The Italian Grand Prix is a Sunday night in Australia, which makes it one of the better European rounds on the calendar for anyone who likes their racing without an alarm.

Lights out at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza is 11:00pm AEST on Sunday 6 September, and Kayo Sports carries it live along with every practice and qualifying session. Perth gets it at 9:00pm.

Round 13 of 24 also arrives with the championship leader starting from the back of the grid at his home race, which is not a sentence you get to write often.

Italian Grand Prix 2026: The Details

Event: Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio d'Italia 2026, round 13 of 24

Circuit: Autodromo Nazionale Monza, 5.793km, 53 laps

Race date: Sunday 6 September 2026

Lights out: 15:00 CEST, which is 11:00pm AEST

Qualifying: Saturday 5 September, 16:00 CEST, which is midnight AEST Sunday

Broadcast in Australia: Fox Sports and Kayo Sports, live and ad-break free

Free-to-air: none

Monza is the penultimate European round of the season and the first half of a double-header, with the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid following a week later on 13 September. Full round-by-round dates are in our F1 2026 calendar.

How to Watch the Italian GP in Australia

Fox Sports holds the Australian rights, so the race is available through Kayo Sports or a Foxtel subscription. That covers all three practice sessions, qualifying and the Grand Prix itself, with the Sky Sports F1 feed and the David Croft and Martin Brundle commentary team.

Kayo streams the race live in 4K on a Premium subscription with a compatible device, and runs the coverage without ad breaks. Foxtel subscribers get the same coverage on Fox Sports, and the F1 TV app remains integrated into Foxtel set-top boxes for anyone who prefers the onboard cameras and team radio feeds.

There is no free-to-air coverage of Monza. Network 10 retains free-to-air rights to the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne only, which it holds under the anti-siphoning rules, so the other 23 rounds sit behind the paywall.

Formula 1 and the Foxtel Group extended that arrangement in a multi-year deal announced just before the season opener in March, so the picture is not changing any time soon.

Full Monza Session Times in AEST

Italy is on CEST for the whole weekend, eight hours behind eastern Australia. Australia does not shift to daylight saving until October, so these conversions hold cleanly.

Practice 1: 8:30pm AEST Friday 4 September

Practice 2: 12:00am AEST Saturday 5 September

Practice 3: 8:30pm AEST Saturday 5 September

Qualifying: 12:00am AEST Sunday 6 September

Race: 11:00pm AEST Sunday 6 September

Qualifying at midnight on a Saturday and the race at 11:00pm on a Sunday is about as friendly as a European round gets. Compare that to Silverstone or Barcelona, where the race lands closer to midnight and qualifying pushes past 1:00am.

Start Times Across Australia

Subtract 30 minutes for Adelaide and Darwin, two hours for Perth.

Race, Sunday 6 September:

AEST (NSW, VIC, QLD, ACT, TAS): 11:00pm Sunday

ACST (SA, NT): 10:30pm Sunday

AWST (WA): 9:00pm Sunday

Qualifying:

AEST: 12:00am Sunday 6 September

ACST: 11:30pm Saturday 5 September

AWST: 10:00pm Saturday 5 September

Perth does best out of Monza by a distance. A 9:00pm Sunday race start and a 10:00pm Saturday qualifying session means the whole pointy end of the weekend is normal viewing hours, which almost never happens for a European Grand Prix.

What's at Stake at Monza

Kimi Antonelli leads the drivers' championship on 242 points, 59 clear of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, who are tied on 183. He also turned 20 last month and would be the youngest world champion in the sport's history if he closes it out. If you are curious about how his rise compares, it is worth a look at the youngest F1 drivers ever.

He is starting this one from the back. Mercedes have taken a full power unit change after reliability problems earlier in the season, which stacks up to 20 grid places worth of penalties, and anything over 15 puts a driver at the back of the grid automatically regardless of where he qualifies.

Toto Wolff was blunt about the reasoning, saying the calculations pointed to Monza as the best track to absorb the hit and that the team is racing for a championship rather than for good PR.

The timing is awkward because it is his home race, and no Italian has won at Monza since Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966. Sixty years is a long wait, and it is not ending from P22.

Lando Norris is the reigning world champion and the form driver, having won at the Hungaroring and then Zandvoort back to back. He sits 83 points off Antonelli, which is a lot with 12 rounds left but not an impossible amount if the leader keeps donating grid slots. Whoever comes out on top this season, it is worth remembering how the greats stack up, so it is worth a look at who has won the most F1 titles.

A back-of-the-grid leader and an in-form chaser make this a tricky one to read, so if you are new to betting on Formula One it is worth knowing how the markets work before Sunday night.

Ferrari arrive with a special livery inspired by their 1996 car, marking 30 years since Michael Schumacher joined the team, and Sebastian Vettel is making an appearance in Ferrari colours over the weekend.

Monza with a tifosi-baiting throwback livery is exactly the sort of thing that makes the grandstands louder.

Chasing markets beyond Monza? You can browse all motor racing odds for the rounds still to come.

Italian Grand Prix 2026 FAQ

How can I watch the Italian Grand Prix in Australia?

On Kayo Sports or Foxtel, through Fox Sports. Every practice session, qualifying and the race are live and ad-break free, with 4K available on Kayo Premium with a compatible device. There is no free-to-air coverage.

What time does the Italian Grand Prix start in Australia?

11:00pm AEST on Sunday 6 September 2026. That is 10:30pm in Adelaide and Darwin, and 9:00pm in Perth.

What time is qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix?

Midnight AEST on Sunday 6 September, which is 11:30pm Saturday in Adelaide and Darwin and 10:00pm Saturday in Perth.

Is the Italian Grand Prix on free-to-air in Australia?

No. Network 10 holds free-to-air rights to the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne only, under the anti-siphoning rules. Every other round, Monza included, is on Fox Sports and Kayo.

How many laps is the Italian Grand Prix?

53 laps of the 5.793km Monza circuit, for a race distance of just over 306km.

Why is Kimi Antonelli starting at the back at Monza?

Mercedes have installed a new power unit after reliability problems earlier in the season, which carries up to 20 grid places in penalties. Any penalty of 15 places or more puts a driver at the back of the grid automatically.

When is the next race after Monza?

The Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid on 13 September, the second half of a European double-header and the last European round of the season.Deliverables