ITALIAN GP – Charles Leclerc pulls off a masterstroke in strategy to win at Monza for second time two and a half seconds ahead of Oscar Piastri
Charles Leclerc has won the Italian Grand Prix for the second time beating Oscar Piastri by two and a half seconds. The Monacan pulled off a brilliant one-stop strategy allowing him to leapfrog both McLaren’s and take Ferrari’s twenty-first win at Monza after a masterstroke of strategy, his victory coming exactly five years to the day since his first win at the famous Autodromo.
Piastri finished second ahead of his teammate Lando Norris by three and a half seconds, arguably the team put themselves on the back foot from the very start as they fought for the lead. that battle in hindsight brought Leclerc into play straight away after passing George Russell into the first chicane then, chased down Piastri and passed him at the dello Roggia chicane.
From then on Leclerc remained a threat to McLaren, but while Norris did regain the lead in the middle part of the race the strategy and a lock-up by the McLaren driver followed by his stop he dropped further behind. It was a masterstroke in using the alternative one-stop strategy though the Monacan did have to hang on with tyre life fading and Piastri trying his best to close in during the closing phases.
Leclerc’s second win at Monza looked unlikely given the way McLaren had looked strong in the middle part of the race. Lando Norris finished third behind his teammate by three and a half seconds, the team unable to fight back after the one stop strategy allowed the Monacan to vault past.
Perhaps that scrap early on with Piastri took away the opportunity for McLaren to fight for victory with Ferrari, McLaren may be kicking themselves for not taking advantage of Red Bull’s tough weekend in a championship fight which is getting ever closer. But they did manage to cut the lead of the champions to just eight points as the sport leaves Europe for the final time this season.
The one-stop strategy from McLaren started to slip away when Norris started struggling with tyre wear, it looked very difficult to make it work as they made an early stop which in hindsight made it hard to fight for the win. Instead of trying to chase Leclerc he started slipping away and eventually, the Englishman had no choice but to make a second stop. But when Piastri also made his second stop, it allowed him to overcut Norris thus staying second.
Norris faces an even bigger challenge now if he is going to fight Max Verstappen for this championship, he needs to outscore the Dutchman by eight points at the remaining eight races to win the championship.
Leclerc said, “An incredible feeling. I thought the first time would feel like this and the second time, if there was one, wouldn’t feel as special. But my god, the emotions in the final laps – just like 2019. Incredible. Monaco and Monza are the two races I want to win every year.”
Piastri added “With the position we were in, with the tyres looking like they did, the one-stop seems like a very risky call but it was right. Very happy with my race, but when you finish second it hurts. In hindsight, yes [we should have gone for a one-stop]. Everyone’s a legend after the flag.”
Norris said, “Oscar caught me by surprise as he got past. I don’t know what I could have done differently. If I brake a metre later, I probably would have crashed. It’s something we will look at, but Ferrari drove a better race, particularly Charles.”
Carlos Sainz was fourth the Spaniard in his final Italian race for Ferrari finished nine and a half seconds behind Norris and ahead of the driver who replaces him next year Lewis Hamilton by seven seconds. Hamilton had fended off Verstappen at the start but he was unable to make inroads in the race and the final stint after a slow stop to try and past his former rival
Red Bull once looking so dominant has seen their lead cut they looked unsettled all weekend lacking performance, Verstappen could only could manage sixth. Verstappen finished the race ahead of Russell by just under two seconds, with the Mercedes driver comfortably splitting the Red Bull with Sergio Perez fourteen seconds behind.
Red Bull had made a questionable choice with strategy, Verstappen started on the hard rather than mediums, and he then at his first stop stayed on the mediums meaning he would need to stop again. Effectively given the loss of their pace advantage, they were unable to fight for victory.
Russell had started third, but he misjudged his braking fighting Piastri at the first chicane on the opening lap, clipping the McLaren and damaging his front wing and taking to the run-off area.
Alex Albon was ninth after a ten-second penalty put him ahead of Kevin Magnussen. The Haas driver was given the ten second penalty for a collision with Pierre Gasly, as on the road he was three seconds ahead of the Dane. Magnussen looks set to be banned if he is given three points on his licence for the next race in Baku.
Fernando Alonso was eleventh he missed out on the top ten just under two-tenths, as he finished ahead of Franco Colapinto. The Argentine having a decent debut weekend as he finished twelve seconds ahead of the two Alpine’s who both were a lap down, with Esteban Ocon five and a half seconds ahead of teammate Pierre Gasly.
Valtteri Bottas was sixteenth and his Sauber teammate Guanyu Zhou eighteenth, they were split by the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg. Hulkenberg was three and a half seconds behind Bottas and ahead of Zhou by nine seconds, while Lance Stroll was nineteenth the final classified finisher.
Related
- Italian GP – Qualifying Result
- ITALIAN GP – Lando Norris beats Oscar Piastri by a tenth to take pole as Red Bull struggles continue
- ITALIAN GP – Lewis Hamilton leads a Mercedes one-two nearly a tenth ahead of George Russell in third practice
- ITALIAN GP – Lewis Hamilton fastest three thousandths ahead of Lando Norris in second practice
- ITALIAN GP – Max Verstappen fastest by a quarter of a second in first practice
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