The Temple of Speed has just concluded its latest sermon, a cautionary tale of not hedging one’s bets and expecting to control a race that sat on a strategic knife-edge. It all came to pass at this year’s edition of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza – Formula 1’s 74th visit to the circuit north-west of Milan.
A McLaren 1-2 on the grid rather set expectations that the race would be a breeze for the brace of MCL38s, but Charles Leclerc and Ferrari instead put them to the sword with a strategic gamble – one that ignited a sonorous wave of euphoria from the scarlet-robed home supporters.
But wait: there’s more! A surprise debutant impressed in their first grand prix, a highly rated youngster matched a seven-time world champion in one lap and then threw the car off in the next, and F1’s penalty points system culminated in the first driver ban since 2012.
Let’s recap everything that happened at Monza, now in the glorious technicolour of hindsight…
1. Ferrari defies its reputation with key tactical victory
A tactical masterstroke of committing to a one-stop strategy worked wonders for Leclerc
Photo by: Ferrari
As much as those who indulge in internet memes like to beat a dead horse, these rarely stray too far from the truth. Ferrari, particularly in the Maurizio Arrivabene and Mattia Binotto years, were infamous for concocting sub-par strategies that contrived to seize defeat from victory’s mandibles.
These stood in stark contrast to Jean Todt’s stewardship of the team, where Ferrari’s grasp of race management was seen as nearly flawless. But under Fred Vasseur, it seems that the team is much more light on its feet.
Tyre graining added a different element into this year’s Monza affair, pushing the grand prix out of a comfortable one-stop window and shifting it towards the two-stopper. McLaren, Mercedes, and Red Bull all seemed to opt for a two-stopper pretty early. Ferrari knew that, if it followed suit, it could attain a 3-4 finish with relative ease. But it had ambitions of more.
Keeping Leclerc and Carlos Sainz out on a one-stop had its risks, but it was overwhelmingly worth taking a punt on it. The execution wasn’t entirely perfect, as the decision to react to Norris with Leclerc made the job perhaps a little bit more difficult. But the Monegasque did a stellar job to not only build enough of a buffer over Oscar Piastri, but also retain enough tyre life to ensure the Australian ran out of time to fully consume the gap…
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