Adrenaline-filled and emotional at the Monza checkered flag, cold and calculated for 38 laps in managing an endless stint on hard tires: Charles Leclerc – along with his Ferrari – even surprised McLaren rivals Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, who were incredulous during the post-race press conference.
At the 5.793-kilometre Autodromo Nazionale Monza, a lot of time is lost in the pit lane: this was well known by the two McLaren drivers, who finished behind Charles Leclerc. On paper, a one-stop strategy seemed the fastest, but executing it on track proved to be almost impossible for everyone. Almost.
McLaren tire destroyers: “The front left was like a 50-cent coin!”
“It was a big risk from my point of view,” explained Oscar Piastri. His teammate, Lando Norris, shared a similar, if not more pessimistic, opinion: “We knew it was the fastest option, but we just couldn’t make it work… we simply destroyed the tires a bit too easily.”
During the press conference, the Italian GP strategy was one of the hottest topics. Piastri wanted to clarify: “I need to go back and look at the level of graining on Charles’ car at the time of my second pit stop. […] After just a few laps, our idea was that it was going to be a two-stop race,” recounted the Australian. “It was all about dealing with the graining. When it came on, you practically couldn’t press the brake pedal because the front left tire turned into a 50-cent coin!” – he pointed out at the end of the Italian Grand Prix.
The excellent graining management: “That’s when I knew we could make it”
Tire management, particularly of the front left, turned out to be the key to the race. The Ferrari driver managed the graining masterfully during the second stint, maintaining a consistent pace of 1:23.5 on average, even in the final laps. “Before the race, I definitely wanted to do the one-stop strategy,” explained Charles Leclerc.
The Monegasque had the GP management in mind from the start, despite some initial concerns: “After 10 laps, we saw Red Bull starting to struggle with the front left on the hard tires. At that point, we began to have some doubts.”
Then came the pit stop, which occurred on lap 15: “We thought it would be more difficult [to execute the one-stop] because we believed the hard compound would be the most challenging to take to the end. However, as soon as I put on the hards, I thought we had that chance. When Oscar pitted for the second time, I felt I had more grip without cars in front of me, especially on the front tires. That’s when I really realized we could do it.”
“I knew the important thing was to manage the front left tire well,” the Monegasque told Sky Italia. Then he reiterated in the press conference: “We did a great job with that front left tire, which was really troublesome for everyone. We had a lot of graining, but we managed it well and recovered front grip.” – Scuderia Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc concluded.
Source: f1ingenerale
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