news-engine

Can George Russell beat McLaren and Ferrari as without engine upgrade at Italian GP as he looks to close the gap to Kimi Antonelli in the Formula 1 standings as his Mercedes teammate takes an engine penalty? The 28-year-old is 59 points behind his Silver Arrows colleague, but that gap could potentially fall to 34 points as he boards his flight out of Italy at the end of Sunday’s 53-lap race. Antonelli will start the race from the back of the grid after taking a penalty for a new power unit, relegating him to 22nd – provided other drivers do not take pit lane starts or penalties of their own. Paying the price for Mercedes unreliability, the 20-year-old championship leader sees his weekend reduced to a recovery drive at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza at his home race. It’s realistic prospect that he will finish better than sixth behind both McLarens, both Ferraris and Russell, assuming there are fortunately timed red flags or safety cars to bring him conveniently back into play. For his rivals, it offers a golden chance to take a sizable chunk out of his lead as the 2026 F1 season begins to build to a thrilling crescendo with just 11 rounds to go, including Italy. More from the Italian GP Get ready for the Italian GP with Total Motorsport’s latest Monza coverage, including Kimi Antonelli’s double power unit penalty, the full weekend schedule, Monza records and track guide, the latest weather forecast, and where to watch every session. Russell, Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc all harbour genuine chances of becoming the new world champion come December, and weekends like this one will be vital in that quest. So whilst Antonelli looks to make his way through the field, Russell aims to take pole and win on Sunday, but the question is: Can beat McLaren and Ferrari as without engine upgrade at Italian GP? Mercedes avoid engine upgrade at Italian GP: Is Russell vulnerable to Ferrari? Antonelli will start from the back of the grid after fitting a new power unit as a consequence of his DNF at the Barcelona GP, when he suffered a mechanical failure in the closing stages. Mercedes have confirmed Russell will take a penalty later in the year too after his own retirement at the Canadian GP, although they have yet to decide the exact venue in which the British driver will do so. The duo then may have to take another penalty after this date as Toto Wolff’s team fit the new engine upgrade permitted to them through the FIA’s Additional Upgrade and Development Opportunities scheme. The FIA consider Red Bull to have the best internal combustion engine and have permitted Mercedes one upgrade token, with the initial thinking being that the Silver Arrows would use it in Monza. Neither Mercedes W17 will run the new power unit in Italy, which could actually leave Russell at a disadvantage as Ferrari introduce their own upgrade as a part of the ADUO/Additional Upgrade and Development Opportunities initiative. The Scuderia have steadily improved throughout the campaign, particularly on power-emphasised tracks and have managed to win through Hamilton at the Barcelona GP and Leclerc at the British GP. Although fortunate with the timing of the virtual safety, Leclerc almost beat Antonelli at the Belgian GP too, venues at which Maranello was not expected to be competitive at all. With Ferrari now bringing an upgrade that aims to reduce the power unit deficit to Mercedes to between 5-10 horsepower, offering the Prancing Horse a gain of around 15hp. Can Russell beat McLaren and Ferrari at Italian GP? However, based on recent form it isn’t Ferrari that Russell should be worried about as McLaren have stormed to two consecutive pole positions and converted them into victories at the Hungarian GP and Dutch GP. Lando Norris is now 83 points behind after winning two in a row and will fancy his chances of successfully defending his F1 title as the world champion and his MCL40 find a new lease of life. But the Hungaroring and Zandvoort are particular circuits full of twisty elevation changes and plentiful corners with limited straights, and the Autodromo Nazionale Monza is the opposite with mostly heavy-braking, rigid corners and long straights. It marks a different test for McLaren as they aim to assess their upgrades introduced in Budapest, but Norris has come close to winning in Monza before finishing second at the 2021 Italian GP, third in 2024 and second again in 2025. Russell is well aware of McLaren’s momentum and despite winning the Sprint Race at the Dutch GP and finishing third on Sunday in the Netherlands, believes Mercedes may have slipped behind. “Did they underperform on Friday and reach their potential on Saturday,” Russell pondered to media, including Total-Motorsport.com. “Or did we maybe overperform in the Sprint? “[Looking] at how competitive Lando and McLaren have been, I think it’s very, very fair to say that they are the team to beat right now. “We know we’re an upgrade behind most, and we hope we can go back to being the team to beat in a couple of races’ time.”