Charles Leclerc delivers home win for Ferrari at Monza

MONZA – Charles Leclerc gave Ferrari a stunning home Italian Grand Prix victory and sent the crowd wild with delight, after nursing his tyres on a bold one-stop strategy to deny favourites McLaren a one-two finish.

Australian Oscar Piastri, who had seized the lead from pole-sitting McLaren teammate Lando Norris on the opening lap, finished runner-up with the title-chasing Briton third.

Both McLarens made two stops, but the strategy unravelled when Leclerc eked out his set of hard tyres for 38 laps around Monza’s super fast circuit as the crowd roared him on.

The result left Norris 62 points behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who finished only sixth, with eight races remaining.

“Mamma Mia, Mamma Mia,” screamed Leclerc over the car radio as he took the chequered flag waved by former Italy football star Alessandro del Piero.

“It’s an incredible feeling,” Leclerc said before the podium celebrations. “I want to win Monza and Monaco every year and I have managed to do so. It is so, so special.”

Leclerc was 11 seconds clear with seven laps to go and 8.3sec ahead with five remaining as the massed ranks of “tifosi” willed him on.

He crossed the line 2.664sec ahead.

The Monegasque had suggested before the race that Ferrari were not in a position to win their home grand prix and, after proving himself wrong, he still downplayed expectations.

Asked if they can keep challenging for the top spot on the podium, he told Sky Sports: “I don’t know.

“Our package was working well on a track like Monza but whether it will be the same for the rest of the season, I doubt.

“I still think McLaren are favourites but we have done a step forwards, that’s for sure.

“Baku is a pretty nice track for me, so maybe we can achieve something special there (at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix next).”

Norris said McLaren had also considered a one-stop strategy, while Piastri added that “there was a lot of question marks on the strategy going into the race”.

“We considered a one-stop strategy the whole race but it was not possible with the amount of (tyre) graining I had,” said Norris, who had started the day 70 points behind Verstappen.

“We are disappointed but Ferrari drove a better race.”

More worrying for McLaren was Norris’ comments on his teammate’s opening-lap overtake.

He said of Piastri’s move: “I feel he got way too close for comfort. We could both have easily been out in that first corner if I broke one metre later.”

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said they would review the incident, adding: “In terms of expectation and the impression of the drivers, and also the overtaking itself, we will have to take a look with some calm, have a review together with them, and then we will assess the situation.

“And if there’s any learning to take from that, we will take it for the future”.

McLaren could also have taken the lead in the constructors' championship but ended the day still eight points behind Red Bull, down from a previous 30. McLaren last won the title in 1998.

Verstappen has now failed to win any of the last six GPs after claiming the honours in seven of the first 10, and his and Red Bull’s dominance of F1 looks increasingly in question.

A fourth straight world title looked a near certainty when Verstappen won in Spain back in June, but since then he has finished on the podium only twice.

He said: “We were in no man’s land. If we don’t change anything on the car, it is all going to be bad from now on to the end of the season. We have a lot of work to do.”

Carlos Sainz was fourth for Ferrari, with the Italian team's future driver Lewis Hamilton fifth for Mercedes.

George Russell was seventh for Mercedes, with Sergio Perez eighth and Alex Albon taking precious points for Williams in ninth.

Kevin Magnussen was 10th for Haas, despite a 10-second penalty for causing a collision. REUTERS, AFP