Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton thought their F1 Italian GP result was maximum they could have done, as Frederic Vasseur disappointed to let Tifosi down.
Both Leclerc and Hamilton started the F1 Italian GP weekend at Monza on a sound note with a 1-2 finish, but as the weekend progressed, the McLaren pair and Max Verstappen took over the top space. Even George Russell got in the mix, which left the Italian outfit pondering.
Leclerc thought the practice pace was more or less maximum from Ferrari’s side, while others had something in their pocket. It happened that way in qualifying when the Monegasque was fourth, while Hamilton ended up fifth with a five-place penalty on his head.
Their set-up to have better straightline speed was hit and miss in the end. Leclerc got a good start to challenge Oscar Piastri, but it didn’t last long as he overheated his tyres hugely. He was left with managing them in the first stint, which allowed the Top 3 to escape.
Leclerc still had enough on Russell. In the end, fourth was the maximum from his end he felt. It was different for Hamilton, who had to claw back from 10th. He made quick work to get himself in sixth. They went long on the first stint, which didn’t work out, as there was no safety car or red flag.
The idea was to use fresh tyres in the second stint to catch Russell, but due to low tyre degradation, the Mercedes driver had enough in his tank to stay ahead. They could have tried the undercut, but apart from that, Hamilton was pretty pleased how his weekend panned out.
He harped on the confidence factor in the car, which continued on from Zandvoort. It is still not 100%, but it is much better. The tifosi factor also helped in Monza, as Vasseur noted. The Frenchman could sense the mood change, but he was left disappointed for the tifosi, who deserved a podium finish.
Race, result –
Leclerc: “No, we were not fast enough for the guys in front. We were a bit faster than Mercedes, not so much, actually I thought they were doing better than what we expected, especially with the hot weather there was. Normally they struggle more. They were quite close to us but we weren’t as fast as the Top 3. The first laps were very-very tricky for me to put the tyres in temperature and then from not having tyres ready and sliding too much, I went to overheating very-very quickly and it was all about trying to manage the overheating, we lost quite a bit of time and we lost lap time there. I don’t think so [podium was possible]. But I mean, I gave my best and today it was not possible, it is not like we did big mistakes, so I don’t think so.”
Hamilton: “I had a really good start. I had to lift just after the start because it was such a good start, and then I got kind of squeezed in between two cars. Other than that, I positioned the car really nicely, made my way forwards, and I think I could have got fifth today. I think I was 1.5 seconds behind George. We could have tried to undercut him. We missed that opportunity, then I was miles behind after that. I’m sure we didn’t have the pace of the McLarens and the Red Bulls. But I definitely think Charles and I, if we were together, we could have had a strong race in perhaps keeping up with, maybe trying to keep up more with the guys further ahead. I really don’t know. I just think they were just too fast, the guys further ahead, but I definitely think we would have been fifth, fourth.”
Vasseur: “It’s very difficult to imagine what could have been the race without this. It’s true that in the fight at the beginning, we were not strangely because he was able to overtake one or two times Piastri. But I think we are not in a good place. We overheated massively the tyres and then we paid the price the next 5-6 laps when Russell was able to follow and the others to fly. But it is like it is. We have to think about this. We could have been differently in the opening lap. But overall, I think today, first it’s a shame and I’m disappointed to not be able to bring a podium to the Tifosi. Because when you see the pit lane and the start and finish line at the podium, it would have been magic and they deserve it. But I think we are close to the McLaren today.
“It’s probably the smallest gap of the season. I think that Max was outstanding. From the first lap to the last lap, he was there, he was flying and he was much faster than us. But overall, I think compared to Mercedes and McLaren, we did our job. It’s not enough, but we did our job. We were all surprised with the low deg, if you have a look Verstappen kept two sets of hard for the race, you have to take this decision on Friday evening, it means that he was expecting also to have a higher deck, because if you don’t you can put a set of socks in case of safety car. I think this surprised everybody, we have to keep in mind that last year the tarmac was brand new and this made a huge difference, but it’s difficult to predict that the deg was very low.”
Piastri fight –
Leclerc: “He [Piastri] did a good job outside of Lesmo, for the rest, it was just a normal fight. When I went wide, I tried to slow down to get an advantage but there wasn’t much more I could do. They were too quick, especially at the beginning of the race. It is a bit of a shame because after that I thought we were quite okay, but definitely not as fast as them. But if I would have managed to keep him a bit longer behind, then maybe the end could have been different, I don’t know.”
Weekend –
Leclerc: “I honestly don’t think so. We were fast on Friday but we knew that we were maybe a little bit closer to our quali configuration to others. Then Saturday was back to reality and then on Sunday, there wasn’t much more we could have done. I don’t think we maximised the weekend, I just think Red Bull this year brought a package to lower downforce tracks and it seems to have worked very well for them, McLaren I know, didn’t really have such an extreme set-up and maybe they struggled little bit more but they were still faster than us. So, we were in a middle of nowhere. We did our best [with our package], I don’t think we left anything on the table on that. It is just that now we don’t have quite the car.”
Confidence –
Hamilton: “Yeah, I think this weekend, I built a lot on my confidence with the car. Definitely still not 100% comfortable in the car, ultimately that’s driving…kind of alien of driving style with the car that I am not 100% comfortable with, but I think overall our performance was fairly decent. We obviously don’t have the pace of the cars much further ahead, so competing for the top three is off the cards for a while, but we keep pushing and trying to extract more.”
Vasseur: “Honestly, I think this started in Zandvoort last week. It’s difficult to say because the outcome of the weekend was not positive for him, but at the end of the day, the pace was better from the beginning compared to Charles, the mood was better. During the race he was fighting with Russell until lap 30, that means that he was back in a better position. And I think the energy that he received from the Tifosi Wednesday, Thursday in Milano was something very special for him.
“I don’t know if it was expected from him or I don’t know what he was expecting from this, but it was something mega and I think this gave him an extra boost all over the weekend. For sure we had to serve the penalty and we knew from the beginning of the weekend that with plus five it’s not an easy one, but he came back behind Russell and the pace was there from the first lap of FP1 to the last lap of the race.”
Strategy –
Vasseur: “It’s not that the pace dropped. I think we were able to come back on Russell at the end of the first stint. Then we took a bet to extend and try to have a tyre advantage at the end. But the deg was too low and it didn’t work. But I think it was the best way to try to overtake Russell on track. Perhaps if I had to do it again, perhaps I would have pit Lewis a bit earlier. But I think it was the best option to try something different.”
Here’s race start: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2025-italian-grand-prix-verstappen-and-norris-fight-for-the-lead-on-the-race-start.1842611136784378480
Here’s Oscar Piastri on Lap 1 run
Here’s how F1 Italian GP panned out