In a thrilling Italy race, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc’s skilful strategy enabled him to defeat McLaren and seize his second victory at Monza. Initially, it appeared as though Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris were contenders for the top spot, but Leclerc’s impressive one-stop tactic sealed the deal.
Piastri finished the race second after overtaking Norris who had a disappointing start. Norris stood third, a painful outcome after meticulous planning. Lewis Hamilton trailed behind Carlos Sainz, who grabbed the fourth position.
Despite beginning the race in seventh place, Max Verstappen managed to secure an extra position. His championship lead, however, suffered a hit as Norris took the bonus point for the fastest lap, reducing Verstappen’s lead from 70 to 62 points with only eight races left in the season.
Ever since starting from pole position, a victorious lap has proven elusive for Norris. His plight continued at the Temple of Speed event where a lacklustre departure from the chicane gave Piastri an edge, which he utilised, consequently gaining the lead. The error shook Norris, which allowed Leclerc to overtake.
The hungrier Leclerc unexpectedly slipped underneath Norris when going towards Lesmo, pushing the McLaren contender to the third spot. George Russell began the race from the third place but fell to the seventh spot following a near-miss encounter with Piastri.
As Piastri controlled the race and Leclerc kept Norris at bay, Norris made his first stop. He was edgy to recover from his discouraging start and had a close call with a polystyrene advertising board emphasising his hastiness.
Leclerc’s pit stop followed Norris’. Though Norris put some distance between himself and the Ferrari star with a quick exit, Piastri managed to maintain a 2.3-second lead after his stop on the 16th lap.
Norris endeavoured to close the gap on Piastri and by the 20th lap, he was only 1.8 seconds behind. His race engineer, Will Joseph, gave him the green light to race Piastri, adding, “Stick to papaya rules”, which essentially meant, don’t cause a collision.
Yet, Norris found it impossible to get near his teammate and as lap 31 began, he lagged by three seconds. Ferrari, sensing an opportunity, ordered Leclerc to accelerate. In the subsequent lap, Norris faltered, veered off track at the Variante della Roggia, and ended up offering more headway to Piastri and Leclerc.
At the end of lap 32, Norris came in for his second stop, now trailing Piastri by five seconds. He then began to trim down the lead, closing the gap on Verstappen, whose pit strategy was out of step with the others as he had started the race on the hardest tyre compound.
Piastri made his second pit stop on lap 38, leaving the pit lane ahead of both Verstappen and Norris. Norris tried to overtake Verstappen at the beginning of lap 40, but Verstappen effectively shut him out. The 24-year-old attempted to pass once more on the following lap and was successful. Norris was now four seconds behind Piastri.
Nevertheless, a new issue emerged for McLaren. Unlike their competitors, Ferrari was attempting a one-stop strategy and the audacity of their idea suddenly became clear to McLaren. “Just drive remarkably fast,” came the instruction to Norris. Sainz was easily overtaken, first by Piastri on lap 45 and then by Norris on lap 48.
As Piastri initiated the chase on Leclerc, the latter was already 11.7 seconds ahead. Leclerc urged the Ferrari pit wall to let him handle it, after they relayed a message over the radio.
With the laps steadily decreasing, the tifosi went wild with excitement. Leclerc successfully steered his Ferrari to the finish line on tyres that had completed 38 laps, bagging a significant victory, 2.6 seconds ahead of Piastri.
When queried about Piastri’s first-lap manoeuvre, Norris was taken aback, confessing, “Certainly, he outpaced me. I’m unsure about what else I could have executed differently. If I had braked one metre later, a crash would have ensued. It’s a challenge. Disappointed? Undeniably. Yet, Ferrari trumped us in terms of performance.”
Upon being informed that Piastri’s driving was denting his championship standings, Norris acknowledged Piastri’s supremacy, remarking, “He truly merits this for his exceptional navigability.”
Leclerc, who bagged a win for Ferrari in 2019, savoured the repeat victory, expressing, “The feeling is surreal. I didn’t expect the subsequent win to feel so sublime. Whereas, the surge of emotions echoed the triumphant euphoria of 2019. I had set my sights on Monaco and Monza, and claimed victory at both, this year. The experience is simply spectacular. The tifosi were fantastic – indescribable elation!”