Antonelli stormed to victory at the Italian Grand Prix, despite having started 19th on the grid.<\/p>\n
MONZA, Italy (AP) \u2014 Kimi Antonelli took a big step to becoming the youngest champion in Formula 1 history with a fightback for the ages at his home grand prix on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Antonelli stormed to victory at the Italian Grand Prix, despite having started 19th on the grid. It took the Mercedes driver fewer than 17 laps to fight his way to the front.<\/p>\n
The rest of the race was spent tussling with teammate and title rival George Russell for the lead. Antonelli passed him for the final time with three laps remaining, going on to become the first Italian to win at Monza in 60 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh my God \u2026 It feels like a dream,\u201d Antonelli said on team radio after crossing the line.<\/p>\n
\u2018Unbelievable, unbelievable\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cI did not expect it,\u201d Antonelli said later. \u201cUnbelievable, unbelievable. I am so happy, I could not have imagined to be here today but we managed to pull it off and I am really, really happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was the second furthest back anyone has come from to win a grand prix. John Watson won at Long Beach in 1983 despite starting 22nd.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best (race) is yet to come. But I feel like it was one of the best races I\u2019ve done so far and one that I will remember forever,\u201d said the 20-year-old Antonelli, who is in his second season in F1.<\/p>\n
Antonelli\u2019s triumph at least gave the crowd something to cheer about after Ferrari\u2019s Charles Leclerc crashed out of the scuderia\u2019s home race early on. In the other Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton finished sixth.<\/p>\n
Max Verstappen was a distant third behind the two Mercedes, just ahead of the McLaren duo of defending champion Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.<\/p>\n
It was Antonelli\u2019s seventh win of the season \u2014 and his fledgling F1 career \u2014 and extended his lead in the overall standings to 66 points ahead of Russell.<\/p>\n
Russell had been hoping to make up some ground on Antonelli in the title race as his teammate took on a hefty grid penalty at Monza after Mercedes opted to swap his car\u2019s power unit.<\/p>\n
\u201cKimi is in control of it and he\u2019s deserving to be in control of it,\u201d Russell said about the title race. \u201cFor me personally, I\u2019m not even thinking about a fight or a comeback or anything.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s performing incredibly well. It\u2019s going to be exceptionally challenging to overcome that gap so I\u2019m just sort of accepting that it is what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fans in tears<\/p>\n
Russel started Sunday\u2019s grand prix second and got ahead of surprise polesitter Pierre Gasly at the start of the second lap.<\/p>\n
Moments later the race was red-flagged after Leclerc lost control coming out of Parabolica at the end of Lap 2 and swerved off into the barriers at high speed. He got out of his car and sat down near the track, looking heartbroken.<\/p>\n
The hordes of passionate, red-clad tifosi around the track looked similarly despondent, with many in tears.<\/p>\n
By that point Antonelli was already up to 12th and \u2014 as he later admitted \u2014 starting to believe in victory. When the race resumed, he continued to slice swiftly through the field, picking off the cars one by one until he only had Russell ahead.<\/p>\n
No yo-yo<\/p>\n
The Mercedes duo were told off by their team as they yo-yoed for the lead and instructed to build a gap over Verstappen before fighting it out for the victory.<\/p>\n
Antonelli was brought into the pits under the virtual safety car on lap 29, while Russell stayed out. Antonelli came out in sixth but, with fresh tires, started reeling Russell in for the second time in the race.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest, I thought we were both going to stay out,\u201d Russell said. \u201cI was surprised to see him pitting.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the end it was a roll of the dice both ways. In the moment, the team wouldn\u2019t have known which strategy was better, made sense to split the car. In the end Kimi had great pace.\u201d<\/p>\n
Antonelli looked as though he may have blown his chances of a stunning comeback win when he ran through the gravel as he attempted to get past Russell on Lap 49. But such was his pace that he soon closed the gap that had opened up and breezed past the following lap.By DANIELLA MATAR AP Sports Writer<\/p>\n
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