SIX WINS. SIXTY YEARS. WIN NO. 7 WOULD MAKE ITALIAN F1 HISTORY.

1950 Farina → 1951 Ascari → 1952 Ascari → 1966 Scarfiotti. Now, from the back of the grid, Kimi Antonelli is chasing win No. 7 to break Ascari’s 74-year-old Italian single-season record and end Italy’s 60 year wait for another Italian winner at Monza.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli arrives at his home Italian Grand Prix with six victories and 242 points—but Mercedes has confirmed that a planned power-unit change will send him to the back of the grid at Monza.

Antonelli has won in China, Japan, Miami, Canada, Monaco and Belgium this season. Those six Grand Prix victories equal the Italian single-season record established by Alberto Ascari in 1952. A seventh would move Antonelli beyond a benchmark set 74 years ago and give him sole possession of the record.

Victory would carry another piece of history. Nino Farina won at Monza in 1950, followed by Ascari in 1951 and 1952. Ludovico Scarfiotti became the fourth—and remains the most recent—Italian winner of the Italian Grand Prix in 1966. If Antonelli wins on Sunday, he will end Italy’s 60-year wait for another home winner at Monza.

Mercedes selected Monza for the penalty after calculating that it offered the best opportunity to recover positions, regardless of it being Antonelli’s home race. Converting that opportunity into victory from the back of the grid would require an exceptional drive—but win No. 7 would place Antonelli alone in Italian Formula 1 history.