Home F1 Italian GP: Leclerc works one-stop to win from McLaren pair

Italian GP: Leclerc works one-stop to win from McLaren pair

01/09/2024

Charles Leclerc took the home win for Ferrari in F1 Italian GP after one-stop strategy from Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

It was a clean start from McLaren’s Lando Norris to start F1 Italian GP at Monza to lead away until Turn 4 where Oscar Piastri braked later on the outside to clear his teammate and take the race lead away to force him to back out of the corner.

The exit was compromised which allowed Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to take second away after a grass moment. Norris was third from Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in fifth from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who was on the hard compound.

Mercedes’ George Russell was caught out at Turn 1 behind Piastri and had to take evasive action into the run-off. This dropped him to seventh and a front wing endplate gone, but he managed to keep himself ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez – also on the hard tyre.

Williams’ Alexander Albon was ninth from Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in the Top 10, as just outside it Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg had to save the car at Ascari after he was squeezed off by Visa Cash App RB’s Daniel Ricciardo. That dropped the German behind in the order.

In doing so, he had a collision with the other Visa Cash App RB of Yuki Tsunoda at Turn 1. This forced the German to pit with damage to his front wing, while the Japanese driver eventually was forced to retire due to damage to his car.

Ricciardo, meanwhile, was handed a 5s time penalty for forcing Hulkenberg off. The pit stop game started outside the Top 10. Russell was the first inside the points to pit to change his front wing which dropped him outside the Top 10 in traffic.

At the front, Norris pitted early to undercut Leclerc which he managed to stick to retake net second. Piastri pitted as well to retain the lead, with the likes of Sainz, Verstappen and Perez going long on their first stint to push for the one-stop strategy.

There was further 10s time penalty for Ricciardo after not serving his earlier penalty correctly with the mechanic touching the front wing. There was further contact between Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly at Turn 4.

Red Bull locked a two-stop in after both Verstappen and Perez stopped for the hard tyres. The Dutchman had a slow stop which dropped him behind Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and close to Russell, but he picked up pace soon to displace him.

The fights outside the Top 10 continued on with Gasly and Stake F1 Team’s Valtteri Bottas losing places. The front group saw Norris started to struggle and make a mistake at Turn 4 when he had to take the escape road to allow Leclerc to pass him briefly.

Norris managed to maintain the place but was forced to pit the second time early on. Just when these two fought on, Russell tried a move on Perez at Turn 1 but couldn’t make the move stick, forcing the Brit to take the run-off route.

Russell gave back the place but continued to fight on Perez. The Brit had another grass moment at Turn 1 before pitting to drop behind Albon, who lost a place to Magnussen in the points battle. The Thai was forced to take the run-off route himself.

There was a twist at the front after McLaren elected to stop, while Ferrari continued on where Leclerc led the F1 Italian GP from Sainz, Piastri and Norris, who managed to pass Verstappen, where the McLaren set out in the chase of the Ferrari pair.

Hamilton was fifth from Verstappen, Russell and Perez, with Magnussen in ninth from Albon in the Top 10. It started to get heated up at the front as Leclerc tried to hang onto the lead from Piastri who managed to get through Sainz in the chase of the Monegasque.

Norris passed Sainz for third too but was far off to challenge the Top 2. At the end, Leclerc did the unthinkable to win the F1 Italian GP after doing 38 laps on the stint. He took the home win for Ferrari at Monza by 2.664s margin over Piastri, who had to settle for second.

Norris was third after the fastest lap point with Sainz ending up fourth – also on the one-stop strategy. Hamilton was fifth from Verstappen, Russell and Perez, as Albon got ninth in the end from Magnussen, who scored a point in the Top 10.

Alonso passed Ricciardo for 11th with the Australian ending up 13th behind Williams’ Franco Colapinto, who did a solid job in 12th in his debut race. The Alpine pair of Ocon and Gasly was 14th and 15th, with Bottas ending up a respectable 16th.

Hulkenberg was 17th from Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu, as Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was 19th after a late second stop. Everyone from Ocon until Stroll ended up a lap down to Leclerc.