The young Mercedes driver arrives at the Italian Grand Prix as the leader of the World Championship and seeks to become the second Italian in 73 years to win the championship.
The Italian Grand Prix arrives this weekend with a question that can only be asked at Monza: will the tifosi support the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton or the young Italian Andrea Kimi Antonelli?
The Mercedes driver, who turned 20 last week, lands on the legendary Lombard circuit as leader of the Formula 1 World Championship and with the possibility of making history. The Bologna-born driver has 242 points, 59 more than his teammate George Russell and Hamilton, who occupies third position in the standings.
Antonelli also aspires to become only the third Italian Formula 1 world champion. The last to achieve this was Alberto Ascari in 1953, so 73 years have passed since an Italian driver celebrated the title in the top category.
But Monza is not just any circuit for Italy. It is the home of Ferrari and the stage where the ‘tifosi’ turn each Grand Prix into a true national holiday.
Ferrari seeks to regain prominence at home
Charles Leclerc will have additional motivation this weekend. The Monegasque, fifth in the World Championship with 155 points, won in Monza two years ago and will once again have the support of a fan who hopes to see Ferrari fight for victory.
Lewis Hamilton, for his part, arrives third in the championship and will seek to repeat his great performances on a track where no one has achieved more victories than him and Michael Schumacher: five each.
The Briton also holds the record for pole positions at Monza, with seven.
Lando Norris, defending champion and fourth ranked with 159 points, completes the group of favorites. The McLaren driver arrives after stringing together two victories, in Hungary and the Netherlands, the latter ahead of the two Mercedes.
Alonso and Sainz, with different objectives
Fernando Alonso faces the Italian event after achieving his best result of the year in Zandvoort. The Aston Martin driver rose from eighteenth position to ninth with an AMR26 that showed an improvement compared to previous races.
The Spaniard, who is now 45 years old, became the first driver of that age or older in the Netherlands to score points in Formula 1 in more than half a century.
However, Monza does not seem like the ideal setting for Aston Martin to fight for the top positions again. Alonso still hopes for further improvements, especially in the engine section.
The Asturian knows well what it means to win on this circuit. He did it in 2007 with McLaren and in 2010 with Ferrari, adding two of his 32 victories in Formula 1.
Carlos Sainz is not going through his best season either. The Madrid native, who turned 32 this week, finished sixteenth in the Netherlands and occupies sixteenth position in the championship with six points. However, Williams confirmed before the Zandvoort event that he will remain linked to the team until the end of 2028.
The best Spanish-speaking driver in the World Championship is currently Franco Colapinto. The Argentine occupies twelfth position with 19 points after finishing fifteenth in the Netherlands, while Sergio Pérez, who competes with Cadillac in his first season in the new team, has not yet scored points.
Monza, the temple of speed
The Monza circuit has 5.793 kilometers and 11 corners and is one of the fastest tracks on the calendar. Its long straights favor cars with powerful engines and force teams to use low downforce configurations.
The activity will begin on Friday with free practice. Qualifying will be held on Saturday and will determine the grid for a race scheduled for 53 laps and 306.7 kilometers.
Teams will use Pirelli’s three softest compounds: C3, C4 and C5.
In addition, Ferrari will pay tribute this weekend to Michael Schumacher, coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the legendary German driver’s arrival at the Italian team.
Meanwhile, Max Verstappen, sixth in the World Championship with 112 points, will seek to repeat his victory last year in Monza. The Dutchman will once again share the garage with Liam Lawson, who replaced Isack Hadjar in the Netherlands, still recovering from a wrist injury.
But all eyes will be on Antonelli. The young Italian arrives at the Ferrari cathedral as the leader of the World Championship and with the possibility of experiencing one of the most important weekends of his still short career.
At Monza, the tifosi will have to choose between the historical passion for Ferrari and the pride of seeing one of their own fighting for the championship. Although, perhaps, for once, both things can coexist.
