Even the tifosi are won over by Kimi Antonelli's fairy-tale Monza win.

The first Italian to win his country's Grand Prix since 1966, the 50th ever Formula One World Championship victory for an Italian, the first Italian to leave Monza leading the world championship... you get the picture.

Of course, despite starting from the back of the grid - 19th actually due to the penalties incurred by others - some already believed the youngster would produce something special, while others feared the red mist and over enthusiasm would take its toll.

Starting 19th, at the restart that followed Charles Leclerc's crash he was 12th, and up to sixth within the next three laps.

After pitting under the VSC he was back in sixth, but had soon worked his way back through those ahead, with just an 8s gap to the race leader, his teammate.

Four laps from the end the youngster passed his struggling teammate, going on to post the fastest lap of the race on the final lap.

Despite the worth of those 25 'overtakes', there is no arguing that this was a monumental performance, one worthy of the venue and those champions and winners who precede him.

"I did not expect it, unbelievable," said the youngster in the moments after the race. "I'm so happy, I could have never imagined to be here today, but we managed to pull it off, and I'm really, really happy. It's a dream coming true."

Asked about a late scare when he appeared to misread Russell's intentions in the first chicane, and subsequently ran through the gravel, he admitted: "It was quite scary during the moment because the tarmac was breaking up, but I still thought I could make the corner.

"But once I went over a bit of gravel as well, I went straight, and I was like... 'maybe I lost my chance'. But luckily we still had the pace and managed to bring it home.

"I was up there and I knew I could have had a shot for the win, so I definitely believed in it," he said of his move through the field. "Especially when I was behind George.

"But it was really difficult to break away with the tow being so strong," he admitted. "But we pitted and he stayed out and he struggled a bit with the hards at the end, while with fresher tyres I was able to increase the pace and managed to win it."

Asked if this was the best race of his career, thus far, he replied: "The best one has yet to come, but I feel like, yeah, it was one of the best races I've done so far and, yeah, one that I will remember forever."

Nonetheless, there is one area in which the youngster remains a little reticent, and that's when talk turns to the title.

"It's been a very strong year so far," he said, "but still many races left and so, you know, still anything can happen.

"We've seen how things can swing very quickly. So, on my side, as I said many times, just take it race by race, focus on things that I can control and just maximise every opportunity I get. Because, you know, this weekend we were fastest, but we never know. We might go to another track and all of a sudden, you know, McLaren is the fastest, or Ferrari is up there, or even Red Bull, you know, with Max. So that's why it's really important to just take every opportunity, focus race by race, and then obviously also George is in great form now, so just need to level up."

Check out our Sunday gallery from Monza here.