Andrea Kimi Antonelli may be leading the 2026 Formula 1 World Championship and carrying Italy’s best hopes of a home-grown champion in more than seven decades, but Naomi Schiff believes Ferrari will still command the stronger emotional support at Monza. The Italian Grand Prix gives the Tifosi an unusual choice this year: back the country’s leading driver or rally around the team that has traditionally defined Italy’s Formula 1 identity.
Antonelli arrives at his home race 59 points ahead of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in the championship, putting the 19-year-old in position to potentially become the first Italian Formula 1 world champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953. Yet Schiff says conversations with Italian colleagues have convinced her that even Antonelli’s remarkable season has not displaced Ferrari as the country’s primary allegiance.
Naomi Schiff believes Ferrari still comes first for Italian fans
Speaking on the Up To Speed podcast, Naomi Schiff considered whether Antonelli’s status as the only Italian driver on the grid could reduce some of the enormous pressure that normally surrounds Ferrari at Monza. Her conclusion was that it probably would not. Based on what Italian colleagues had told her, Schiff explained that the country remains more strongly behind Ferrari than Antonelli.
That distinction could become particularly visible during the 2026 Italian Grand Prix weekend at Monza. Ferrari is targeting victory on home soil while also marking the event with a tribute to Michael Schumacher, adding another layer of emotion to a weekend that already carries unusual significance for the Scuderia.
The Maranello team has unveiled a special design inspired by its history, with the 2026 Italian GP Ferrari livery paying tribute to Michael Schumacher. For the Tifosi, that combination of Ferrari heritage, a home Grand Prix and two competitive SF-26s gives the team an appeal that extends beyond the fortunes of any single driver.
Kimi Antonelli gives Italy another genuine home hero
That does not diminish Antonelli’s importance. The Mercedes driver is not simply an Italian competing in Formula 1; he leads the championship over two established rivals in Russell and Hamilton and is in position to achieve something no Italian has managed since Ascari’s title-winning era.
Jolyon Palmer has argued that Antonelli could effectively settle the championship battle at Monza if circumstances went his way, placing particular pressure on team-mate Russell to win. In Palmer’s view, a home victory for the championship leader could leave the title contest effectively decided.
Antonelli’s immediate chances of winning are complicated by his starting position. Mercedes has confirmed that the Italian will take a grid penalty and start from the back, although the team plans to fit a revised turbocharger that could assist his attempt to recover positions during the Grand Prix.
The 19-year-old’s rise has nevertheless made him a central part of the Italian GP story. Further coverage of his season and championship campaign can be followed through Kimi Antonelli’s latest F1 news and results.
Nico Rosberg sees Antonelli as Italy’s new hero
Not everyone agrees with Schiff’s assessment of the Italian crowd. Nico Rosberg believes Antonelli has now become a bigger individual hero than Ferrari and expects the Mercedes driver to receive the strongest support at Monza.
The question is made more intriguing by the strength of Ferrari’s own driver line-up. Charles Leclerc already has an intense connection with the Tifosi, while Lewis Hamilton is experiencing the Italian Grand Prix as part of the Maranello team. Both are expected to play a major role in a weekend when Ferrari hopes its technical developments can make the SF-26 competitive at the front.
Leclerc has also been backed as a potential home-race contender, with former Formula 1 driver Riccardo Patrese among those to have tipped Charles Leclerc to challenge for victory at Monza. Hamilton, meanwhile, will be racing in front of the Italian fanbase as one of Ferrari’s two current drivers, with the latest developments around the seven-time world champion available in our Lewis Hamilton Ferrari coverage.
Will Buxton points to Giancarlo Fisichella as a precedent
Will Buxton believes Formula 1 history offers a useful comparison. He pointed to Giancarlo Fisichella’s time with Renault during the mid-2000s, when an Italian driver was competing for a team involved in championship battles but still found himself overshadowed by Ferrari at Monza.
Buxton’s view is that Ferrari consistently carried the greater burden of expectation during those Italian Grands Prix. Although an Italian driver winning at Monza would naturally generate an enormous reaction, he suggested the atmosphere would reach another level if Ferrari won while Antonelli also finished on the podium.
That helps explain why the debate is not necessarily about Italians choosing one side and rejecting the other. Antonelli can be celebrated as the country’s leading driver while Ferrari retains the deeper collective attachment built around decades of Formula 1 history.
Ferrari prepares for huge Tifosi turnout at Monza
The level of support expected for the Scuderia is already evident around the Italian Grand Prix. Ferrari has been building its home weekend around direct engagement with supporters, including opportunities for fans to see Leclerc and Hamilton before the competitive action begins. The team has also arranged special Monza fan access ahead of appearances by Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.
On track, the stakes are equally significant. Ferrari is bringing upgrades intended to reduce the SF-26’s drag while improving its performance through Monza’s corners. Those changes are designed to strengthen its challenge against Mercedes and McLaren at a circuit where aerodynamic efficiency and straight-line performance are especially important.
Charles Leclerc remains central to those hopes and continues to carry enormous support from Ferrari fans, with all of his latest results and developments available through our Charles Leclerc coverage.
Antonelli therefore arrives at Monza in an unusual position. He is Italy’s championship leader, the country’s only Formula 1 driver and potentially its best chance of a home-grown world champion since 1953. Yet according to Schiff, that still may not be enough to overturn the traditional order in the grandstands. Italy can celebrate Antonelli, but Ferrari remains the team around which the Tifosi’s deepest loyalty is built.
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