Monza (Italy) (AFP) – Formula 1 arrives this weekend at Monza, the home of Ferrari, for an Italian Grand Prix in which the hearts of the tifosi will be divided between devotion to the Scuderia and support for the World Championship leader, Kimi Antonelli.

First modification: 09/03/2026 - 12:09

After the halfway point of the championship, the young driver born in Bologna, less than three hours by car from the Lombard circuit, comfortably leads the World Championship standings (242 points), but his dominance is no longer as overwhelming as at the beginning of the season.

After placing second in the first Grand Prix of the season, behind his Mercedes teammate George Russell, Antonelli, who has just turned 20, won the next five races consecutively.

However, of the last six races it has only won one (in July in Belgium) and Ferrari and McLaren seem to have reduced the difference they had at the beginning of the year with respect to Mercedes.

73-year drought

These last six races have been divided between the three big teams: two for Ferrari with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc (in Barcelona and Silverstone, respectively), others for Mercedes (Russell in Austria and Antonelli in Spa-Francorchamps) and the last two (Hungary and the Netherlands) for the current world champion Lando Norris at the wheel of his McLaren.

Antonelli still has a 59-point lead over Russell and Hamilton, but with eleven races to go, nothing is decided.

Even Norris (83 points from the lead) and Leclerc (87) have not yet said the last word.

However, the young Antonelli remains the favorite to become the third Italian to win the world drivers' championship in Formula 1 and... the first since 1953!

Although two Italians won three of the first four championships (Giuseppe Farina in 1950 and Alberto Ascari in 1952 and 1953), no other driver of this nationality has won the crown in the last 73 years.

And since Ricardo Patrese in the late 1980s and early 1990s, no Italian has been fighting for the title.

But Antonelli will have to share the affection of the tifosi with Ferrari due to the veneration that Italians feel for the Scuderia.

"I'm very excited. I think there will be a great atmosphere, different from last year," Antonelli told the F1 website.

"I'm going with a different attitude and mentality. I'm convinced that I'm going to enjoy it much more" than last year, when in his debut season he finished in ninth place after a race full of incidents.

The Ferraris, after the improvements introduced during the summer break, seem ready to fight for victory in Monza.

Tribute to Schumacher

Ferrari, like McLaren, will also try to take advantage of the fact that Antonelli will start on Sunday from the back of the grid due to the sanction he will receive when Mercedes decides to change the engine in the Italian's car, despite having already covered the quota for "free" changes.

"The work is not done. We are only at the equator and there is still much to do," warned Antonelli, who considers himself more "mature" and "experienced" than a year ago.

In the Italian's favor will also be the fact that Monza is one of the circuits where it is easier to overtake, so he will be able to limit damage.

Ferrari, for its part, will race with specially decorated cars to celebrate 30 years since the signing of Michael Schumacher and 20 years since the legendary German driver's last title at the wheel of a red car.

The fourth leading team, Red Bull, does not seem in a position to fight with its rivals for now.

New Zealander Liam Lawson will once again share the garage with four-time world champion Max Verstappen, after confirming the absence of Frenchman Isack Hadjar for the second consecutive GP, with a wrist injury.

© 2026 AFP

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