F1 Standings | Kimi Antonelli extends championship lead after stunning comeback drive

Updated: 17:15, 06 Sep

Kieran is a freelance Formula 1 journalist for GPblog, covering breaking news, live race blogs and feature content across the F1 calendar. An NQJ-qualified journalist with more than a decade of experience, he has previously written for publications including MailOnline, the Manchester Evening News and the Eastern Daily Press.

Kimi Antonelli has extended his championship lead to 66 points after a brilliant drive, passing George Russell for the victory on Lap 50.

Kimi Antonelli, who started 19th, made a flying start to the race and was in the top five by the end of Lap 10 behind Russell, Verstappen, Hamilton and Piastri.

By Lap 18, Antonelli was in the lead of the race after passing his teammate George Russell. It was a race of battery management as the lead exchanged hands multiple times during the opening half of the race, with Russell and Antonelli in particular exchanging positions.

Antonelli and Verstappen both pitted for fresh tyres under a VSC period and they had to work their way back through the field. Antonelli was back into second by Lap 38, just as Russell was placed under investigation for a yellow flag infringement.

Russell escaped punishment but was not able to hold off his teammate who was on much fresher tyres. Verstappen finished third ahead of Norris, Piastri and Hamilton.

Antonelli now has 267 points compared to Russell's 201, meaning the Brit has a huge job now to close up the gap on his teammate, on a day where he was expected to narrow the gap.

Hamilton lost ground in the title race after a tough race which started by being pushed off track by teammate Charles Leclerc, who crashed out one lap later. He is now 76 points behind Antonelli in the standings, and will be hoping for some more help from his Ferrari teammate if he is able to mount a comeback in the title fight.

However, he might have to keep more of an eye on Lando Norris behind, with just 20 points separating the two British drivers. Leclerc is fifth on 155 points and Verstappen sixth on 127.

F1 standings after the Italian Grand Prix

F1 Standings 2026

Pos.	Driver	Team	Points
1	Kimi Antonelli Kimi Antonelli	MercedesMER	267
2	George Russell George Russell	MercedesMER	201
3	Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton	FerrariFER	191
4	Lando Norris Lando Norris	McLarenMCL	171
5	Charles Leclerc Charles Leclerc	FerrariFER	155
6	Max Verstappen Max Verstappen	Red Bull RacingRBR	127
7	Oscar Piastri Oscar Piastri	McLarenMCL	116
8	Isack Hadjar Isack Hadjar	Red Bull RacingRBR	71
9	Liam Lawson Liam Lawson	Racing BullsRCB	51
10	Pierre Gasly Pierre Gasly	AlpineALP	41
11	Arvid Lindblad Arvid Lindblad	Racing BullsRCB	29
12	Franco Colapinto Franco Colapinto	AlpineALP	21
13	Oliver Bearman Oliver Bearman	HaasHAA	18
14	Gabriel Bortoleto Gabriel Bortoleto	AudiAUD	10
15	Nico Hulkenberg Nico Hulkenberg	AudiAUD	6
16	Carlos Sainz Carlos Sainz	WilliamsWIL	6
17	Alexander Albon Alexander Albon	WilliamsWIL	5
18	Esteban Ocon Esteban Ocon	HaasHAA	3
19	Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso	Aston MartinAST	3
20	Yuki Tsunoda Yuki Tsunoda	Racing BullsRCB	1
21	Lance Stroll Lance Stroll	Aston MartinAST	0
22	Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Bottas	CadillacCAD	0
23	Sergio Perez Sergio Perez	CadillacCAD	0