Ferrari’s Triumphant Return: Leclerc Secures Victory at Monza 2024

Against all odds, this year’s Monza Grand Prix turned out to be a historic weekend. Indeed, it hadn’t happened since 2019, and the weekend didn’t initially seem to favor them, but it was ultimately Ferrari who took first place at this year’s Monza Grand Prix. Here’s what you missed.

Even though McLaren secured a double pole position, the race took a turn right from the start for many drivers. Norris lost the lead, Russell missed the start and dropped back significantly, and Tsunoda was forced to retire following a collision. This Grand Prix was shaping up to be eventful. We witnessed a duel between two orange cars, allowed to compete against each other, but not at the expense of the team’s interests: papaya rules. And that’s not even mentioning the two rather competitive Red Bulls. But while Pérez couldn’t maintain his lead throughout the race, Verstappen, who had held the pole for several laps, pitted, marking the beginning of the end for the Dutch driver. Contrary to what he and his team are accustomed to, he experienced a pit stop lasting over 6 seconds. Six long seconds… The competitiveness of the other three top teams prevented Max from making a comeback. The Dutch driver finished the race in 6th place, while his teammate secured 8th. It was a disappointing weekend for Red Bull, especially for Max, who didn’t hesitate to express his frustration to his engineer during the race, criticizing the team for not being present enough during the event. According to him, there was a lack of encouragement and information exchange.

Back to the race, Oscar took the lead from the first lap and held onto it for a long time, until his pit stop. The young driver is making a name for himself with each race and didn’t hesitate to assert himself this weekend. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to win, but he secured second place after a long chase and a fierce battle with Carlos Sainz, who was defending his teammate Charles Leclerc.

Sainz and Leclerc, like all the other drivers, made only one pit stop. After recovering the pole position, it was impossible for Charles Leclerc to pit without trying to bring victory to the tifosi in their own country. And he did just that. Ferrari’s very bold gamble paid off, and Charles stood on the podium in first place. Charles’ last victory: Monaco, his home country. So it’s been a good year for him, at least in the races that matter most to him. As for Carlos Sainz, he finished 4th on his birthday. He has no reason to feel embarrassed in front of McLaren, as the Spanish driver defended his teammate at all costs, even though his tires were worn out. The two Ferrari drivers brought back some very good points for their team, to the great delight of Fred Vasseur.

Regarding papaya rules, McLaren drivers were allowed to compete with each other within certain limits. Lando, who lost the pole position on the first lap, still managed to have an interesting Grand Prix. Engaging in a battle to catch up with Max and chase down his teammate, he still delivered a double podium finish in 2nd and 3rd place, instead of the 1-2 expected after qualifying. A bit disappointing and surely frustrating for him, but given his fighting spirit, we’re sure Lando hasn’t said his last word, especially in the drivers’ championship.

Colapinto, standing in for Sargeant at Williams, gave us a weekend that wasn’t too bad. After his complicated free practice sessions, he finished in 12th place. Not as surprising as when Bearman replaced Sainz, but still an improvement compared to Sargeant, who unfortunately didn’t often finish so close to the podium. That being said, Colapinto, who didn’t hide his joy on social media about moving up to Formula 1 (even if it’s not likely to be for long), has yet to prove himself. I’m holding back on my opinion and waiting to see his future performances. Hopefully, for Williams, he will continue to improve. But the team still managed to bring home some points with Albon, who finished 9th in this race.

Lewis delivered an average performance, finishing 5th, a good result, which is nice because we miss our international Lewlew on the podium. George struggled after his poor start to the Grand Prix, but not too much, as he placed himself between the two Red Bulls, finishing 7th. And what a pleasure it is to see Formula 1 without exaggerated domination, with our top four teams battling it out every weekend in ever more interesting contests. It’s a fair return to form after Red Bull’s dominance over the past three years, even though McLaren seems to want to be the next team to impose its dominance.

For Haas, it was a somewhat victorious weekend as Magnussen broke into the top 10 and brought home a point. A point that remains very important for the team, placing them 7th in the constructors’ championship, even though their second driver, Hulkenberg, finished in 17th place.

Alpine has given us better results than this 14th and 15th. A weekend to forget for the French team and their French drivers. Ocon still managed to finish ahead of his “teammate,” but neither driver brought home any points for the team here in Monza.

For Aston Martin, it was a complicated weekend: 0 points. P11 for Alonso, and a disappointing P19 for Stroll, who even finished behind the Saubers, which is hard to do when you know that P20 was Tsunoda, who couldn’t finish the race and had to retire. Finally, Tsunoda’s teammate Ricciardo took 13th place in the final standings.

Sauber finished a little higher in the final standings of this race, but old habits die hard, and they remain at the back of the grid, with P18 for Zhou and P16 for Bottas.

Despite some harsh words, we love each of our Formula 1 teams and invite you to watch the Italian Grand Prix, which will remain etched in the memory of many tifosi. It’s yet another memorable race in the history of Charles Leclerc, who claimed his 7th victory, sealing Ferrari’s win at Monza on this 1st of September, 2024.