The 20-year-old championship leader carved his way through the field before hunting down his teammate in the closing stages. Antonelli crossed the line 3.857 seconds clear to complete a Mercedes one-two and become the first Italian winner at Monza since Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966.
Heartbreak for the Tifosi
The race began dramatically for Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton attempted to pass Charles Leclerc around the inside of the opening chicane, but was forced wide onto the gravel by his teammate and dropped six positions to ninth.
Moments later at the end of lap two, Leclerc lost control while negotiating the high-speed Parabolica as he defended from Oscar Piastri. The Ferrari skated across the gravel and crashed heavily into the tyre barrier. Leclerc climbed out of the car immediately, but lengthy barrier repairs were required and the race was red-flagged.
The accident bore a remarkable resemblance to Leclerc's crash at the same corner during the 2020 Italian Grand Prix, which was also stopped and eventually won by this year's polesitter, Pierre Gasly.
Russell had already passed Gasly before the red flag and therefore lined up at the front for the restart. An additional formation lap was required after Yuki Tsunoda stopped out of position in his grid box. Russell comfortably retained the lead once racing resumed.
Antonelli wasted little time continuing his extraordinary recovery drive, reaching sixth with a double pass on Lando Norris and Arvid Lindblad along the main straight. He was soon past Hamilton and Piastri before overtaking Max Verstappen for second on lap 16.
Two laps later, Antonelli passed Russell at Turn 1 to take the lead. What followed was a breathless period of racing between the Mercedes drivers, with battery deployment producing a yo-yo effect as Russell fought back and reclaimed first place. Team orders eventually instructed the pair to stop trading positions and concentrate on building a gap over Verstappen.
The strategic turning point arrived when Lance Stroll stopped on track and triggered a Virtual Safety Car on lap 28. Antonelli pitted for fresh tyres and rejoined in sixth, around 15 seconds behind Russell, who remained out and attempted to nurse his ageing hard tyres to the finish.
By lap 37, Antonelli had worked his way past Hamilton and Piastri to reclaim second. With 16 laps remaining, he began closing a nine-second deficit to Russell as the leader's tyres gradually deteriorated.
Antonelli attacked Russell into the opening chicane at the beginning of lap 49. Russell ran deep into Turn 1 while defending, but as Antonelli attempted the cutback, he drifted onto the marbles at Turn 2 and slid into the gravel, allowing his teammate to remain ahead.
The Italian regrouped and attacked again on the following lap, completing the decisive pass between Lesmo 2 and Ascari. He controlled the remaining laps and underlined his performance by setting the fastest lap of the race-a 1:23.504-on the final tour.
Antonelli was overwhelmingly named Driver of the Day with 39.9% of the vote, more than twice the total received by second-placed Verstappen.
Verstappen completed the podium, while Norris beat McLaren teammate Piastri to fourth by just 0.197 seconds. Hamilton recovered to finish sixth ahead of Gasly, with Lindblad, Franco Colapinto and Tsunoda completing the points.
Antonelli's seventh victory of the season extended his championship advantage over Russell from 59 to 66 points and secured his place in Italian motorsport history. On an afternoon that began with heartbreak for Ferrari, the Tifosi still found a new Italian hero - just not behind the wheel of a Ferrari.
