2026 Formula 1 Italian GP
F1 Italian GP live commentary and updates - race
Follow along for lap-by-lap updates of Formula 1's Italian Grand Prix at Monza
Live Standings
Live Text
Hamilton hits the boost to get past Gasly at Turn 1, and then holds the inside for the next chicane to ensure he keeps hold of third place.
Piastri cruises past the Alpine into the Variante Ascari, and Antonelli also dips past into the Parabolica. Gasly down to sixth.
Tsunoda clears Bearman into Turn 1 to claim ninth.
Verstappen now has over a second on Gasly now, with Hamilton now looking to brush past the Frenchman to move into the top three.
Piastri is just keeping in the tow to avoid an attack from Antonelli, as Norris has now seemingly seen off Lindblad.
Russell has benefitted here to get up to 1.7s clear of Verstappen. The Red Bull isn't exactly pulling away from Gasly, with Hamilton moving into view.
Norris battles against Antonelli into the chicane, but the Mercedes just about stays ahead.
Russell leads from Gasly, with Verstappen keeping tabs on them. Antonelli clears Norris, who in turn clears Lindblad, and Hamilton moves ahead of Piastri for fourth.
Tsunoda's got up to 10th, using those mediums well.
The medium runners are enjoying this, as Verstappen moves past Gasly at the Parabolica for second. It's all happening!
Restart! (And properly, this time)
And we go again! Russell bolts across Gasly and holds the lead, as Colapinto moves past Verstappen off the line - but the Red Bull gets back ahead at the Variante della Roggia!
Colapinto then goes wide at the first Lesmo, skitters across the gravel, and falls down the field!
Lindblad moves ahead of Norris, as Hamilton has got up to fifth! Antonelli is up to eighth.
Tsunoda was on the wrong side of the grid, realised too late, and was at a funny angle in his grid box. Let's hope he does it properly this time...
Russell is at a very aggressive angle at the start of this one.
Restart aborted
Tsunoda had originally gone into the wrong grid position and so we'll get an extra formation lap, as the VCARB was out of position.
Right, we're back on track. Russell and Gasly have put on the hard tyres, Verstappen on mediums, Colapinto on hards - as is Piastri, Norris, Lindblad, Bearman, Ocon, Hulkenberg, Lawson, Sainz, Albon and Stroll.
Mediums also for Hamilton, Antonelli, Bortoleto, Tsunoda, and Bottas.
Just a minute until the cars file out of the pit lane, so let's focus up - this'll be an interesting restart.
Finally, a Colapinto replay! The Argentine was smart there, using his boost before the safety car to get ahead of Piastri. He restarts in fourth, directly behind Gasly.
The Ferrari fans in the crowd are doing the Macarena to overcome their sorrows. Hamilton carries their hopes now, he's dropped to eighth after that first-lap brush with the gravel, but he has an opportunity to make up some places this time.
The wall looks to be repaired, and indeed, we have a resumption time of "in 10 minutes' time".
Presumably we'll have a standing start here, as the drivers dash back to their cars after a pee break and a chance to muse wistfully at some data.
We seem to have the correct order for the race's resumption, whenever that might be - Colapinto has, off-camera, mugged Piastri somewhere to get up to P4.
Now here's the thing: with a red flag so early, you could theoretically change tyres and do the rest of the race with no stops.
But that's 49 laps you've got to do - if you're on softs or mediums, it's easier to do that switch to the hard tyre, than if you're starting on the hard tyre. Would Antonelli be able to last if he switched to a medium?
Replays of that Leclerc incident, and it was a very huge hit for Leclerc - and not for the first time, having endured a similar incident in 2020.
And who won that race?
Now that we've got a break, let's take a look at where we are. Russell leads from Gasly, Verstappen is up to third, and Colapinto is currently up to fourth ahead of Piastri.
Both Haas drivers are in the top 10, Bearman from Ocon, with Bortoleto 11th, ahead of Antonelli - who's already made up quite a few places after starting 19th. Lawson is also up to 15th, having started from the pit lane.
The race has been stopped after that crash, as the wall is very damaged.
Leclerc just lost the rear end on the outskirts of the Parabolica, and the car careened into the wall sideways. He's currently having a moment to himself, looking forlorn.
Russell fires past Gasly and gets the place into the chicane - and the Mercedes driver leads! Leclerc also passes at the chicane, but Gasly retakes the place through Curva Grande and remains second.
Verstappen puts a pass on Leclerc this time at the Ascari, which you don't often see! Piastri is now attacking Leclerc through the Parabolica...but Leclerc has a HUGE crash as the car just loses grip!
The Monegasque is out of the car and looks fine, but that was huge. Safety car.
The 2026 Italian GP is go!
Four lights...five lights...and we're off! Gasly chops across to the inside to hold the lead, as Hamilton's shown onto the gravel at Turn 1 - by Leclerc, but Hamilton might have been better served holding off...
Piastri fights against Verstappen into the second chicane, but the Dutchman holds the place. The Red Bull now has a look at Leclerc.
Formation lap
Time to go! Gasly opens the formation lap, aiming to a bit of practice for the run into the first corner. He'll need the mother of all getaways to come up for air in Turn 1 with the lead intact.
Medium tyres for the front row starters, but watch out for those Ferraris on the soft...
Tyre news
Mediums: Gasly, Russell, Piastri, Colapinto, Norris, Lindblad, Hulkenberg, Albon, Lawson.
