Leclerc thrills the Tifosi as he triumphs at Monza ahead of Piastri and Norris

Charles Leclerc has taken a stunning victory at the Italian Grand Prix after utilising a bold one-stop strategy to hold onto the lead, the Monegasque thrilling the Tifosi as he clinched P1 ahead of the McLarens.

After making a decent start off the line from pole position, Lando Norris initially stayed in P1 before Oscar Piastri swept past into the second chicane later in the lap. From there, the Australian stayed out in front for much of the race.

However, with much of the field opting for a two-stop strategy, Ferrari made the risky decision to try a one-stop for Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, resulting in the pair running at the front of the field in the latter stages of the race.

Birthday boy Sainz was unable to hold on given his ageing tyres, with both Piastri and Norris overtaking him to move into second and third. But Leclerc held out to grab an emotional win on Ferrari’s home soil, crossing the line 2.6s ahead of Piastri.

FORMULA 1 PIRELLI GRAN PREMIO D’ITALIA 2024 – Race results

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

LAPS

TIME/RETIRED

PTS

1

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

53

1:14:40.727

25

2

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

53

+2.664s

18

3

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

53

+6.153s

16

4

55

Carlos Sainz

Ferrari

53

+15.621s

12

5

44

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

53

+22.820s

10

6

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

53

+37.932s

8

7

63

George Russell

Mercedes

53

+39.715s

6

8

11

Sergio Perez

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

53

+54.148s

4

9

23

Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

53

+67.456s

2

10

20

Kevin Magnussen

Haas Ferrari

53

+68.302s

1

11

14

Fernando Alonso

Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes

53

+68.495s

0

12

43

Franco Colapinto

Williams Mercedes

53

+81.308s

0

13

3

Daniel Ricciardo

RB Honda RBPT

53

+93.452s

0

14

31

Esteban Ocon

Alpine Renault

52

+1 lap

0

15

10

Pierre Gasly

Alpine Renault

52

+1 lap

0

16

77

Valtteri Bottas

Kick Sauber Ferrari

52

+1 lap

0

17

27

Nico Hulkenberg

Haas Ferrari

52

+1 lap

0

18

24

Zhou Guanyu

Kick Sauber Ferrari

52

+1 lap

0

19

18

Lance Stroll

Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes

52

+1 lap

0

NC

22

Yuki Tsunoda

RB Honda RBPT

7

DNF

0

Note – Norris scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race. Ricciardo received a five-second time penalty for forcing another driver off track and a further 10-second time penalty for failing to serve the first penalty correctly. Magnussen received a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision.

Norris claimed an extra point for setting the fastest lap as he took third, adding somewhat to a day where the Briton may have hoped for more to aid his championship bid. Sainz had to settle for fourth, while Lewis Hamilton – driving his last Monza race before switching to Ferrari next year – was fifth for Mercedes.

Max Verstappen placed in sixth, the Dutchman gaining one position from his original grid slot. The Red Bull managed to stay ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell in seventh, while Sergio Perez added three points to Red Bull’s tally in eighth.

It was a positive day for Williams as Alex Albon clinched two valuable points in P9, and Kevin Magnussen was 10th in the Haas on what was an eventful day for the team, with both of their drivers having received time penalties for separate incidents.

Fernando Alonso just missed out on the top-10 in P11 for Aston Martin, and Franco Colapinto crossed the line on his F1 debut in P12 for Williams. It was P13 for Daniel Ricciardo, the RB driver having received two penalties in the early stages of the race.

Piastri had to settle for second place ahead of team mate Norris in third

Esteban Ocon was the lead Alpine in 14th, putting him ahead of team mate Pierre Gasly in 15th, and Valtteri Bottas followed for Kick Sauber in 16th place.

Nico Hulkenberg ended the day down in P17 for Haas, while Zhou Guanyu was 18th for Kick Sauber and Lance Stroll was the last classified runner for Aston Martin in P19.

Yuki Tsunoda was the sole retiree from the race, having retired his RB following a collision with Hulkenberg.

Leclerc made a one-stop strategy work to take victory at Monza

Formula 1 Media