19th to first at Monza: Antonelli’s rise in Topps NOW cards

Monza, from the wrong end of the grid

Nineteenth on the grid. First at the finish. On 6 September 2026, Kimi Antonelli won the Italian Grand Prix for Mercedes, passing George Russell late in the race and finishing 3.857 seconds ahead. An Italian had won at Monza again, sixty years after Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966.

A penalty for additional power-unit elements had put Antonelli near the back. His recovery combined overtaking with a decisive tyre choice: he stopped under a mid-race Virtual Safety Car for fresh mediums while Russell stayed out on older hards. The closing pursuit turned a difficult starting position into the most personal victory of his season.

For a collector, this is a good evening to lay his earlier cards out in order. The driver celebrating at Monza is still only in his second Formula 1 season. The distance between the debut card and this result is barely eighteen months.

2025: the promise came with a learning year

Antonelli’s Grand Prix debut in Australia on 16 March 2025 already contained a recovery drive. He started sixteenth and finished fourth. A penalty briefly moved him to fifth before being overturned, restoring the result recorded by Topps NOW #14. Its RC-marked front belongs to that first Melbourne Sunday, not to a later victory.

More firsts followed: leading a Grand Prix and setting its fastest lap at Suzuka, Sprint pole in Miami, then third place in Canada for his first Grand Prix podium. The qualifying distinction matters: Miami 2025 was Sprint pole. His first pole for a full Grand Prix came in China in March 2026.

The rookie season was not an uninterrupted run of success. It ended with three Grand Prix podiums, in Canada, Brazil and Las Vegas, and seventh in the championship on 150 points. Those results give the early cards their context: they caught a young driver learning, rather than a finished champion arriving fully formed.

2026: seven wins, and a championship still to finish

China brought his first Grand Prix pole on 14 March, making him the youngest driver to claim one. He won the following day. Japan, Miami, Canada and Monaco followed, giving him five consecutive Grand Prix victories. Belgium added number six on 19 July; Monza became number seven on 6 September.

The standings after Italy put Antonelli on 267 points and Russell on 201. That is a 66-point lead, not a championship already won. But the change from his rookie season is striking: the cards now record repeated victories, and his home race has added a comeback people will remember without needing the points table.

The debut, the records and the first victory

Start with 2025 #14. Topps published 7,291 base copies of the debut card. Its appeal is the beginning of the Formula 1 story: Melbourne, the RC logo and the result that gave supporters something concrete to hold on to. It is a debut card within his career, not a claim that no earlier Antonelli collectible exists.

The other rookie card here is 2025 #28, dated 6 April at Suzuka. It records the youngest driver to lead a Grand Prix and set the fastest lap. Its published base run is 1,714. That is a substantially smaller edition than #14, but it answers a different collecting question: the first records rather than the first race.

For the first victory, the address changes to 2026 #18. Antonelli kisses the Chinese Grand Prix trophy in the photograph, with 15.03.26 printed below. Topps lists 28,723 base copies. The larger run does not weaken the clarity of the image: this is the first win, and you can see what it meant to him.

Miami, Monaco and Spa: the season in three cards

Miami’s 2026 #25 marks the first driver to turn his first three Grand Prix poles into his first three victories. Topps published 15,669 bases. Beside the China card, it shows how quickly a breakthrough became a sequence.

Card #33 is Monaco on 7 June 2026. Its Grand Slam means pole position, victory, fastest lap and every lap led. Antonelli became the youngest driver to complete that combination; Topps lists 24,746 base copies. The event is Monaco, not Monza. Topps also advertised an image variation, whose supply must be checked separately from this base total.

Belgium’s #48, dated 19 July, takes the story to six poles converted into six victories. Its base run is 14,351. Put it after #33 and the collection moves from the complete Monaco weekend to the sixth win at Spa. These are specific chapters, even when a marketplace search groups them all under ‘Antonelli Topps NOW’.

What to look for after Monza

Update · 28 September 2026: the release that was unverified at our original 6 September check is now indexed as 2026 Formula 1 Topps NOW #57. Its publisher-confirmed base run is 57,329. The exact record below links the official image and sources; the six earlier cards pictured here retain their own dates.

That is a new chapter in the collection, not evidence that the earlier cards have risen in value. Compare the base card separately from image variations, numbered parallels and the autograph redemption.

Build the story you want to keep

My starting pair would be the 2025 debut #14 and the 2026 first-win #18. One opens the Formula 1 career; the other shows the trophy from his first Grand Prix win. Add #28 if you collect rookie records, #33 for the exceptional all-round weekend, or #25 and #48 to follow the winning run. There is room for a small, deliberate collection here.

A dramatic Sunday can bring new attention to all of them. It does not establish a new resale price. We have not checked a post-Monza sale sample for this article. The links below are searches for the ungraded base editions; compare the year, number, condition and delivered cost. The sporting achievement is certain. What the next buyer will pay still needs evidence.