Antonelli ‘walks over water’ to pull off Monza miracle

Kimi Antonelli produced one of the most remarkable comebacks in Formula 1 history on Sunday, charging from 19th on the grid to win his home Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

But perhaps the most remarkable part of the story is that Mercedes boss Toto Wolff had seen it coming.

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With Antonelli starting near the back because of a grid penalty for exceeding his power-unit allocation and team-mate George Russell lining up on the front row, few would have expected Mercedes to sweep the podium's top step.

Wolff did.

“I thought one of the two is going to win,” Wolff said after the race. “Either George, because he was on the front row, or Kimi because he's going to walk over water, here at Monza. And I felt that yesterday also.”

Antonelli then delivered on his team boss's extraordinary prediction, turning an almost impossible starting position into a victory that will live long in F1 folklore.

The Italian admitted beforehand that a podium was within reach, but victory appeared a step too far. Instead, he made a blistering start to his recovery.

Antonelli climbed from 19th to 14th on the opening lap and was 12th by the end of the second, before Charles Leclerc's crash brought out the red flag.

That stoppage proved a major turning point.

“With the red flag, I was already P12,” Antonelli said. “And then I knew that I could have a shot at it.”

One lap after the restart, he had surged to eighth. A lap later he was seventh after finding a way past Lando Norris, and suddenly the Mercedes driver was mixing it with the leading group.

Russell, who had started second and quickly moved into the lead after passing Pierre Gasly, had already spotted the danger.

“As soon as I saw Kimi up to P5 after a handful of laps, I knew he was going to be in the fight with us,” Russell said. “That was clearly a very impressive opening few laps.”

Antonelli's charge continued.

By lap 13, he was third and just 1.8 seconds behind leader Max Verstappen, with Russell between the two.

Three laps later, Mercedes were running one-two.

Yet victory was far from assured.

Mercedes eventually split its drivers' strategies, with Antonelli stopping for fresh tyres during a virtual safety car while Russell remained on the hard compound.

The team's strategy software favoured a one-stop approach, but Antonelli's pace meant the two-stop strategy remained firmly in play.

“At that stage, the system said that the one-stop comes out ahead,” Wolff said. “That's what the software said.”

Antonelli was not interested in letting the numbers dictate the outcome.

He rejoined 14.3 seconds behind Russell with 24 laps remaining and four cars between them, leaving himself with another mountain to climb.

Once again, he made it look easy.

The Italian steadily closed the gap and caught Russell with five laps remaining. His first attempt to pass nearly went wrong when he ran wide at Turn One after Russell defended the inside line, dropping the gap back to 1.7 seconds.

But Antonelli regrouped.

A lap and a half later, he swept past Russell on the straight between the second Lesmo and Ascari. This time, there was no coming back.

Antonelli crossed the line to become the first Italian to win his home grand prix in 60 years, sending the Monza crowd into delirium.

For Wolff, the performance confirmed what he had sensed throughout the weekend.

“I knew that was his mission today, to win the race,” he said. “I chatted with his father yesterday. The father also saw that coming.”

The Mercedes boss believes the signs were there long before the lights went out.

“These are the moments where you can see how a weekend is panning out through the sessions that a special moment can come,” Wolff said.

And Antonelli's special moment turned into something extraordinary.

Starting 19th and finishing first, the 19-year-old Italian did more than produce a stunning comeback. He gave Monza a home winner after six decades of waiting.