With a bold tire strategy, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc gave the Scuderia an unexpected Formula 1 home victory at the Italian Grand Prix. The Monegasque duped long-time leader Oscar Piastri and pole-sitter Lando Norris with a one-stop strategy in Monza on Sunday and won just ahead of the McLaren duo. Norris reduced his deficit in the World Championship to Max Verstappen in the Red Bull, who finished sixth, to 62 points with eight races to go before the end of the season.
In the constructors’ championship, McLaren is now only eight points behind the Austrian-British racing team Red Bull Racing. The Papaya team gave up what they thought was a sure one-two on the high-speed circuit just outside Milan with a two-stop strategy, while Ferrari gambled successfully and caused ecstasy among the Tifosi in the stands. For the Scuderia, it was the second win of the season after Leclerc triumphed at his home race in Monaco.
“Oh mama!”
“Mamma mia,” Leclerc radioed to the pits after his seventh GP victory and thanked them for the “great strategy” with a long speech in Italian. Carlos Sainz in the second Ferrari, who also only changed his tires once, drove past the podium in fourth place on his 30th birthday. Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton came fifth, and Argentinian Williams debutant Franco Colapinto showed his talent in twelfth place.
Verstappen messed up qualifying on Saturday and had to start from seventh place on the grid and start a catch-up race directly in front of his teammate Sergio Perez, who ended up in eighth place. Unlike their immediate competitors, the two Red Bull drivers started the race with the hardest tire compound. New asphalt had been laid on the high-speed circuit in Monza beforehand, which meant that the racing teams were in the dark about their strategy due to the increased tire wear.
Brave maneuver in the first round
Norris was at the front for the second time in a row and shared the first row of the grid with Piastri. Norris managed to get through the first chicane as the leader, but seconds later Piastri pushed past his teammate with a brave maneuver on the outside in the second chicane. Leclerc also overtook Norris, a serious setback for the Briton with World Championship ambitions. McLaren had stressed beforehand that there would be no team orders.
Mercedes driver George Russell, who had started the race from third place, misjudged the first corner, which meant that Verstappen, among others, also improved by one position. In the 15th of 53 laps, Norris was the first driver in the leading field to pit, and thanks to the so-called undercut with an additional lap on fast tires, the Zandvoort winner easily overtook Leclerc.
Verstappen’s botched stop
Verstappen was able to complete several laps in the lead due to the mirrored strategy. On lap 22, the Red Bull star switched to the hardest tire compound again, and the Dutchman’s anger after the botched 6.2-second pit stop was expressed by a bang on the steering wheel.
Norris was in the lead behind Piastri, and the World Championship runner-up was also given permission to attack his colleague. “You can fight with Oscar, Papaya rules,” Norris was told over the radio. However, the 24-year-old lost contact due to deteriorating tires and once again had to pit earlier than the competition. Piastri also changed again, while the two Ferrari drivers squeezed their tires to the end.
This gamble paid off in the end. Piastri came closer to the leader Leclerc, but it wasn’t enough. Italian football legend Alessandro Del Piero waved the chequered flag off the Ferrari driver, thus giving the starting signal for a Ferrari holiday at home.
