Kimi Antonelli Won at Monza From 19th, Ending Italy’s 60-Year Wait

Moët & Chandon used the 2026 Italian Grand Prix at Monza to tie its brand closely to one of Formula 1’s most emotional results of the season, as Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli celebrated victory with the French champagne house on the podium and across a weekend of hospitality events linked to the race.

Antonelli’s win carried special weight for Italian fans. After starting 19th on the grid, the Mercedes driver charged through the field to take first place at Monza, becoming the first Italian driver in 60 years to stand on the top step of the podium at the circuit, according to race organizers and event coverage in Italy. The last Italian to do so at Monza was Ludovico Scarfiotti, who won for Ferrari in 1966.

The podium also featured Mercedes driver George Russell in second and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in third. After the Italian national anthem, the three drivers took part in Formula 1’s traditional champagne celebration, spraying Moët & Chandon from the oversized “Celebratory Jeroboam” bottles that winners sign after the race.

For Moët & Chandon, the Monza result was more than a sports moment. It was also a major branding opportunity in its second season back as Formula 1’s official champagne. The house, part of luxury group LVMH, returned to the role in 2025 through what has been described as a 10-year global partnership with Formula 1. Its renewed presence restored one of the sport’s oldest ceremonial images after an intervening period in which Ferrari Trento, the Italian Trentodoc sparkling wine producer, held the podium role.

Monza gave the champagne maker a particularly strong stage. The race is one of Formula 1’s most watched and historically important events, and an Italian winner made the post-race celebration even more visible. Moët & Chandon hosted guests at the circuit and in Milan over the race weekend, using the event to showcase both its heritage and its connection to elite sport.

Among the guests cited in local coverage were former Formula 1 driver Jean Alesi, rapper Lazza, and actors Stefano Accorsi and Michele Morrone, along with chefs and sommeliers from well-known Italian restaurants. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and tennis player Jannik Sinner were also among the high-profile names mentioned in connection with the Monza race atmosphere, as Antonelli’s victory drew broad attention beyond motorsport.

Sibylle Scherer, president and CEO of Moët & Chandon, said the company sees the partnership as a long-term platform rather than a symbolic return. “Our second season alongside Formula 1 marks the move from a comeback to a lasting presence,” Scherer said. “United by the same pursuit of precision and excellence, Moët & Chandon and Formula 1 celebrate the savoir-faire, teamwork and passion that define both our worlds. Together, we continue to turn the podium into a moment of shared victory, honoring the collective spirit behind every finish line.”

The company has been emphasizing the ritual around the podium as much as the product itself. Under its current Formula 1 program, the winner signs a Jeroboam bottle in parc fermé after the race. The bottle then becomes part of Moët & Chandon’s collection of Formula 1 Jeroboams kept in its cellars in Épernay. From there, the drivers pass through the cooldown room before heading to the podium, where the bottle becomes part of the celebration seen around the world.

That ritual is central to how the house presents its place in Formula 1 history. Moët & Chandon traces its direct link with Grand Prix racing to 1950, when Frédéric Chandon de Briailles spontaneously offered a bottle to the winner of the Reims Grand Prix. Over the decades, the brand became closely associated with podium celebrations involving champions including Jackie Stewart, Ayrton Senna, Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Mika Häkkinen and Michael Schumacher.

The company also points to an even earlier link with motor racing. In 1936, after winning the Vanderbilt Cup, Italian driver Tazio Nuvolari drank from a Jeroboam of Moët & Chandon, an episode the house regularly cites as part of its motorsport heritage.

At Monza, Moët & Chandon expanded that heritage display beyond the podium. It brought in two visual symbols of its history for the race weekend: “Spirit of 1743,” a hot-air balloon shaped like a champagne cork that refers to the year the house was founded, and a Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman driven by Alesi, a car the brand says it has used to welcome notable guests at its estate.

Those elements were designed to connect luxury hospitality with one of Formula 1’s most traditional race settings, the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, often called the “Temple of Speed.” The setting mattered. Monza is one of the circuits where Formula 1’s past and present remain highly visible, and Moët & Chandon’s return to the series has been built around that sense of continuity.

LVMH has been using the race partnership to reinforce the visibility of one of its most recognized wine and spirits brands. Moët & Chandon sits inside a wider portfolio that includes Krug, Dom Pérignon, Veuve Clicquot, Ruinart, Cheval Blanc, Château d’Yquem, Domaine des Lambrays, Cloudy Bay, Bodega Numanthia, Terrazas de los Andes and Ao Yun. In that context, Formula 1 offers the company not only a hospitality platform but also a global media stage tied to celebration, status and international audience reach.

At Monza, those commercial and symbolic goals lined up with a race result that few in Italy will forget soon. Antonelli’s recovery drive from 19th to victory gave the event a strong national storyline, and Moët & Chandon was at the center of the image that followed: the winner on the podium, the signed Jeroboam in hand, and champagne spray falling over Monza as Formula 1’s post-race ritual played out again.