Leclerc's Strategic Masterclass at Monza: How Ferrari Dominated the Italian GP
Round 16 has come and gone and what a race that was full of action and surprises with good strategies and bad ones along the way. We saw some penalties, great overtakes, collisions and some pit stop heartbreak.
We start looking at the beginning as we see the Red Bulls going for the hard tyres to go long given that Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez were starting in 7th and 8th with a few other drivers at the back of the grid also opting for hards, with everyone else going for the yellow striped mediums.
After the formation lap, we see the 5 lights go off and Lando Norris gets a great start and immediately pulls to the right to cover off his teammate and Norris manages to get round Turn 1 in 1st place unlike all his other starts he had from pole. This however didn’t last very long as Oscar Piastri into Turn 4 went in for a move on the inside and made it stick and took the lead, this put Norris out of position as he had to turn later given Piastri was beside him and this put him into the firing line of Charles Leclerc who was able to get past Norris into 2nd place before the 1st Lesmo corner.
Starting in 3rd was George Russell in the Mercedes however this only lasted till Turn 1 as he went onto the grass coming into Turn 1 and because of this, he had to take to the escape road which slowed him down and he ended up in P7 while also picking up some front wing damage in the process due to some contact. Verstappen complained on Lap 2 that Lewis Hamilton didn’t give him enough space in Turn 4 and called out that he in the past had got a penalty for that, but we never got to see the replay for that one. Lap 3 we hear Sergio Perez come on the radio saying that Russell is carrying a lot of front wing damage and that it is dangerous trying to get the Mercedes pitted as he was driving behind it at the time, it seems though as the dangerous end plate fell off and Russell could stay out. This however was hurting his pace and on Lap 11 we do see Perez overtake Russell into Turn 1 and Russell couldn’t do much about it due to the damage, on Lap 12 we do see Russell pit to get a new front wing as the broken one wasn’t helping his race.
On the 1st lap a bit further back in the mid field we see Daniel Ricciardo squeeze Nico Hulkenberg coming into the Ascari Chicane, Hulkenberg had to take evasive action and went on the grass and nearly lost control, but he was able to stay facing forward and get back racing. This incident was noted down by the stewards and Ricciardo gets a 5 second penalty for this. On Lap 6 we see Hulkenberg pitting to get his wing changed which was a bit confusing as he never made contact with Ricciardo, but after a replay we notice that he had a collision with Ricciardo’s teammate, Yuki Tsunoda as on Lap 5 we see Hulkenberg go for a move and locks up int Turn 1 and goes straight into the sidepod of Tsunoda. This was also noted to the stewards and Hulkenberg got a 10 second penalty for this. Because of this Tsunoda was called into the pits on Lap 8 to retire the car due to the damage incurred.
On Lap 6 we see Leclerc starting to put the pressure on Piastri as he puts in the fastest lap and was still in DRS despite Piastri’s best efforts and it wasn’t successful for Leclerc as by Lap 12 we see Piastri open the gap up to 2 seconds but this was after a message from Ferrari to ask Leclerc to back off a bit to take care of tyres and the heat. Around Lap 8 we also hear a radio message from Red Bull to Verstappen asking him to keep it there and let the other cars to push on the mediums alluding that the race will come to him later on.
Around Lap 12 is when most drivers were pitting to get on the hards from the mediums and on Lap 14 is when we see Norris on the back of Leclerc as he gets in DRS range and just about when we thought that Norris was going to go for a move, McLaren call him into the pits to undercut the Ferrari. Norris comes out in P9 from P3 and comes out right behind Esteban Ocon which was not ideal for him to be stuck behind the Alpine but by Turn 4 he was able to clear him straight away. Ferrari do respond to McLaren, and they pit Leclerc on Lap 16, unfortunately for Leclerc he came out in 7th behind Norris and Leclerc wasn’t too happy with this as he was on the radio asking why they pitted him if they knew he was undercut. Hamilton also pitted on Lap 16 to come out 10th from 4th.
On Lap 17 we see McLaren also pit Piastri from the lead to also cover off Norris and Leclerc as he comes out in 4th ahead of both of them with Alex Albon behind him as a buffer to him and Norris, but the pair are closer together.
Monza Magic: Leclerc's Brilliant One-Stop Strategy Secures Victory at the Italian GP
On Lap 18 Ricciardo gets another 10 second penalty as VCARB failed to serve his 5 second penalty correctly and this was due one of the mechanics touching the front wing for a second before we see him take his hands away as he realises about the penalty but unfortunately this was too late as the damage was already done, bit unfortunate for Ricciardo as this one was not his fault. A few laps after the McLaren pitstops we hear a radio message to Norris that he might have to cover for the other car and that Papaya Rules apply which was very unclear to everyone but them, however on Lap 23 Norris gets another message saying that he is clear to race Piastri Papaya Rules. Bit confusing if you ask me but maybe Papaya Rules means it’s team orders, so drivers don’t question it.
