An unforgettable comeback
It is a historic, legendary feat that Andrea Kimi Antonelli accomplished today in Monza. We spent rivers of ink for days telling how, precisely in his home race, in Italy, the Bolognese driver had to endure the bitterness of starting from the back of the grid due to the power unit change, decided by Toto Wolff just for this GP.
“Monza is the perfect track for a comeback,” it was said, and no prediction was more accurate. Antonelli, starting 19th on the grid, won the Monza race giving Italy an unforgettable joy. That it was the right day, after all, was already sensed in the first lap, when the Mercedes #12 gained seven positions in one lap. From there on it was an unstoppable crescendo.
In making this comeback Antonelli set a endless series of records and listing them all without risking forgetting something becomes even difficult: his comeback from P19 to the top step of the podium is the greatest ever at Monza, where no winner had ever started further back than P11; it is also the second greatest comeback ever in F1 history: only John Watson did better in 77 years of history when he won the 1983 Long Beach GP with McLaren starting 22nd. Tied for second all-time with Bill Vukovich at Indy 1954, when the 500 miles was still part of the F1 calendar.
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Coming to Italy it had been since 1966 that a tricolor driver had not won the Italian GP: the last was Ludovico Scarfiotti, at the wheel of the Ferrari. Before him, Nino Farina had won at home with Alfa Romeo, and (twice) Alberto Ascari at the wheel of the Maranello red. Antonelli thus becomes the fourth on this list and the first to manage to win with a non-Italian single-seater.
Finally, there is the record of precocity: never before at Monza had a driver under 21 years old won. The record belonged to Sebastian Vettel and his legendary 2008 victory at the wheel of the Toro Rosso; today, right under the eyes of the four-time German world champion, this record was also shattered. All thanks to a boy just 20 years old who comes from Bologna and, passing through Monza, is ever closer to a legendary first World Championship title. Thank you Kimi.
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