Leclerc wins for Ferrari as McLaren strategy backfires

Charles Leclerc delighted Ferrari’s home crowd in a strategic triumph to beat Oscar Piastri to victory at the Italian Grand Prix, after hanging on to the tyres in a one-stop strategy.

Leclerc managed to hold on from a rapidly closing Piastri, who had much fresher tyres thanks to a two-stop strategy, and crossed the line with a 2.884-second lead – the crowd becoming more audibly ecstatic in the closing laps as the tactical gambit became clear.

The Monegasque looked set to follow the pack on a two-stopper, a decision he had initially questioned as Ferrari responded to an undercut attempt from polesitter Lando Norris.

Norris initially looked like he had got over his first-lap wobbles with a clean start to cover off team-mate Piastri from pole, but appeared surprised by Piastri’s overtake attempt around the outside at the Variante della Roggia. This put Norris off-line, allowing Leclerc to also trickle through.

Although the Ferrari driver could not stay in touch with Piastri, it became clear that the overall level of tyre wear was moving the race into two-stop territory, a strategy that McLaren opted to gravitate towards with relatively early opening stops. Leclerc lost track position through his earlier-than-expected reaction to Norris, but crucially managed to maintain tyre performance.

And, although McLaren asked Piastri if he was able to one-stop, the Australian responded in the negative – giving Leclerc the lead from team-mate Carlos Sainz.

With neither Ferrari stopping again, Sainz managed to do his part in keeping Piastri at bay for a handful of laps, stalling the Australian out enough to ensure Leclerc had more buffer to play with.

This culminated in an enthralling final few laps with Piastri scything away at Leclerc’s lead with a considerable tyre advantage – but, ultimately, it proved not to be enough; Leclerc instead ignited waves of euphoria around the Monza circuit.

Piastri admitted that it “hurt” to finish second, noting that the graining issue that afflicted the McLarens might have cleared up with more laps, but nonetheless had cut a gap that stood at 11.9 seconds after he had passed Sainz to 2.7s in just nine laps.

Norris recovered to…