Ferrari has shed light on the pivotal role Charles Leclerc played in executing the one-stop strategy that led to his victory at the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix. With limited data available on the Hard tire, Leclerc’s feedback and performance were key factors in the team’s successful race at Monza.
Leclerc’s triumph was marked by a bold 38-lap stint on the hardest tire compound, which allowed him to outmaneuver the two-stopping McLaren cars and secure a win on Ferrari’s home soil. Starting from fourth on the grid, the Monegasque driver quickly moved up the ranks, overtaking George Russell at Turn 1 and capitalizing on a battle between McLaren drivers at Turns 4 and 5 to pass Lando Norris.
Although Norris briefly reclaimed his position when McLaren employed an undercut strategy, Leclerc regained the advantage when both Norris and his teammate Oscar Piastri pitted for a second time. With consistent pace in the final laps, Leclerc crossed the finish line 2.6 seconds ahead of Piastri, much to the delight of the cheering Ferrari fans.
Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur expressed surprise at how aggressively the McLaren drivers pushed in the early laps, which ultimately forced them into a two-stop strategy. He explained that while Ferrari had planned for a one-stop race, McLaren’s pace initially made them reconsider.
“I’m trying on the pit wall to avoid thinking if it’s possible or not, that we are managing the gap, we are giving target lap times to the drivers and not to think too much if it’s possible or not,” Vasseur said. “But it’s true that the race was quite strange because we started for one stop and then McLaren pushed a bit more than expected on the first stint.”
As the race unfolded, it became clear that Ferrari’s advantage on the Hard tires was significant. Vasseur noted that after just 10 laps on the Hard compound, they were confident Leclerc could complete the race without another pit stop. Despite concerns about a potential late-race tire cliff, Leclerc managed his tires expertly, consistently hitting his target lap times.
Vasseur admitted that it wasn’t until the final lap that he felt certain of victory, as Leclerc maintained a comfortable four-second lead over Piastri. “Just in the last lap I said, ‘OK now we are safe,’ because for the last lap we had something like four seconds, and then you start to think about reliability,” he recalled.
Leclerc’s role was especially crucial given Ferrari’s limited data on the Hard tires. With little information available due to minimal long stints on the compound during practice sessions, Leclerc’s feedback during the race was invaluable. Vasseur explained that Leclerc’s input allowed the team to optimize their strategy despite the uncertainty surrounding tire degradation.
“It’s the tricky side of this kind of race that when you don’t have so much data on the tarmac and so you don’t long stint at all the Hard before the rest,” Vasseur said. “I think only [Yuki] Tsunoda did a long stint with the Hard on Friday morning, but it was not representative and it was too early into the weekend.”
Ferrari’s decision to save two sets of Hard tires for the race, coupled with Leclerc’s ability to manage them effectively, proved to be the winning combination. As a result, Leclerc’s performance at Monza not only secured Ferrari’s first win of the season but also underscored the importance of driver input in shaping race strategy under uncertain conditions.
