Antonelli's stunning Monza win from 19th on the grid stuns even his own boss

[TrueJason25]

Kimi Antonelli delivered one of the great Formula 1 drives to win the Italian Grand Prix, charging from 19th on the grid, the second furthest back any driver has ever come from to win a race. Remarkably, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said afterward that he'd seen the possibility coming the day before, telling reporters he thought either George Russell, starting from the front row, or Antonelli would win, saying he's going to walk over water here at Monza, and that he'd felt that specifically the day before the race

Even Antonelli himself had lower expectations beforehand, saying after the race that he'd thought a podium was possible, with a general consensus suggesting fifth or sixth place was realistically the best case scenario. What actually changed everything was his remarkable progress during the race's early laps, working his way past Pierre Gasly and the McLarens before eventually taking the lead, while Russell and Max Verstappen briefly threatened to break away together at the front

The win was Antonelli's seventh of the 13 grands prix held so far this season and leaves Russell's own championship hopes in serious jeopardy as his Mercedes teammate continues an extraordinary breakout campaign. Curious what people think made this specific drive so remarkable, the sheer distance recovered from 19th on the grid, or the fact that his own team principal apparently predicted something close to this outcome the day before it actually happened

Italian Grand Prix: Kimi Antonelli's stunning Monza victory will go down in F1 folklorewww.bbc.com

[Whale]

Wolff predicting this specific outcome the day before is honestly the detail that elevates this from a great individual drive into something approaching genuine folklore, that's not hindsight, that's an actual stated prediction that came true

[Wandering Matt]

Recovering from 19th to first at Monza specifically, a track notoriously difficult to overtake on given its long straights and limited passing zones, makes this achievement even more remarkable than the raw grid position gap alone suggests

[HeartbreakKidOscar97]

Russell's championship hopes taking this significant a hit from his own teammate rather than a rival driver adds a genuinely awkward internal team dynamic to Mercedes' whole season going forward

[Laura34]

Curious how much of this comes down to pure strategy and tire management versus raw overtaking skill, recovering that much grid position usually requires both working together rather than one alone

[Stuart_67]

Seven wins in just 13 races is an extraordinary rate for what's still technically a breakout campaign, that kind of consistency alongside spectacular one-off drives like this one is genuinely title contending form

[Dolphin43]

Even Antonelli himself only expecting a podium beforehand shows how far this genuinely exceeded reasonable expectations for everyone involved, not just outside observers underestimating him