CNN —
Charles Leclerc of Ferrari held on to win a thrilling Grand Prix at his team’s home event in Monza, Italy, despite his increasingly battered and exhausted tires, beating a marauding Oscar Piastri to the chequered flag.
Piastri led for much of the race after passing his McLaren teammate and polesitter Lando Norris on the first chicane, but opted for a two-stop strategy to avoid his tires degrading too fast. Norris also pitted, leaving the two Ferraris of Leclerc and Carlos Sainz out front with a comfortable advantage as the laps ticked away.
Despite Piastri’s late challenge as he hurtled towards Leclerc on newer, faster tires, the gap was eventually too large to close and
He could only finish second, with Norris passing Sainz to clinch the podium in third. Thousands of Italian tifosi packed into the grandstands to cheer on their de facto national team, and they sprinted down the track to the podium, unfurling a massive Ferrari banner as they watched Leclerc spray champagne from the podium while red smoke drifted into the air above him.
“It’s an amazing feeling…” “The emotions in the closing few laps were exactly the same as in 2019,” Leclerc, third in the driver standings, said in his post-race interview, adding: “Monaco and Monza are the two races I want to win every year, obviously I want to win as many races as possible… But these are the two most significant events of the season, and I won both, so it’s really great.
“The tifosi, you were incredible, mamma mia,” he told the Italian supporters personally. “My first year with Ferrari was a memorable experience… It was a dream for me. I thought (this triumph) wouldn’t be as special because it wasn’t unique, but it is not.
The case is usually unique like this.”
Norris cut a frustrated figure as he celebrated his triumph, lamenting a series of mistakes that saw him slide from first to third on the first chicane, followed by a racing strategy that relegated him to third place. He did cut the gap on Max Verstappen in the driver standings, and he once again demonstrated the pace of the McLaren car by flying by the Red Bull driver, who finally finished sixth. Despite Verstappen’s massive lead in the standings, McLaren is closing in on Red Bull in the constructors’ championship with eight races remaining this season.
Piastri was also left “hurting” by his second-place finish, he admitted in his post-race interview.
“It really aches. “We did a lot of things right today… from the position we were in with the tires looking like they did, doing a one-stop seemed like a risky call but in the end, it was right,” he remarked. “I’m happy with the pace, but finishing second hurts.”
“Today, sadly, we got it wrong, and I played a huge role in that. We had nothing to lose by being at the front of the race, and Charles could try something different; he was bound to finish third regardless. He made a wise decision today, but it was unpleasant.
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