On Sunday September 1st, after following a daring one-stop strategy, Charles Leclerc brought an outstanding Ferrari home race win at the Italian Grand Prix, leaving the McLarens behind in surprise.
During the weekend, the odds seemed to be on McLarens side in securing a 1-2 finish, until Ferrari threw the dice and gambled on a rather bold strategy by pitting Leclerc only once, which twisted the destiny of the whole race.
The competition commenced with polesitter Lando Norris starting off the line flying, covering his teammate Oscar Piastri. However in the second chicane, correspondingly as it was later stated in their team radio that the two McLarens were free to race, Piastri aggressively challenged the title-chasing Norris and seized the lead. The squabble between them left a room for Leclerc to pressure Norris who he overtook immediately.
"Oscar caught me by surprise as he got past," Norris remarked. "I don't know what I could have done differently. If I brake a meter later, I probably would have crashed."
Afterwards, McLaren followed a strategy to get Norris ahead of Leclerc by pitting the Briton earlier and undercutting the Monegasque. Norris took back the place when Leclerc pitted, however, this strategy unraveled. Since Monza is one of the fastest circuits in the calendar, tyre management rose in importance and many teams had to execute a second pit stop.
Due to the high tyre degradation, McLaren made the risky decision and forced both of their pilots to pit for a second time with about twenty laps left. The race result later proved that this call cost the McLarens a 1-2 finish. While the pair struggled with tyre degradation and slowish pit stops, the Ferrari duo were running 1-2 in 10 laps to go by following a brave one-stop move. Leclerc succeeded in nursing a set of 38-lap-old hard tyres and hung tight to his dream victory of the season.
“I wasn’t surprised you stayed out, I was surprised you survived,” Piastri told his rival Leclerc in the cooldown room about how Leclerc managed to hold him off with heavily degrading tyres.
On the other hand, the Spaniard Ferrari, Carlos Sainz Jr. was overtaken by Piastri using DRS with eight laps to go. Subsequently, Norris became the last one to complete the podium ahead of Sainz and also grabbed the fastest lap point. Although the birthday boy could not secure a podium finish, Sainz had a solid race in his final Ferrari appearance at Monza, finishing at P4, before heading to Williams next season.
As Il Predestinato drove the last laps of the race, the Tifosi grandstands were roaring and willing him on towards a triumph. For the second time in his career, Charles Leclerc became the winner of the Italian Grand Prix. “The tifosi were incredible, Mamma Mia, Mamma Mia!” he said, overwhelmed by the emotions. The fans went wild and painted the track with Ferrari flags and the color red all over.
The Prince of Monaco, who also won his home race in Monte Carlo for the first time earlier this year, passed the chequered flag 2.664 seconds ahead of the rising star Piastri and has now become the King of Italy by winning the Prancing Horse’s first Italian victory since 2019, which was also won by him.
“It’s an incredible feeling,” Leclerc said. “Actually, I thought that the first time would feel like this and the second time wouldn’t feel as special. But my God the emotions in the last few laps, exactly the same like in 2019,” he further reflected.
“I mean Monaco and Monza are the two races I want to win every year. Obviously I want to win as many races as possible, and the World Championship as soon as possible, but these are the two most important races of the season and I managed to win them this year. It’s so, so special,” he remarked.
After executing a tough call and losing the first place, Piastri said the result was painful. “It hurts. It hurts a lot. I did a lot of things right today. There was a lot of question marks on the strategy going into the race. Doing a one-stop looked like a very risky call — and in the end it was right,” the Australian driver said.
His teammate Norris further commented as, "We considered a one-stop strategy the whole race but it was not possible with the amount of (tyre) graining I had. We are disappointed but Ferrari drove a better race."
Ferrari’s future driver, Lewis Hamilton came 5th ahead of the current title-holder Max Verstappen. Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate George Russell finished 7th after starting the first lap poorly. Other half of Red Bull, Sergio Perez came 8th and was followed by Alex Albon who scored an essential point for Williams. Kevin Magnussen for Haas was the last one to achieve the top 10 despite a ten second penalty for causing a collision, and he will further miss the Azerbaijan Grand Prix due to a one-match ban.
Although the Italian Grand Prix made unforgettable memories throughout the weekend for Tifosi, it was also the debut race of Franco Colapinto. He finished 12th in his first Formula 1 race after replacing Logan Sargeant’s seat for the rest of the season.
After an incredible Sunday, the F1 journey will continue on 15th of September in Baku, with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.