Kimi Antonelli admits dramatic Italian Grand Prix win was 'most special' of 2026

[p]Despite already winning six times this year before Sunday's dramatic win, which clinched Antonelli's maiden win at Monza, he admitted that winning his home Grand Prix was the best yet. Antonelli told the media:[b] "I think it was the most special podium of the season; seeing all the fans on the straight, it's just incredible. And it being home makes it that bit extra. I am super happy with that."[/b][/p][p]Antonelli knew coming into this weekend that he would be starting Sunday's race from the back of the grid but even so, he admitted the team believed he could secure big points. Winning the race, however, was not something that he or anyone had anticipated. [/p][p][b]"I thought a podium was possible, but then, obviously, with the red flag, I was already P12 and then I thought I could have had a shot to win.[/b][/p][p]"But then, of course, I found myself at the front and battling but it was very difficult to break away - physically impossible.[/p][p][b]"I knew it would have been difficult but then with the VSC (virtual safety car) we pitted and then we had to close the gap. In the end, I managed to bring it home, and I am very happy with that."[/b][/p][embed guid="67f3603d-1562-45c1-b3a7-b3cf7b0680ca" url="https://x.com/F1/status/2096641751171637726" social-type="twitter" /][p]Antonelli thought quickly on his feet and showed the kind of confidence of a world champion in the making when asked if this was the best race of his career so far. He said: [b]"The best one is yet to come, but I feel like it was one of the best races I've done so far and one that I will remember forever."[/b][/p][p]In terms of the championship battle and the now 66-point lead he has over his teammate [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/russell-george/xxF56RaN/"]George Russell[/a], the young Italian was keen to play down the significance of his lead.[/p][p][b]"I don't really want to look at it because we've seen in previous seasons how things can change very quickly and on my side I just need to take one race at a time. Just try to maximise every result, every opportunity I get and we will see what happens at the end of the year."[/b][/p][embed guid="5572ecc3-be0a-4eb4-8762-52e9fd5e6279" url="https://x.com/F1/status/2096633094996430930" social-type="twitter" /][p]And Antonelli continued to deflect from talk of the world championship battle when asked if the opportunity to extend his lead was on his mind pre-race. [/p][p][b]"Today I didn't really think about anything else other than trying to win, especially when I saw the opportunity. [/b][/p][p]"I went really hard and I had a little excursion off the track with Markus (Hulkenberg) that was not ideal, but today we were trying to push, trying to make smart overtakes and it worked out. It also helped to recover that this weekend we were the best team."[/p]