In a stunning upset, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc used a clever strategy and demonstrated exceptional tire whispering skills to take the checkered flag in front of raucous tifosi at the F1 Italian Grand Prix.
It definitely didn’t come easily, as Leclerc went a nail-biting 38 laps on hard tires, with two McLarens breathing down his neck on fresher rubber, to eke out the victory.
“The only thing I was focusing on [after the one pit stop] really was my front-left [tire] — I could see there was a little bit of graining and I really didn’t want it to get worse,” said Leclerc. “As soon as I had free air, I could change the balance of the car a little bit and put more stress on the rear tires, which was exactly what I wanted to do. And as soon as that balance changed, I felt like the pace was coming back.”
The victory marked Leclerc’s second win for Ferrari at Monza after he scored a victory in the 2019 Italian Grand Prix. Sunday’s win tasted just as sweet.
“I thought the first one was always going to be more special if there was a second one ever happening, but it’s actually not the case.” he said. “To stand up on that podium in front of all the tifosi after such a week, because it’s a very tiring one. It’s an incredible feeling to be racing for Ferrari in Monza, but it’s also very tiring. And to be able to win here is extremely special.”
Leclerc’s worn tires got him across the line just 2.664 seconds ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, with the second McLaren of Lando Norris rounding out the podium. Norris finished 6.153 seconds behind Leclerc. Carlos Sainz of Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes completed the top-five.
Championship leader Max Verstappen only managed sixth and continued to lose ground in the title fight against Norris, with the gap now down to 62 points. Verstappen held a 76-point lead going into the summer break but finished behind Norris in both races since Formula One came back from its month-long holiday.
Things got even tighter in the constructors standings, with Red Bull now just eight points ahead of McLaren, 446-438. Ferrari lies third, with 407 points.
Although McLaren continues to surge, things don’t seem rosy in the team, which failed to ask Piastri to move aside and help Norris gain as many points as possible on Verstappen. For the second time in the past four races, Norris finished behind Piastri and lost valuable potential gains in his pursuit of Verstappen.
In Hungary in July, the team ordered Norris to let Piastri by for the win, which cost him seven points. In Italy, finishing third instead of second cost Norris another three points, meaning the gap to Verstappen could’ve been just 52 points with eight races to go.
While Norris started on pole and looked to be in a great position to gain maximum ground on Verstappen, Leclerc’s unexpected gamble notwithstanding, Piastri arrived on the starting grid with other ideas. Norris got away well, but Piastri stayed hard on his heels and muscled his way past on the outside, going into the second chicane, to take the lead.
“I braked later and got around the outside — there wasn’t really much more to it than that,” said the Australian. “We both got through unscathed. I knew once I hit the brakes, I got ahead a bit and I was entitled to stay on the outside. Ultimately, for 38 laps of that race, it put me in a race-winning position, so yeah, for me, it was just a good first lap.”
The same couldn’t be said for Norris, who not only got passed by his teammate but also found himself behind the Ferrari of eventual winner Leclerc at the end of the first lap. From that point, the Italian Grand Prix became a race of damage control.
As the race unfolded, McLaren told its drivers that “Papaya Rules” applied, which the team’s chief executive Zak Brown later explained.
“It’s your teammate; race him hard, race him clean, don’t touch, that happened,” said Brown. “It was an aggressive pass, so that’s a conversation we’ll have. That was a bit nerve wracking on pit wall, but it’s really just respect your teammate. Lando got a bad run out of that corner as well so it would have been nice to see them run one-two a bit longer.”
With Piastri already effectively out of title contention going into the race, McLaren’s decision to let the pair race and not favour Norris saw many observers quickly question the wisdom of hobbling a team’s only championship contender.
On the other hand, McLaren historically followed a “let them race” philosophy with its drivers, be they Niki Lauda and Alain Prost (1984-1985), Prost and Ayrton Senna (1988-1989), Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard (1996-2001), Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton (2007) or Hamilton and Jenson Button (2010-2012).
For his part, Norris seemed more than miffed after the grand prix, responding curtly in the post-race television interviews when asked if Piastri’s Lap 1 overtake surprised him.
“Of course, because he got past,” said Norris. “I don’t know what I should have done differently there. If I brake one metre later, I probably would have crashed. So, something we’ll look at. But, I mean, Ferrari just drove a better race today, especially Charles. He did a very good job, so just hats off to him.”
When asked a follow-up about Piastri inserting himself into the championship and taking points away in the fight against Verstappen, Norris seemed annoyed at best: “Well done to him [Piastri]. He did a good job. He got past me, and he deserves it.”
Whether McLaren will continue to favour the driver who deserves the results instead of the one who needs them remains to be seen. F1 returns to action on September 15, with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
