Leclerc delights Ferrari fans with win in Monza

A one-stop strategy helps Charles Leclerc secure win at Ferrari's home race

The Tifosi are celebrating as Charles Leclerc took victory at the Italian Grand Prix.

A one-stop strategy helped the Ferrari driver hold off Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, who join him on the podium.

Both McLarens made strong starts, but Piastri made a move on his teammate on the opening lap to move into the lead, with Leclerc following the Australian past Norris.

George Russell also looked to put the McLarens under pressure, but the Briton misjudged Piastri’s pace, damaging his front wing and forcing him to take to the runoff.

Nico Hulkenberg qualified well on Saturday, but he found himself squeezed into the grass by Daniel Ricciardo on the first lap, dropping him back six places, before he collided with Yuki Tsunoda and had to make an early stop for a new front wing. Ricciardo’s move on Hulkenberg resulted in a five-second time penalty, while Hulkenberg was given 10 seconds for ending Tsunoda’s race.

Norris was the first of the cars at the front to stop, making a late decision to come in in a bid to undercut Leclerc, locking his tyres as the came into the pitlane and clipping a bollard before rejoining in traffic.

Leclerc stopped on the next lap, but once Norris moved ahead of Esteban Ocon he was able to make the most of his newer tyres, ensuring Leclerc rejoined behind him.

Piastri also made his pitstop early, but Carlos Sainz felt it was too soon and stayed out at the front for several more laps.

Ricciardo served his time penalty when he came in for his pitstop, but one of the mechanics touched his front wing before the five seconds elapsed, resulting in a further 10-second penalty for not serving the penalty correctly.

Kevin Magnussen also received a 10-second penalty when he had a coming together with Pierre Gasly.

The Red Bulls, having started on the hard tyres, took over at the front of the field, with Max Verstappen the first to stop, but his hopes of challenging for a win were dealt a blow when one of his tyres refused to come off, resulting in a 6.2-second pitstop.

Norris tried to close the gap to Piastri, but an error saw him run wide and slip back towards Leclerc before McLaren called him in for his second pitstop.

Norris’s pitstop was slow, dropping him down to sixth, while Piastri carried on at the front for a few more laps before coming in, but his stop was also slow.

Russell and Perez battled hard, with the Mercedes having to take to the runoff and give a place back, but once the two had made their second pitstops it was Russell who had the better pace, and he was able to get past the Red Bull.

As Ferrari tried to make a one-top strategy work, Leclerc opened up an 11-second lead over his teammate, but Sainz started to struggle on his well worn tyres, allowing Piastri to close up to the back of the Spaniard before moving up to second.

Sains continued to lose pace, and was soon past by Norris for the final place on the podium, while Piastri started to close the gap to Leclerc ahead.

Piastri encountered traffic though, ensuring Leclerc held on for the lead, delighting the Ferrari fans in the Monza crowd.

Provisional classification:

1 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

3. Lando Norris (McLaren)

4. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

5. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

6. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

7. George Russell (Mercedes)

8. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

9. Alex Albon (Williams)

10. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)

11. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

12. Franco Colapinto (Williams)

13. Daniel Ricciardo (VCARB)

14. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

15. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

16. Valtteri Bottas (Sauber)

17. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)

18. Guanyu Zhou (Sauber)

19. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

DNF:

Yuki Tsunoda (VCARB)

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