Charles Leclerc and Ferrari pulled off a strategical masterstroke on Sunday, getting the better of both McLarens and taking victory in front of the cheering tifosi at the 2024 Italian GP.
It all seemed to be going in McLaren‘s favour, with the papaya duo sitting one-two before the second round of pitstops.
However, after Lando Norris was brought in and race leader Oscar Piastri followed him a few laps later, it was Ferrari who flipped the script and left both their drivers on track to run until the end.
Piastri and Norris eventually got past Carlos Sainz, but couldn’t close the gap to Leclerc, with the Monegasque taking the chequered flag in front of the home supporters at Monza.
Piastri and Norris settled for second and third in front of Sainz and Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top five.
McLaren looked to be in control
Norris got off the line well to lead from his teammate Piastri, with Russell getting alongside the Australian into Turn 1. Unfortunately for the Mercedes man, he got out of shape under braking and took to the run off area.
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This allowed the two Ferraris through, along with Hamilton as Russell rejoined with front wing damage. The drama didn’t stop there when Piastri got a slipstream and passed Norris into the second chicane, with Leclerc slipping past into the first Lesmo.
Norris had to wait until the opening pit stops to get past the Ferrari, McLaren bringing him in earlier than Leclerc. The undercut proved powerful in giving the Brit track position, with Piastri and Norris one-two ahead of the two Ferraris after the pit stops.
After McLaren stated over the team radio that their drivers could race one another under ‘papaya rules’, it all became a moot point when Norris made a mistake at Turn 4. This allowed Leclerc to close up right behind him, and McLaren pitted Norris for a new set of hards on Lap 33.
Piastri came in soon after, making it a Ferrari one-two at the front with Leclerc leading Sainz. While the rest of the grid also came in for a second stop, the Scuderia opted to keep the pair out in hopes of claiming a famous victory in front of the Tifosi.
It paid off in the end, Leclerc taking his second victory of the season following his success in Monaco.
Anonymous outing for Verstappen
There was no Sunday recovery for Verstappen, the Dutchman having to settle for a disappointing sixth place finish.
His Red Bull just didn’t have the pace to keep up with the rest of the frontrunners, and a poor pit stop added to his misery.
Things weren’t much better for Perez, who spent several laps fighting it out with Russell. In the end the Red Bull driver came out second best, with the Mexican finishing eighth.
There was also plenty of action further down the grid, especially at the start. Daniel Ricciardo made contact with Nico Hulkenberg at Ascari, with the German making contact with Yuki Tsunoda a few laps later into Turn 1.
Neither incident were well received by the stewards – Ricciardo getting a five-second penalty and Hulkenberg getting 10. Tsunoda was worst off however, the damage to his RB proving too much and forcing him to retire.
