THE BIG PICTURE: It's over. At least within Mercedes. Maybe there's still enough races left for some oddball situations to play out. But from a pyschological point, it's over. And not just the crushing hit on George Russell's pysche, nor the team owner showing the most favoritism ever shown since Ron Dennis partiality towards Lewis Hamilton, but what it does for Kimi Antonelli. It gives him the feeling of invincibility. And that is a super power for any sportsman.

EVENT: The tifosi used to cheer when Italian drivers in the lead broke down if it gave their beloved Ferarris, without Italian drivers, a better chance to win. To cheer an Italian driver in a Mercedes is simply unheard of. Until now.

TRACK: The Temple of Speed was either going to be horrible with these new regulations or a passing fest thanks to them. Luckily, it was the latter.

QUALIFYING: Mercedes had it all set up to get Russell pole. Until Antonelli went off on the last run, which Russell still improved on. But it was no match for Colapinto successfully towing Gasly around for a surprise flyer (though, slightly foreshadowed by his speed throughout qualifying) that gave Piere his first career pole position and the first Frenchman to get pole since Jean Alesi (in a Ferrari at Monza, no less) in 1997.

RACE: All great comebacks have circumstances involved. For Antonelli, it was his exceptional ability to make tires last, so when he was forced to forgo the hards for mediums during the red flag, it did not affect him. And when he put on a fresh pair of mediums thanks to the time saving, and conveniently timed, VSC, it helped him again. And two strong standing starts instead of one which immediately put him eighth, allowed him to make quicker passes without losing distance doing them one at a time.

START 1: Gasly doesn't flinch in his first ever pole start, blocking off Russell who has some help holding off the Ferarris because Hamilton got ultra aggressive on his teammate, only for Lewis to get pushed off and fall down the order.

START 2: Russell gets his chance to cleanly take off from pole, Gasly has to hold off his teammate because Colapinto continues his march forward to third ... temporarily.

ANTONELLI: Whatever doubts anyone may still have for Kimi, are gone. Completely gone.

RUSSELL: Whatever hopes anyone may still have for George, are gone. Completely gone.

MERCEDES: Toto Wolff when Antonelli wins: jumps up and down, hugs a child, hugs Kimi's father. Toto Wolff when Russell wins: calmly says, "nice job, George," turns to his wife and says, "so what's for dinner tonight?"

VERSTAPPEN: Overshadowed by Antonelli's remarkable drive, was a superb drive by Max. Perhaps, his best of the season.

LAWSON: Not a good second weekend to try and impress the parent company.

MCLAREN: Their aerodynamic advanteges in the turns was not going to be an advantage at Monza.

NORRIS: So, Lando get the best they could probably hope for.

PIASTRI: Oscar made a lot of mistakes in qualfying, but ultimately was faster than Norris the whole weekend. Except right at the end, when it mattered most.

HAMILTON: Might have finished ahead of the McLarens without any problems.

LECLERC: Lost it on his own over a drainage grill. What a hit.

FERRARI: Once again, failed in front of the Monza crowd.

GASLY: The feel good story did not materialize, as seventh place was more apropo. On top of that, he once again lost the Monaco podium in the courts.

ALPINE: Which Briatore is not happy about.

COLAPINTO: What might have been for Franco.

LINDBLAD: Another strong race.

TSUNODA: Yuki made up for not getting qualifying right, as well as not getting his second start grid slot correct, by scoring a point. And he'll have another chance in a week as Hadjar continues to mend.

WILLIAMS: Nothing to report on.

HAAS: Should have expected more with all their upgrades.

ASTON MARTIN: GP2 engine! GP2 engine!

F2: A rare double by Paraguayan Joshua Dürksen. Having qualified second for the feature race, he had to start seventh in the reverse grid sprint race. He was in the lead before halfway and withstood a late restart to win. In the feature race, he took the lead from his teammate on the first lap and held off multiple attacks.

F3: Japanese driver Taito Kato went from ninth to first, partly thanks to the leader blowing his engine, for his first win in the sprint race. The feature race saw another first time winner, and local favorite, Nicola Lacorte. Meanwhile, the title protagonists had off weekends. Brit Freddie Slater extended his lead over American Ugo Ugochukwu to 15 points with one weekend left at Madrid, but it's a tripleheader.

WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Grandioso.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: 109 -- Pierre Gasly was the 109th different F1 race winner when he won at Monza in 2020. He is now the 109th different driver to claim a pole position.

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: All the talk was how Antonelli was the first Italian to win his home GP in 60 years in 1966. That was accomplished by the rare time Ferrari had an Italian driver in their cars. And it was the only F1 win by Ludovico Scarfiotti who drove a Ferrari 312, for a Ferrari 1-2, with Brit Mike Parkes 5.8 seconds behind who was 0.3 seconds ahead of Denny Hulme. (The Ferraris qualified in reverse order on the front row.) The only other Italians to win at home are Nino Farina and Alberto Ascari.

TWEET OF THE WEEKEND: From @Nachez98

They ask Fernando, "What are your main problems right now?"

He proceeds to list them

"Engine, vibrations, top speed..."

#F1 #ItalianGP

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: Max Verstappen complaining during qualifying, "I have less power than a Fiat Punto."

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: Oliver Bearman complaining about his whole car after the race, "The fact of the matter is we were just slow."

SCHEDULE: Off to the brand new semi-street race in Madrid which, from all acounts, could be an outstanding track.

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