Charles Leclerc wins second Formula 1 race of the season
Ferrari leader Charles Leclerc won his team's home Formula 1 round, the Italian Grand Prix, thanks to an alternative strategy. This was the driver's second victory of the season. The first took place in Monaco, on the driver's home track. The other podium places in Monza were taken by McLaren representatives Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. Reigning world champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull had another lackluster weekend. His advantage in the personal standings was reduced to 62 points.
"It's an incredible feeling. I thought that the second time, if it happens, would not be as special as the first, but in the end the emotions in the last laps were off the charts again," said Charles Leclerc after his success at the Italian Grand Prix, referring to his first triumph at the Monza circuit in 2019. There are not many similarities between these victories. Five years ago, Leclerc defended his pole position and fought desperately with Lewis Hamilton for almost the entire race. Now, he has slipped into first place largely by chance and held on there after Ferrari's smart strategic decision not to call both cars for a second pit stop.
This Sunday, two McLaren drivers started the race from the front row. From pole position - Lando Norris, who has had huge problems at the start (he had previously reached pole four times, but each time he lost the lead by the first turn). This time, the Briton started almost perfectly, but still fell back quite quickly. In the third turn, he was harshly pushed aside by his teammate Oscar Piastri. A second's loss of control over the car cost Norris another position, and Leclerc passed him almost immediately.
The Briton's nervousness also showed before the first tyre change. Entering the pit lane, he braked very late and almost crashed his car into the side of the car.
However, even this did not prevent Norris and Leclerc from exchanging positions again. The latter was perplexed: "What was that? Why are we going to the pits if we are going to get undercut?"
The experimental tactic of the team leader Red Bull with a start on hard tyres did not work. After the first series of pit stops they briefly took the lead, but quickly began to lose pace. World Champion Max Verstappen's chances were also seriously damaged by a delay by his own mechanics: it took more than six seconds for him to change tyres.
With half the distance left and the drivers heading back for new tyres, the Ferraris were in the vanguard. They were suspiciously slow in making their second pit stop. Ten laps before the finish, it became clear that both would remain on the track until the end of the race. By that time, Leclerc was leading. His teammate, the Spaniard Carlos Sainz, had created an 11-second buffer zone for him.
The speed of McLaren, Ferrari's main pursuers, was enough to easily catch Sainz. But the advantage that Leclerc had built up thanks to excellent team tactics was too big.
Even when it became clear that Piastri lacked the pace to overtake the leader, McLaren did not pursue a better balance in the driver's standings and asked their drivers to swap positions. In the end, Leclerc won the race and took his second "home" victory of the season. In May, he managed to win in his homeland of Monaco. He became the first native of the principality to achieve this feat. Piastri finished second in the Italian Grand Prix, 2.6 seconds behind. Norris was third, more than six seconds behind.
Both British team riders did not hide their disappointment. “It’s a shame,” Piastri repeated. “We did everything right. But we couldn’t do without a second stop. It would have been too risky.” Norris, who once again failed to win after starting from pole position, and at the same time missed an excellent chance to get closer to the top of the personal standings, was less talkative.
This situation certainly played into the hands of Max Verstappen. His chances of defending the title remain impressive, despite another disastrous weekend (the Dutchman finished only sixth). With eight stages to go, Verstappen maintains the lead in the drivers' standings with 303 points. His closest pursuer Norris has 241 points. Leclerc is third with 217.
But the Constructors' Cup table has noticeably tightened. There, Red Bull could lose its lead at the next Grand Prix, which will take place in two weeks in Azerbaijan. The Austrian team, which has 446 points, is catching up with McLaren (438). Ferrari is not far behind (407). In short, by the end of the season, the best team of 2022 and 2023 could fall to third place in the Constructors' Cup.
