton.

The only other driver to have won from 19th was Bill Vukovich in 1954.

However, it is something of an anomaly, as the win came in the Indianapolis 500, where the points used to count towards the F1 World Championship in its first decade.

So, although Vukovich’s drive from 19th was undoubtedly a great one, its status as officially joint second-best on the list of wins from low grid positions is somewhat awkward.

The record for the lowest starting position from which a Grand Prix has been won belongs to John Watson, who won from 22nd on the grid in the 1983 USA West Grand Prix.

He and McLaren teammate Niki Lauda had qualified 22nd and 23rd as the Michelin tires failed to impress in qualifying.

However, as they lined up on the Long Beach street track, their race pace was the complete opposite.

The pair were also helped by some attrition up front that included a tussle between early lead rivals Keke Rosberg and Patrick Tambay then Riccardo Patrese going off while trying to pass new leader Jacques Laffite.

Watson and Lauda made it through to first and second place by lap 45 of 75 and controlled the race from there.

But Watson had experience in that position before as a year prior he won from 17th on the grid in the 1982 Detroit Grand Prix.

Alongside Watson, Kimi Raikkonen also won from 17th in the 2005 Japanese Grand Prix and, more recently, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the 2024 Brazilian Grand Prix from 17th.

Race pace and clean overtakes

While most of Antonelli’s victories this season mostly relied on converting pole positions, this race was different as he was forced to carve his way through a crowded field, showing consistently strong pace and pulling off a series of clean overtakes.

When Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc crashed in lap two, causing a 30-minute red flag, Antonelli had already moved up into 12th place. By lap 10, Antonelli was sixth and catching Russell, who took pole on the restart.

The Italian passed Russell for the first time on lap 18 but the lead was like a yo-yo for several laps, with Antonelli going in front and Russell passing him again on the same lap.

Then, a mid-race Virtual Safety Car saw Mercedes split their strategies, with Russell staying out on old hard tires and Antonelli pitting for fresh mediums.

When he exited the pit lane Antonelli was 14 seconds behind Russell, and with 10 laps to go Russell’s advantage had been slashed to just five seconds.

There was an instance when Antonelli almost relinquished his chance at victory when he ran off the track onto the gravel after Russell blocked his attack on the inside.

That dropped him to 1.7 seconds behind, but a lap and a half later he drove past Russell on the straight, and that was that.

Wolff said that what really made the difference on Sunday was how Antonelli got through the traffic.

“I’ve seen it with other great ones in the past,” said the Austrian. “When a driver and a car are one, then there’s just nothing that can stop them.”

The win extended his Drivers’ Championship lead to a commanding 66 points, strengthening his bid to become F1’s youngest-ever world champion. DM