Press review - Italian media reacts to Ferrari's performance in Dutch GP: "Not a good showcase for Monza"

Press review – Italian media reacts to Ferrari’s performance in Dutch GP: “Not a good showcase for Monza”. Press review.

Aston Martin drifts away
“We will have to do something special to catch up with Mercedes in the Constructors’ Championship,” Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur had said on the eve of the Dutch Grand Prix. At Zandvoort, that something special did not materialize at all, although Carlos Sainz managed to snatch two points from Mercedes, fiercely defending his fifth position from Lewis Hamilton’s attacks. However, thanks to a phenomenal performance by Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin extended their lead.

In front of the sea of orange, Max Verstappen once again mesmerized, while the Scuderia from Maranello encountered errors yet again, both with the drivers and at the pit wall. For instance, Charles Leclerc entered the pits without the intermediate tires ready to be fitted onto his SF-23.

Redemption expected in Monza
“Not a great showcase for Monza. After all, this is the Ferrari of 2023. Carlos Sainz did well to salvage a fifth place, the best Maranello could offer him. As for Charles Leclerc, all that’s left is for locusts to fill his cockpit; yesterday, they couldn’t even find the tires at the pit,” writes Leo Turrini in Il Resto del Carlino. “A bitter Netherlands for Charles Leclerc: crashing into the wall in qualifying, he calls himself in and, at the last moment at the first pit stop, the tires are not ready,” reads today’s edition of Repubblica.

The image of Charles Leclerc stranded in the pit waiting for the tires is also highlighted by La Stampa, especially because at Zandvoort a year ago, Carlos Sainz had to wait several seconds for a tire replacement: “In another pit, the damages are being counted: Charles Leclerc does the right thing when he decides to immediately return to the pit to change to intermediate tires, but he notifies the team late. When he arrives at the pit stop, the tires are not there. It’s a sad scene, unfortunately already seen, with the mechanics rushing unprepared. Charles Leclerc expected the team to be ready. The stop lasted 13 seconds, compared to the two or three of the rivals. What’s worse is that in the confusion, Charles Leclerc, touching Oscar Piastri’s McLaren at the first turn, broke a wing endplate on the front of his SF-23. And it wasn’t replaced. The rest of his race is a ordeal because the underfloor is also damaged.” – La Stampa concluded after the Dutch Grand Prix.