Ferrari’s magic often sparks at Monza, and the Italian Grand Prix couldn’t arrive at a more crucial moment.
The annual pilgrimage to the “Temple of Speed” offers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton a chance to rebound after race-ending crashes at last weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix.
For Ferrari, it was only their second points-free race of the season, while Hamilton also carries a grid penalty into Monza.
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, the only Italian on the grid, is eager to erase memories of last year’s practice crash at Monza and atone for inadvertently ending Leclerc’s race on Sunday. Success for Italian drivers at their home Grand Prix has historically been elusive.
Though there are few milestones left for seven-time world champion Hamilton, racing for Ferrari at Monza is something “unique.” It marks his 19th race at the high-speed circuit – but his first in the iconic red of Maranello.
Hamilton has spoken of wanting to enjoy his racing again after a difficult start with Ferrari and acknowledged the painful reality of his Dutch GP crash, saying he had made progress, “so to come away with that is definitely painful.”
Worse came later that day when Hamilton was handed a five-place grid penalty for the Italian Grand Prix for failing to slow sufficiently for yellow flags before Sunday’s race at Zandvoort.
Hamilton had a taste of racing in red in Italy at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola in May and dedicated his fourth-place finish to Ferrari fans. He has yet to reach the podium in a Grand Prix race for Ferrari.
“The support this team has around the world from the Tifosi is unmatched, and so I’m sure it’ll be a unique experience,” Hamilton said last week.
Even some of Ferrari’s most troubled F1 seasons have been redefined by success at Monza, like in 1988, when Gerhard Berger took an emotional first win for the team since the death of founder Enzo Ferrari.
Leclerc won there in his first Ferrari season in 2019 and again last year.
“I think our first experiences are going to be very different because Lewis has lived so many incredible moments already,” Leclerc said Thursday.
“I’m pretty sure that he will still be shocked by how special this week feels, but he’s gone through a lot more than I had done back then. I just came from Sauber to win in Monza with Ferrari, which was unbelievable. So it was all at once, and it was quite crazy.”
It has been 20 years since an Italian driver stood on the Monza podium.
Kimi Antonelli arrived in F1 with plenty of hype as the youngster succeeding Hamilton at Mercedes. Crashing 10 minutes into his first F1 practice session for Mercedes at Monza last year was a tough introduction.
“I have amazing memories, but also really, really bad ones,” Antonelli said last week. “It’s going to be important to just have a clean weekend, clean sessions, and just put in the trash what happened. I think it’s going to be a really special weekend.”
Putting Antonelli in the car a year ago was a gamble and “maybe a mistake,” Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff admitted Friday, but he argued it would have been a major confidence-builder without the crash.
Antonelli has two points finishes in his last nine races after a strong start to 2025.
He was competitive on pace at the Dutch Grand Prix, but it all went wrong when he tried to overtake Leclerc and instead tipped the Ferrari driver into the barrier. Mercedes has yet to formally confirm Antonelli or teammate George Russell for 2026.
