Following two back-to-back wins for a resurgent Lando Norris and McLaren in Budapest and Zandvoort, Mercedes and Ferrari were keen to take back control not only across a race weekend but in both the Driver’s and Constructor’s Championships too as Formula 1 headed to Monza.

As a home Grand Prix for both Kimi Antonelli and Ferrari and with each equally capable of taking victory on home soil, there was a lot at stake heading into one of the biggest weekends of the year. But the weekend ended up being far from as straightforward as that for most – with the exception being Kimi Antonelli.

Here are The Paddock Chronicle’s Key Takeaways from the Italian Grand Prix in Monza.

Antonelli Marches On at Monza

Ahead of his home race at Monza, it was announced that Kimi Antonelli would be essentially starting the Grand Prix from the rear of the field. This was because of new elements being added to the car resulting in a grid penalty after qualifying. Consequently, Antonelli would start Sunday’s race from P19.

But for any who thought this might mean that Monza would be a shake-up from the usual results we’ve seen so far in Formula 1 this season, they turned out to be wrong. Through a combination of a new power-unit in his Mercedes, his own natural talent and another excellent strategy from his team, Antonelli stormed through the pack and past his teammate to take over the lead of the race before going on to win his seventh Grand Prix of the year. He put in the fastest lap of the Grand Prix for good measure too.

Russell’s Nightmare Continues at Monza

Starting from second place, George Russell had nothing to answer Antonelli with. Leading for much of the race, his tyre strategy failed him and the British driver had to settle for second place at Monza. Russell now sits 66 points back from Antonelli in the standings with Hamilton just ten points behind him. On a weekend where he could have swung momentum back his way, Russell instead had to concede to damage limitation. But the damage may already have been done and circumstances too dire for Russell to turn his year around.

Antonelli meanwhile became the first Italian driver to win at Monza since Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966 and despite at least eight races remaining in the season, looks more set than ever to win his first World Championship in just his second season in the sport. Russell will have to dig deep and hope some good luck comes his way too if he wants to stand any chance of stealing the crown from his teammate. It’s a tall order.

Ferrari and McLaren’s No Man’s Land

With much fanfare for Ferrari ahead of the Grand Prix at Monza, the race itself was a let down for the Scuderia. Following a tussle on the opening lap between Hamilton and Leclerc, the latter then crashed out of the race and into the barriers on the exit of Parabolica. The race was stopped as a result while the damage to the barriers was repaired. Ferrari then fumbled Hamilton’s strategy for the remainder of the race, meaning he would finish in sixth place after having started in fourth.

Behind Ferrari, McLaren were unable to replicate their recent run of success. Lando Norris looked off the pace all weekend in Italy. Despite this, he made it up to fourth place by the end of the Grand Prix, having started in eighth and got past teammate Piastri in the process. Piastri had a better race than his finishing result of fifth would suggest. The Australian battled Hamilton hard for the duration of the Grand Prix but was unable to put up much of a defence to Norris on better tyres towards the end of the race.

Neither team troubled Mercedes at the top. Both will need to do some serious work both in the rest of this season and beyond if they want to beat the might of Mercedes.

A Taste of The Future for Alpine?

One of the unexpected highpoints of the weekend came from Pierre Gasly. The Frenchman surprised everyone on Saturday by claiming Pole Position for Sunday’s race. He became the 109th different driver to do so in Formula 1. He is also only the fifth different driver outside of the top four teams to claim Pole Position since the start of 2010. Bonus points for you, dear reader, if you can name the other four without looking the answers up.

Pole was converted into seventh place for Gasly in Monza on Sunday as the usual suspects of Ferrari, McLaren and Verstappen swept by him. But he’ll be happy with the result and it re-enforced the calibre of driver he is after losing his podium from Monaco earlier this year after a ruling by an International Court.

Colapinto started from his best position yet in Formula 1 – seventh. But a costly error on his part meant he would finish down in ninth after having to fight his way back there all race long. Overall, it’s a positive step for Alpine, who last year were dead last in the Constructor’s Standings.

Red Bull’s New Team Line-Ups Remain at Monza – and Beyond

Prior to the Dutch Grand Prix, it was revealed that Isack Hadjar would be not participating in the weekend due to injury. Liam Lawson moved up from Racing Bulls to replace him, qualifying in eighth and finishing in seventh to become the highest finishing Red Bull driver that weekend. Down at Racing Bulls, Yuki Tsunoda stepped in to replace Lawson, qualifying in twelfth and finishing in eleventh.

This arrangement continued into Monza with Hadjar still out because of injury. While Max Verstappen did Max Verstappen things out front as he kept the Mercedes drivers honest throughout to finish in third, Lawson had less of an enjoyable time. Put to the rear of the field thanks to penalties for new elements on the car, he initially made great progress and looked set to finish in the points. But contact with Hulkenberg put him 47 seconds behind Stroll in last place and while able to get past the Canadian with ease, was only able to get as far up the pack as P14 by the end of the race.

Arvid Lindblad continued to impress with another points finish, his eighth of the season, with a P8 finish. Behind him, Tsunoda recovered well to finish in tenth after starting in fifteenth. The Japanese driver will remain at the team for Madrid as will Lawson at Red Bull as Hadjar continues to recover. Ironically, in Madrid Lawson will have more race starts for Red Bull in this temporary role than he did when he was meant to be a full time driver there last season prior to Tsunoda replacing him.

Defunct Rear of the Field

The five teams of Haas, Audi, Aston Martin, Williams and Cadillac make up the rear of the Formula 1 field in 2026. While Cadillac is a new team on the grid and Audi is essentially one too, that same excuse for a lack of performance this season cannot be used by the other three teams. Neither Haas nor Williams have scored points since Monaco and anything the teams are doing in the way of upgrades don’t seem to be working.

Aston Martin continue to flounder and struggle to finish Grand Prix. Monza was their third double retirement of the season and the team have only had both cars finish a race twice this year. They don’t look likely to rectify their issues anytime soon either.

In a year that was supposed to upset the apple cart and rejig the entire field, the opposite has happened out front with many of those behind who hoped to change their fortunes have instead put themselves in an even worst position than they were last year.

*

Formula 1 returns September 13th in Madrid, Spain.

Feature Image: Mercedes Media Centre