Charles Leclerc, strategy and emotions: “With six laps to go, I knew it was done” | 2024 F1 Italian GP. Charles Leclerc shared his thoughts on the Monza strategy.

The Pre-Race Plan
Like in 2019, perhaps even more than in 2019, considering the way the victory came last weekend: with a strategic masterpiece that left McLaren, seemingly in control of the race, stunned. Charles Leclerc’s second win in the Italian Grand Prix at the 5.793-kilometre Autodromo Nazionale Monza is a mix of head and heart, strategy and emotions. Speaking at the press conference after the Italian Grand Prix, the Monegasque shared his thoughts, starting with the winning decision, made together with Ferrari strategists, to aim for a single pit stop, unlike the two stops of his rivals.

“Before the race, if you had asked me, the single stop was definitely what I wanted to do,” said #16, confirming that there was a clear and shared plan. However, it would be wrong to think that no one at Ferrari ever considered changing the strategy and opting for two stops: “After 10 laps, we saw that Red Bull started struggling with the front left on the Hard tire. At that point, we began to doubt the single stop,” Charles Leclerc admitted. “We thought it would be much more difficult because we feared that the Hards would be a tougher tire to take to the end.”

The Final Realization
However, it turned out that Red Bull’s problems were not Ferrari’s problems: “As soon as I put on the hard tire, I went back to thinking that [the single stop] was a possibility. And I became even more convinced when Oscar pitted two or three laps later. It seemed to me that I had more grip without a car in front, especially on the front tires, and that’s when I thought the single stop could work.” – the Monegasque driver pointed out at the end of the Italian Grand Prix.

The end of the race was then an emotional moment, for Charles Leclerc but also for the fans, who realized lap after lap what was unfolding before their eyes. The 1997-born driver revealed that he understood a little in advance, from inside the cockpit, that the race was increasingly in his hands: “In the last five or six laps, I felt like I had it. The tires were good, and I realized that Oscar wasn’t fast enough to catch me before the end of the race if I didn’t make mistakes.” Mission accomplished.