Written by Aashna Singh, Edited by Vyas Ponnuri
Charles Leclerc took victory for the second time in his career at Monza. 53 laps of action, palm-sweating moments, and emotion later, the Monégasque racer crossed the line, much to the delight of the rapturous Tifosi. He went from fourth to pole, beating the McLaren duo and the odds to win the Italian Grand Prix for the second time in his career.
After a bad day at qualifying, Leclerc started the race in fourth position. The race kicked off with Oscar Piastri braking late on the second chicane. The Australian took the outside line into the corner, snatching the lead from pole-sitter Lando Norris.
Leclerc passed Norris while the two Papaya’s were fighting each other for P1. The previous pole sitter tried but failed to pass the Ferrari. Heading onto lap two, Piastri led, from Leclerc and Norris.
Trying to win over a one-stop strategy, all three started on the yellow-walled medium tyres. Pushing the limits on his mediums, Leclerc stayed closely behind Piastri during the first few laps, with merely one second between them.
Due to degradation, Leclerc’s tyres started to wear off and the gap between him and the 23-year-old driver became a little more than two seconds.
Norris came into the pits, attempting to undercut Leclerc, but he came out behind Max Verstappen, the championship leader. Shortly after, Leclerc pitted as well but came behind Norris.
The man from Monaco angrily questioned the team as to why they pitted, having re-emerged behind the McLaren. Carlos Sainz was leading the race in the other Ferrari, ahead of the two Red Bulls. The Spanish driver had yet to pit and would soon peel in along with the two Red Bulls; who Norris had already cleared.
Norris’ front right tyres were wearing out quickly, and he pitted again to change onto a fresher set of hards. By then, McLaren knew their tyres were wearing out much faster than Ferrari’s.
With 15 laps left in the race, Piastri led the Grand Prix with Leclerc behind him, a five-second gap between the two drivers. Sainz was behind Leclerc, the margin a little over ten seconds.
Piastri’s race engineer asked the Australian if he could last till the end of the race with his old tyres, and use the one-stop strategy to win. The lead McLaren racer would reply, saying his tyres were worn, and he didn’t think he could go on for much longer.
On lap 38 out of 53, Piastri pitted, opening the door for Leclerc to take the lead. The Australian came out behind Sainz, who tried to hold out the Papaya but eventually because of the Spanish driver’s old tyres, Piastri overtook Sainz on lap 45.
Norris quickly caught up and overtook the scarlet red Ferrari after Piastri had. But the second-year driver had more than 11 seconds to catch up to the race leader who still hadn’t pitted.
In the beginning of the Grand Prix, when all seemed well for McLaren; Piastri had a shot at closing up to the seven-time race winner. Yet, in the end, even the Papaya McLaren could not catch up to Leclerc; who was racing for 38 laps on the old hard tyres.
Ahead of the Italian Grand Prix weekend, the FIA encouraged drivers to pit if they’ve been using the same tyres for more than 33 laps. The man in the scarlet red Ferrari had other plans, he beat the odds and used a one-stop strategy to complete 38 laps on hard tyres.
Piastri would have had to be 1.500s faster than Leclerc each lap to catch up with him by the end of the race. Fortunately for Ferrari, the previous race leader couldn’t close up to the 26-year-old.
Leclerc is the king of managing tyres. He’s done it before and he’s done it again. He took his seventh Formula One win, and second on Italian soil. An emotional win, as he’d won on the team’s home soil. Leclerc took the victory with tyres he had been using for 38 laps. It was truly a day for the Tifosi to rejoice and celebrate.
Piastri pitted and opened the door for Leclerc, who eventually won the race. But, what if Piastri never pitted? Who would have won the race? Let us know in the comments who you think would’ve won the race.
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