Motor racing-Leclerc sends Ferrari fans wild with Monza win
Leclerc wins at Monza after bold one-stop strategy
McLaren second and third after front row start
Piastri seized lead from Norris on lap one
Championship leader Verstappen only sixth
Magnussen banned for a race
Adds details
By Alan Baldwin
MONZA, Italy, Sept 1 (Reuters) -Charles Leclerc triggered wild Ferrari celebrations with a surprise homeItalian Grand Prix victory on Sunday as favourites McLaren let slip a chance to go top in the Formula One championship.
The Monegasque finished 2.664 seconds ahead of McLaren's Oscar Piastri, who had seized the lead on lap one from team mate and title contender Lando Norris, as Ferrari made a bold strategy decision and reaped the rewards.
Norris ended up third after starting from pole position at Monza's super-fast circuit and is now 62 points behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who finished only sixth, with eight races remaining.
Leclerc succeeded by making just one pitstop, to McLaren's two, and nursing a set of hard tyres for 38 of the 53 laps as he hung on for victory.
"Mamma Mia, Mamma Mia," he screamed over the team radio as former Italy soccer player Alessandro Del Piero waved the chequered flag.
"It's an incredible feeling," Leclerc said before the podium celebrations and traditional track invasion by an army of fans swamping the pit straight with a tidal wave of red shirts and flags.
"I want to win Monza and Monaco every year and I have managed to do so. It is so, so special."
Leclerc, a winner at Monza in 2019 and at home in Monaco this year, was 11 seconds clear with seven laps to go and 8.3 ahead with five remaining as the crowd willed him on to his second victory of the season.
Piastri, who said the defeat hurt, had pitted for a second time on lap 39 after Norris did so at the end of lap 32.
"We considered a one-stop strategy the whole race but it was not possible with the amount of (tyre) graining I had," said Norris, who took a bonus point for fastest lap.
"We are disappointed but Ferrari drove a better race."
McLaren are now eight points behind Red Bull, down from a previous 30.
They opened the door for Ferrari on the opening lap when Piastri went past Norris at the second chicane -- an aggressive move that forced the Briton to back off and allowed Leclerc, who started fourth, to speed past.
Norris took back the place by pitting earlier than Leclerc, an undercut that kept him ahead when the Ferrari came in, but the strategy then unravelled and McLaren were left with questions to answer about team priorities and tactics.
"Oscar caught me by surprise as he got past," Norris told reporters. "I don't know what I could have done differently. If I brake a metre later, I probably would have crashed."
Carlos Sainz was fourth for Ferrari, overtaken by both McLarens in the final stages, with seven-times world champion and future Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton fifth for Mercedes.
George Russell was seventh for Mercedes after starting third but running off track and down as escape road at the start, damaging his car.
Red Bull's Sergio Perez finished eighth, continuing a sequence of disappointment, and Alex Albon secured precious points in ninth for Williams who had Argentine Franco Colapintro finish 12th on his debut as replacement for Logan Sargeant.
Kevin Magnussen was 10th for Haas despite a 10 second penalty for causing a collision that triggered an automatic ban for the next race in Baku.
Reporting by Alan Baldwin; Editing by Toby Chopra, Ken Ferris and Pritha Sarkar
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.