Softs: Leclerc, Hamilton, Verstappen, Bortoleto, Bearman, Sainz, Ocon, Bottas, Perez, Stroll.
Hards: Tsunoda, Antonelli, Alonso.
Risk of rain, you'll be delighted to know, is 0%. 32C air temp, 56C(!) track temperature. It's a hot one.
The drivers are preparing on the grid, Flavio Briatore giving Pierre Gasly some words of advice, which I'm sure will be of significant help.
George Russell alongside, the Ferraris behind, and Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri also looking to buy into a battle for the lead.
This might be fun.
10 minute warning
There's really not long to go now until the Italian Grand Prix kicks off. I can't promise the cars will sound anything quite like that F2002 but, at the same time, we didn't really appreciate it then because it was normal.
And for all of the nostalgia, early 2000s races did have a habit of being...predictable. It's not all rose-tint and rainbows...
Volume up!
In celebration of it being 30 years since Michael Schumacher won his first Italian Grand Prix for Ferrari, his old team-mate Rubens Barrichello and four-time champion Sebastian Vettel did a demo run in the Ferrari F2002.
Barrichello took the V10-powered machine around the circuit yesterday, with Vettel on driving duties this afternoon.
Sebastian Vettel drives Ferrari's F2002
Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images
Starting grid
| Cla | Driver | # | Chassis | Engine | Time | Tyres | km/h | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  P. Gasly Alpine |
10 |  |
Alpine | Mercedes |
1'21.786 |
254.992 | |||
| 2 |  G. Russell Mercedes |
63 |  |
Mercedes | Mercedes |
+0.060 1'21.846 |
254.805 | |||
| 3 |  C. Leclerc Ferrari |
16 |  |
Ferrari | Ferrari |
+0.218 1'22.004 |
254.314 | |||
| 4 | L. Hamilton Ferrari |
44 |  |
Ferrari | Ferrari |
+0.225 1'22.011 |
254.292 | |||
| 5 |  M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing |
3 |  |
Red Bull | Red Bull |
+0.284 1'22.070 |
254.109 | |||
| 6 |  O. Piastri McLaren |
81 |  |
McLaren | Mercedes |
+0.180 1'21.966 |
254.432 | |||
| 7 |  F. Colapinto Alpine |
43 |  |
Alpine | Mercedes |
+0.434 1'22.220 |
253.646 | |||
| 8 | L. Norris McLaren |
1 |  |
McLaren | Mercedes |
+0.470 1'22.256 |
253.535 | |||
| 9 | A. Lindblad Racing Bulls |
41 |  |
RB | Red Bull |
+0.500 1'22.286 |
253.442 | |||
| 10 |  G. Bortoleto Audi |
5 |  |
Audi | Audi |
+0.731 1'22.517 |
252.733 | |||
| 11 | O. Bearman Haas F1 Team |
87 |  |
Haas | Ferrari |
+0.970 1'22.756 |
252.003 | |||
| 12 |  N. Hulkenberg Audi |
27 |  |
Audi | Audi |
+0.993 1'22.779 |
251.933 | |||
| 13 |  C. Sainz Williams |
55 |  |
Williams | Mercedes |
+1.667 1'23.453 |
249.898 | |||
| 14 | E. Ocon Haas F1 Team |
31 |  |
Haas | Ferrari |
+1.668 1'23.454 |
249.895 | |||
| 15 |  Y. Tsunoda Racing Bulls |
22 |  |
RB | Red Bull |
+1.969 1'23.755 |
248.997 | |||
| 16 |  V. Bottas Cadillac F1 Team |
77 |  |
Cadillac | Ferrari |
+2.578 1'24.364 |
247.200 | |||
| 17 |  S. Perez Cadillac F1 Team |
11 |  |
Cadillac | Ferrari |
+2.809 1'24.595 |
246.525 | |||
| 18 |  L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing |
18 |  |
Aston Martin | Honda |
+3.436 1'25.222 |
244.711 | |||
| 19 | A. Antonelli Mercedes |
12 |  |
Mercedes | Mercedes |
+0.307 1'22.093 |
254.038 | |||
| 20 |  A. Albon Williams |
23 | |
Williams | Mercedes |
+2.570 1'24.356 |
247.223 | |||
| 21 | F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing |
14 |  |
Aston Martin | Honda |
+3.364 1'25.150 |
244.918 | |||
| 22 |  L. Lawson Red Bull Racing |
30 |  |
Red Bull | Red Bull |
+1.035 1'22.821 |
251.805 | |||
| View full results | ||||||||||
Alonso and Lawson will start from the pitlane after taking power unit changes.
Today at Monza
So the question is this: can Pierre Gasly convert his first pole into a second F1 victory? Or will George Russell slash his championship deficit to Kimi Antonelli - who starts from the back of the field?
With the two Ferraris on row two, can they atone for a disappointing qualifying and deliver a much-coveted home victory? And can Antonelli put on a show?
We've not got too long to find out...
Pierre Gasly, Alpine, George Russell, Mercedes
Photo by: Alessio Morgese
Italian Grand Prix - coming soon!
It's race day at the Monza circuit - the Temple of Speed full to the brim with motorsport's most fervent followers.
And F1 has delivered us a surprise: a new pole-sitter, after a surprise qualifying result put some pep in the step of everyone watching yesterday's action.
Thanks for joining us, and we'll take you through everything that happens today around the 53-lap Italian Grand Prix.
Alexander Albon, Williams, Sergio Perez, Cadillac Racing
Photo by: Alessio Morgese
