F1 title leader Kimi Antonelli confirms grid penalty for home Monza race

New Delhi, Aug 21 (IANS) Formula 1 2026 title leader Kimi Antonelli has confirmed that he will take a grid penalty at his home Monza Grand Prix on September 6 for an additional power unit. Antonelli and his teammate George Russell were already on the verge of exceeding their allocated power unit components’ limit.

Each driver gets allocated a certain number of power unit components for a season, after which they start getting grid penalties. Antonelli is on his fourth and final allocation after taking it during the Spa-Francorchamps, the second-to-last race before the summer break. Russell is now also on his fourth power unit.

Antonelli, who leads the title race as the championship resumes at the Dutch GP, confirmed he will take the penalty at his home Italian GP early next month. “We’ll do it in Monza. It’s one of the easiest tracks to overtake,” Antonelli said, as quoted by Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport.

The Italian GP is known as the ‘temple of speed’, with overtaking not very difficult. Antonelli has put his focus on the title battle despite Monza being his home race. “It’s also true that it’s my home race, but right now I’m thinking more about the championship. Since we’ll inevitably have to take a penalty at some point in the season, I need to evaluate where I can give myself the best chance of making up positions and getting a result.

“That’s why Monza is definitely at the top of the list for the penalty, and we’ll try to recover anyway to have a good race in front of the fans.”

The F1 season resumes after the summer break as Zandvoort gears up to host its last race in the series. The Dutch GP is one of the oldest races on the F1 calendar, having begun hosting the series in 1952. It ran till 1985 before being off for 35 years. The track returned to the F1 roster in 2021 as a sea of orange dominated the stands with massive support for home favourite Max Verstappen.

–IANS

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