Amid the clamour of a championship coming to life as McLaren continues to field a super-fast car and Red Bull struggles, Charles Leclerc delivered a fairytale Ferrari-at-Monza victory. For the second time in five years.
This time he did it by splitting Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris on the first lap – preventing the front row-starting McLarens from controlling him – then making only one pit stop. As Piastri came out from his second stop going way faster but with only 14 laps left to close down 9sec, the tifosi understood what the game was and each time the Ferrari completed another lap still leading the place erupted. Even Piastri’s new tyres weren’t enough to close such a gap down and Leclerc took the flag by the margin of 2.6sec.
It might be argued that McLaren lost this race, and it’s a view that Piastri wouldn’t argue with. Should he and Norris have stayed out when running 1-2 in the second stint, ignoring the deterioration in grip of their left-front tyres as Leclerc hovered 6sec behind the leader? “In hindsight, probably,” said Piastri who made himself the lead McLaren driver three corners into the race by making an audacious pass on Norris at the Roggia chicane, Norris rescuing a wild moment but in so doing allowing Leclerc past.
