Kimi Antonelli makes bold claim after Monza fightback victory

Kimi Antonelli reacted to his astonishing fightback victory at the Italian Grand Prix by claiming that his Formula 1 best is "yet to come". 

Having started from 19th on the grid, Antonelli's win came from the second furthest back on the grid that has ever been achieved in F1, with John Watson holding the record for his drive in from 22nd in the 1983 United States Grand Prix West. 

Despite climbing from his lowly starting position to second within 16 laps, and then executing a second recovery after pitting under the virtual safety car, Antonelli issued an ominous warning to his rivals. 

"I mean, the best one has yet to come," he said. "But I feel like, yeah, it was one of the best races I’ve done so far and, yeah, one that I will remember forever."

Having faced the likely scenario that his 59-point championship lead would be cut, Antonelli now heads to Madrid with a 66-point margin over team-mate George Russell, with Lewis Hamilton falling 76 points behind after a tough weekend for Ferrari.

While many would be quick to suggest that the 20-year-old now has one hand and a few fingers firmly on the championship trophy, Antonelli himself is steering well clear of any such thoughts. 

"I don’t want to really look at it because we’ve seen in this season how things can change very quickly," he said. 

"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 then we’ll see what happens at the end of the year. 

"But there’s no point in thinking about the championship and we’ve just, you know, got to stay in the moment, present, and then take it race by race. And then we’ll see where we end up at the end of the season."

This mentality also shone through in the race, as Antonelli put everything on the line to pass Russell in the closing laps, with his first attempt resulting in a trip through the gravel that team boss Toto Wolff suggested risked making the team look "like idiots".

"I didn’t really think about anything else other than trying to win, especially when I saw the opportunity," Antonelli continued.

"I was pushing hard, and I had a little excursion off track with the marbles, which was not ideal. 

"But we were trying to push, trying to make smart overtakes, using the battery wisely, and then, yeah, it worked out. But, of course, also the fact that this weekend we were clearly the best team, also that helped to recover."