ITALIAN GP: FERRARI STUN MCLAREN AT MONZA AS CHARLES LECLERC PULLS OFF INCREDIBLE ONE-STOP WIN

Ferrari gambled on a one-stop strategy with Charles Leclerc to end their five-year wait for an Italian Grand Prix win, the Ferrari driver beating the two-stopping McLarens to the line.

On a day when McLaren seemed to have the 1-2 in hand, Ferrari threw the dice and it paid off as Leclerc took the chequered flag 2.6 seconds ahead of Oscar Piastri with Lando Norris third.

Ferrari return to the top step of the podium at Monza!

Lando Norris made a flying start off the line with his team-mate Oscar Piastri crossing the track, not to protect him, but to challenge for the lead. That blocked George Russell, who had to move wide, put wheels on the gravel and had to take to the escape road.

But Piastri wasn’t done, challenging Norris at the second chicane and taking the lead. Charles Leclerc also pounced to take second, Carlos Sainz fourth.

Max Verstappen complained about Lewis Hamilton’s not leaving him enough space, saying he “got a penalty for that”. They were P5 and P6 in the early running, both ahead of Russell. Sergio Perez, behind the Mercedes driver, reported that Russell had a bit of “dangerous” damage.

Daniel Ricciardo was noted for an incident with Nico Hulkenberg who was down in 16th place having lined up P9, the Haas driver then having one of his own with Yuki Tsunoda. He pitted on lap 6 for a new front wing. Tsunoda retired two laps later, his VCARB too badly damaged to continue. As for the other VCARB driver, Ricciardo was handed a five-second penalty for squeezing Ricciardo. Hulkenberg received a 10-second penalty.

Lap 10, Piastri was running seven-tenths ahead of Leclerc, who had Norris running a second behind him with Sainz, Hamilton and Verstappen next in line. Russell, Perez – make that Perez and Russell, Alex Albon and Fernando Alonso were in the final points-paying positions.

PlanetF1.com recommends

👉F1 2024: Head-to-head qualifying record between team-mates

👉F1 2024: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

While Piastri wanted to stick with “Plan A”, Russell came into the pits for a new front wing and tyres – his stop 10.5s, which dropped him to 16th place. Leclerc wanted “Plan B” and Alonso potentially went onto a two-stopper as Aston Martin reacted to Russell’s stop with Alonso out ahead of the Briton.

Norris was the first of the frontrunners to pit, in on lap 15 and out after a tweak to the front wing and a new set of hard tyres. Out in ninth place, he quickly overtook Esteban Ocon to make one place. Ferrari responded with Leclerc in, Mercedes also pitting Hamilton. They both came out behind Norris, McLaren grabbing a position with the undercut. Leclerc was not happy that Ferrari pitted him, questioning why they didn’t leave him out longer.

Piastri was in two laps after Norris, but came back out ahead of his team-mate. Their gap was 1.9s with Norris warned it was “likely” McLaren would have to “cover”, the driver reminded of the “papaya rules”. Leclerc was right behind the McLarens.

Ricciardo found himself hit with penalty number two of the race as, stopping to serve his first, his front right mechanic touched the front wing only to realise he couldn’t and pull his hands back. Alas, it was still a penalty.

Verstappen pitted, in on lap 22 for a new set of hard tyres, which meant a two-stopper for the World Champion. But a problem with his rear right cost him six seconds. Perez was in next, putting the McLarens back up into 1-2 with Norris told “you are allowed to race Oscar, papaya rules”.

Meanwhile, Kevin Magnussen joined the Haas penalty list, and could face a potential race ban, as he was hit with a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with Pierre Gasly. That usually comes with two penalty points.

Lap 30, Piastri led by 2.2s ahead of Norris, Leclerc running third ahead of Sainz, Hamilton, Verstappen, Perez, Russell, Alonso and Ocon. The Alpine still to pit. Williams rookie Franco Colapinto was up to 15th place having just made his first notable overtake in F1 as he overtook the other Alpine of Gasly.

Perez and Russell went wheel-to-wheel for seventh place at the first chicane but Russell had to give the position back having cut the corner. A mistake from Norris allowed Leclerc to close right up on the rear wing of the McLaren. Norris then pitted, a 3.3s stop, coming out behind Verstappen. Leclerc did not react but Hamilton did, although he too had a slow-ish stop with sticky wheel nuts seemingly the issue for both.

Back at the front, Piastri was in on lap 39 from the lead and he too had a slow-ish stop! Perez squeezed Russell but the Mercedes driver made the pass, Norris challenged Verstappen, who had yet to stop for a second time, for position but was baulked by the Red Bull, and Piastri took advantage as he built up a lead over his team-mate.

But it was the Ferraris running 1-2 with 10 to go, Leclerc and Sainz on one-stop strategies with the Monegasque driver 15s ahead of Piastri. With eight to go, Piastri used DRS to pass Sainz and was 11.6s behind Leclerc… 9.7s which led to a “leave me alone”… 7.2s with three to go…

Leclerc took the chequered flag three seconds ahead of Piastri, Ferrari’s one-stop gamble paying off for their first Italian Grand Prix win since 2019.

Norris, who grabbed the fastest lap point, completed the podium ahead of Sainz, Hamilton and Verstappen. Russell, Perez, Albon and Magnussen completed the points. Colapinto was P12 on his F1 debut.

Result

1 Charles LECLERC

2 Oscar PIASTRI +2.664

3 Lando NORRIS +6.153

4 Carlos SAINZ +15.621

5 Lewis HAMILTON +22.820

6 Max VERSTAPPEN +37.932

7 George RUSSELL +39.715

8 Sergio PEREZ +54.148

9 Alexander ALBON +67.424

10 Kevin MAGNUSSEN +68.302

11 Fernando ALONSO +68.477

12 Franco COLAPINTO +78.133

13 Daniel RICCIARDO +81.256

14 Esteban OCON +1 lap

15 Pierre GASLY +1 lap

16 Valtteri BOTTAS +1 lap

17 Nico HULKENBERG +1 lap

18 Guanyu ZHOU +1 lap

19 Lance STROLL +1 lap

Result

Yuki Tsunoda VCARB lap 8 crash damage

2024-09-01T14:46:43Z dg43tfdfdgfd