On a very hot day in Monza, Italy, the tifosi who came out were rewarded with a surprise Ferrari win.
While most teams front running teams chose to make two pit stops, Ferrari decided to only make one for each of their drivers. Charles Leclerc took advantage and was able to beat Oscar Piastri to the line to take his first win since Monaco in May.
“It’s an incredible feeling,” Leclerc said in the podium interviews. “Actually, I thought the first [win at Monza] would have just felt like this and the second time, if there was a second time, wouldn’t feel as special. But, my God, the emotions in the last few laps… exactly the same like in 2019.”
“Monaco and Monza are the two races I want to win every year,” he continued. “Obviously, I want to win as many races as possible and the world championship as soon as possible, but these are the two most important races of the season and I managed to win them this year. It’s so, so special.”
The race seemed to be in Piastri’s hands for the vast majority of the day. Piastri took the lead in the turn 4-5 chicane on the first lap, with Leclerc following him past polesitter Lando Norris.
Outside of losing the lead due to green-flag pit stop cycles, Piastri never gave it up on-track, but that didn’t matter in the end.
With 12 laps to go, it became clear what Ferrari was doing. Piastri had a 15-second gap from Leclerc and a 5-second gap from Carlos Sainz.
Piastri passed Sainz on lap 45, but he couldn’t make up the gap on Leclerc and finished second, just a little over 2 seconds back.
“It hurts, it hurts a lot,” Piastri said after the race. “Did a lot of things right today. There were a lot of question marks on the strategy going into the race.
“From the position we were in, with the tires looking how they did, doing a one-stop seemed like a risky call. And it was right. Very happy with the pace, the race I achieved. Just when you finish second, it hurts.”
Norris finished third and Sainz ended up all the way back in fourth..
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