Lewis Hamilton was left astonished by Mercedes’ straight-line performance at Monza as Kimi Antonelli charged from 19th on the grid to claim a historic victory in the 2026 Italian Grand Prix. Ferrari had introduced its latest ADUO2 power unit specification for its home race, yet Hamilton felt the scale of Mercedes’ advantage on the straights was far greater than expected.
Antonelli’s remarkable recovery produced several pieces of Formula 1 history. The Mercedes driver became the first Italian to win his home Grand Prix since Ludovico Scarfiotti triumphed for Ferrari in 1964, while at 20 years old he also became the youngest F1 driver to win his home event.
His achievement was made even more extraordinary by his starting position. Antonelli, who celebrated his 20th birthday on August 25, lined up 19th following a grid penalty for taking an engine beyond his permitted allocation. Only John Watson has won a Formula 1 Grand Prix from further back, having started 22nd for McLaren at the 1983 United States Grand Prix West in Long Beach.
Lewis Hamilton stunned by Mercedes straight-line speed at Monza
Hamilton endured a very different afternoon at Ferrari’s home race. Starting fourth, the seven-time world champion eventually finished sixth after an early battle with team-mate Charles Leclerc compromised the opening part of his Grand Prix.
The two Ferraris fought through the first chicane, with Hamilton getting his nose ahead at the apex before Leclerc forced him into the gravel on the exit. The incident pushed the British driver backwards and left him with substantial ground to recover.
Speaking after the race, Hamilton indicated that he did not believe Leclerc had raced him with the same degree of fairness and space he would have offered in the reverse situation. The 41-year-old stressed that since arriving at Ferrari he had tried to respect his team-mate’s space and avoid putting the team’s overall result at risk.
Ferrari’s afternoon deteriorated further when Charles Leclerc crashed heavily at the Parabolica, triggering a red flag and leaving Hamilton as the Scuderia’s only remaining car.
Although Hamilton felt the SF-26 had reasonable grip and behaved relatively well through the corners once he had reset after the opening incident, he encountered a much bigger limitation whenever the cars reached Monza’s long straights.
The Ferrari driver explained that Mercedes simply continued to pull away under acceleration. He already knew before the race that its rival possessed strong straight-line performance, but admitted that the scale of the difference he experienced during the Grand Prix was extraordinary. Hamilton was particularly struck by how the Mercedes power unit appeared to keep delivering as the cars accelerated.
Kimi Antonelli’s charge shows the scale of Ferrari’s Monza deficit
That disadvantage played an important role in preventing Hamilton from recovering towards the front. He was unable to close on George Russell during the early phase of the race, while there was little he could do to resist Antonelli as the Italian surged through the field.
Antonelli passed Hamilton through Curva Grande on lap 12 of the 53-lap race as he continued his march from the back of the grid. After making his pit stop, the Mercedes driver encountered the Ferrari again and overtook Hamilton for a second time on lap 35.
The ease with which Mercedes was able to attack on the straights was especially significant because Monza had been chosen for the debut of Ferrari’s ADUO2 engine upgrade. The Scuderia had hoped the development would help reduce the performance gap to Mercedes at one of the calendar’s most power-sensitive venues.
Ferrari made changes to internal elements of the turbocharger and also introduced a new Shell fuel for the Italian Grand Prix. The broader characteristics of the updated Ferrari SF-26 power unit meant the Monza weekend represented an important test of whether those developments could narrow the deficit.
Ferrari ADUO2 gain falls short of initial expectations
However, the reported performance increase from ADUO2 was considerably smaller than had initially been anticipated. Rather than the approximately 15 horsepower originally predicted, the latest specification is said to have delivered an additional five horsepower.
The limitation had already become apparent before Sunday’s race. Hamilton and Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur were aware after practice that the straight-line deficit could become a serious problem, with Hamilton estimating on Friday that he was losing around six tenths of a second to Mercedes on the straights.
That concern ultimately carried into the Grand Prix. Ferrari’s SF-26 was unable to give Hamilton the straight-line performance required either to recover quickly towards Russell or defend meaningfully against Antonelli’s charge. The contrast was particularly painful given the attention surrounding Ferrari’s technical development ahead of its home event.
Monza therefore offered an uncomfortable indication of how much work remains despite the introduction of ADUO2. Ferrari arrived hoping its latest power unit development would reduce the deficit to Mercedes, only for Hamilton to come away highlighting the extraordinary difference he experienced on the straights.
Antonelli makes Italian Grand Prix history on Ferrari’s home soil
For Antonelli, the same performance advantage helped underpin one of the most memorable victories of the 2026 Formula 1 season. Starting 19th and winning at Monza represented an exceptional recovery in its own right, but doing so as an Italian driver transformed the result into a historic home success.
Not since Scarfiotti’s Ferrari victory 62 years earlier had an Italian won the Italian Grand Prix. Antonelli achieved the feat for Mercedes while also setting the record as the youngest driver ever to win his home Formula 1 race.
Ferrari, meanwhile, left Monza with sixth place for Hamilton and a retirement for Leclerc after entering the weekend with significant expectations surrounding its power unit programme. More coverage of the seven-time world champion’s season can be found in the Lewis Hamilton section, while the remaining races are listed in the 2026 Formula 1 calendar.
For Hamilton, the defining lesson from the race was clear: despite Ferrari’s latest engine work, Mercedes still possessed a level of straight-line performance at Monza that the British driver had not expected to witness so dramatically.
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