The leader of the F1 World Championship will be penalized and a new attack by Ferrari and McLaren

Maximum excitement at the ‘Temple of Speed’. Monza (Italy) is preparing to experience an exciting battle this weekend for the victory of the Formula 1 Italian GP in the middle of the title race. And in it, the F1 World Championship leader, Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) will start on Sunday with everything against him, with the need to come back due to a penalty.

The Italian driver already dropped it in the press conference prior to the previous race, in Zandvoort, and Toto Wolff He confirmed it shortly after. For strategic reasons, they have chosen to change the power unit in monza and set up a new one to sanction on this track where you can overtake and minimize losses starting from behind.

Thus, Kimi, in front of the Italian fans (mostly dressed in red in support of Ferrari and not her compatriot), He will be forced to go against his rivals in a race in which there are doubts as to who can win.

Option for Russell

At Mercedes, we should never rule out George Russell, who despite not being able to shine as much as Kimi with these 2026 cars, He will have a powerful weapon with a great engine like that of the star to go for pole and victory on a circuit where the engine is everything, a route with low aerodynamic load, very long straights and strong braking that will also test the reliability of a Mercedes engine that Russell will replace in another race other than Kimi.

Before George they will be McLarens totally reborn and eager to fight for everythinga Ferrari that arrives with a new and more powerful engine and some improvements and a Verstappen that, with an engine like Red Bull’s, we will have to see if he can fight to win on this track.

Norris wants to continue coming back

Among them, without a doubt, one of the leading pilots must be Lando Norris, who has two wins and two pole positions in a row in F1 (Hungary and Zandvoort). AND In Monza he wants to continue that streak in the midst of McLaren’s resurgence after the great performance that those from Woking have had with the evolutions presented in Hungary and the novelties that premiered in Zandvoort.

And furthermore, McLaren adds more fuel to the fire. “We will carry a new low-drag rear wing specificationwhich incorporates the first use of our H-Wing, plus some small aerodynamic and low drag options that we will evaluate before deciding on the final specification for classification. Overall, we know we can still extract more performance from the MCL40both by maximizing the package we already have and through new improvements planned for the next races,” the team says in a statement.

The orange team warned weeks ago that if Hungary’s evolutions worked (the first designed already during 2026), They would confirm that the team is already on the right development path. And given the success of your factory in creating evolutions in recent years, McLaren is a serious contender for a comeback in this second half of the seasonstarting with an Italian GP in which there is only one doubt: its ability to hit the nail on the head in the energy management of your Mercedes engine.

If McLaren manages to get that crucial energy distribution right in Monza, as they were able to do in the Sunday race in Zandvoort after failing in the sprint event, McLaren and Lando Norris can compete for everything. Not so much Piastri, who must raise the bar.

Ferrari wants to go for everything at home

Before his ‘tifosi’, Ferrari seems destined to go for pole and victory. This is the Grand Prix that can save your season if you finally fail to beat Kimi Antonelli in the battle for the crown. And as always, here they will go one step further in search of glory.

For this, It is no coincidence that Ferrari is going to release its second engine evolution (ADUO 2), this time with more horses available (It is speculated that about 15 more).

And in addition, they will also carry a new Shell synthetic fuel with which they also hope to make a profit. And those improvements will come along with another key aerodynamic piece on this track, the Monza rear spoiler, with minimal load to reduce drag on straight lines and increase top speed.

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc should opt for everythingor in front of some ‘tifosi’ who are always dedicated, through thick and thin, once again demonstrating their unique faith towards the team they love on a packed track. And if the two pilots in red opt for victory, we will have to see if there are orders from the wall or an all-out fight until the end.

Can Verstappen repeat the miracle?

According to FIA analysis, the Red Bull Power Trains combustion engine is the most powerfulso it can be of great help for Max Verstappen in Monza. However, it will be necessary to see if those of Milton Keynes They manage to battle against the Mercedes engines on the very important and key side of electrical energy and its distribution during a lap in which the cars will soon exhaust the electricity and must regenerate it, even in the middle of a straight line.

The other doubt is the one left by a car that has suffered many balance problems this year. He Last year, Verstappen already did magic: He decided to opt for a set-up opposite to that suggested by the team, further reducing the already minimal load of his car to increase his top speed on the straight and having to juggle corners to avoid losing his car. And so the miracle of the pole worked and he gave the surprise with the victory when no one expected him.

Can Verstappen repeat? Their rivals, this time, are more and they start with greater vitola of favorites. But there are more questions: Can Ferrari or McLaren win? Will there be a fight between the two red cars? Can Kimi Antonelli come back from behind? And will Russell take advantage of Kimi’s sanction to cut back? There are many questions and the clue will be the one that answers. The fight in Monza seems exciting.