Lap 18 we also see a collision between Kevin Magnussen and Pierre Gasly as the 2 touch. Magnussen gets a 10 second penalty for this one for causing a collision. From the lead we see Carlos Sainz coming into the pits from the lead on Lap 20 and comes back out in P6 behind his teammate, this gave Verstappen the lead at the time, but he was yet to pit. On Lap 21 we hear Red Bull asking Verstappen to pick up the pace and then on Lap 22 we see why as they called him into the pits. Unusually for Red Bull it was a very slow stop as one of the rear tyres didn’t wasn’t coming off, this ended to be a 6.2 second stop for Verstappen which is nearly unheard of, and he comes out in 8th from 1st. On his way out we see him hitting the steering wheel in frustration as he knew this will hurt his chances. Verstappen also had opted for the 2 stop as he goes onto another set of hard tyres.
Lap 24, his teammate Perez also gets called into the pits from 1st and comes out in 8th behind his teammate but on the same lap Verstappen cleared the Alpine and gets into 6th place. Fast forward a few laps and we keep seeing the fastest lap being bounced around the McLaren drivers who at this stage were back in the front spots. On Lap 30 we see Franco Colapinto make a nice move on Gasly into Turn 1 making his way up to 15th which was quite good from the rookie to be doing so well on his first race.
On Lap 31 we see Russell going for a move on Perez as he overtakes him into Turn 1 but Russell goes off the track while doing the overtake and we see him immediately give the place back but kept close enough for a potential move into Turn 4 but he didn’t go for it in the end. On the same lap we see Norris make a mistake in Turn 4 as he outbroke himself and had to take to the escape road and this brings Leclerc much closer to the Brit and on Lap 33 we see Norris pit once more for a second set of hards which was a slower stop for McLaren and he comes out in 6th behind Verstappen. In an attempt to undercut Perez we see Russell pit again on Lap 34 from 8th place and come back out in 12th place, but Red bull respond to this and on Lap 36 they bring the Mexican in for a pitstop and manages to come out in 9th ahead of Russell after pitting from 7th.
On Lap 38 we see Alex Albon losing 2 places as Perez goes for a move into Turn 1 and makes it stick but Albon ran out of space and took to the gravel gutting the corner a bit and this puts him out of position and gives Russell the perfect opportunity to stay in touch with Perez. This all aided for Russell to make a move a lap later into Turn 1 and Russell manages to make the move stick even though he went for it from a bit behind. Lap 38 Hamilton makes his way into the pits for the last time from 4th and comes out in 6th where on the same lap McLaren ask Piastri if he thinks if he can make the 1 stop work to which he responds no as his front left is pretty shot. Lap 39 Piastri comes in to get rid of the hards for fresh ones.
Closing stages of the race now and on Lap 40 we see Norris on the back of Verstappen but unfortunately for Norris, he wasn’t close enough to make a move into Turn 1 and had to take another lap for him to make a move on Lap 41 and finalise the move and is 4 seconds behind his teammate. At this point a lap later, Max Verstappen comes into the pits for the final time and comes out 6th from 5th only losing one spot.
On Lap 42 we also hear from McLaren letting Norris know that Ferrari are attempting the one stop work as they have noting to lose so McLarens start pushing to close the gap. On Lap 44 we do see Piastri close in on Sainz and Sainz would be doing his best to cover off Piastri to help his teammate but on Lap 45 Piastri was able to get past ahead of the Ascari Chicane. The gap to Leclerc at this point was 12 seconds with 8 laps to go which was not going to be an easy task for Piastri. Lap 47 Norris also catches up to Sainz but wasn’t able to overtake him straight away and has to opt for an overtake on Lap 48 into Turn 1.
Closing 5 laps and it is all getting tense as gap closed down to 8.3 seconds but was still looking good for Leclerc here. And on Lap 49 Verstappen was worried about Russell behind him as he asks his team to wake up in the background to make sure they cover him off.
In the end we do see Charles Leclerc take the chequered flag for the 2nd time this season followed by Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, George Russell, Sergio Perez, Kevin Magnussen and Alex Albon form the Top 10, Magnussen drops to 10th though due to his penalty and Albon takes P9. Magnussen will take a one race ban next race due to him going over the 12 penalty points in a rolling 12 months. Lando Norris for the 2nd race in a row takes the fastest lap on the last lap and he took the fastest lap from Verstappen who he is fighting for the championship. Driver of the day went to Charles Leclerc after an impressive drive from him going from 4th to 1st after making a great strategic call to make it a one stop race and taking his hards on a long stint while keeping performance in them. The last time Leclerc won this season was in Monaco where Piastri finished 2nd and Verstappen finished 6th which happened again today. Franco Colapinto finishes in P12 in his first ever F1 race which is quite impressive.
Who do you think was the biggest winners and the biggest losers of the Italian GP? We head now into a week break before we head to Baku for Round 17.
Luke’s Weekend Review – Azerbaijan GP 2024
Luke gives us his Azerbaijan GP 2024 review of the latest weekend’s action. Who were the biggest winners and who were the biggest losers?
Luke’s Weekend Take – Azerbaijan GP 2024
F1F’s gives us his Azerbaijan GP 2024 preview ahead of this weekend’s action. Who does he think will take the chequered flag this Sunday?
F1 Betting Tips Challenge – Azerbaijan GP 2024
Looking for expert F1 betting tips? Check out the F1 Betting Tips Challenge, our tipsters spend 10 points each race on their selected bets.