Photo Credit: Scuderia Ferrari
Leclerc started on the second row of the grid in P3 for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza and while thinking of moving forward would always be on his mind, his biggest challenge would be to hold off the Red Bull of Sergio Perez who started in P6.
At the start Leclerc maintained his position, but never got close enough to Max Verstappen to make a move and Ferrari didn’t get the chance to lead 1-2 in Monza. While Verstappen was tucked up behind Carlos Sainz, Leclerc was able to hang onto the back of Verstappen and stay in the DRS range for a number of laps.
By lap 15 Sainz was really struggling on his tyres and Verstappen sailed passed into turn 1. At the same time Perez cleared the Mercedes of George Russell and was steaming after the Ferrari duo. With Perez eventually getting passed both Ferraris in easy fashion, the scrap for the final podium place was left to Sainz and Leclerc. They gave it everything to be the leading Ferrari in front of their adoring Tifosi.
By lap 47 and into the closing stages of the race, Verstappen was cruising up ahead over 12 seconds ahead of Perez. Leclerc lined up a move on his teammate into turn one and briefly had it, but Sainz fought back Leclerc around the ‘Curva Grande’ corner and into turn 4 both cars went off after an aggressive move from the Spaniard, Sainz stayed ahead and Ferrari breathed a sigh of relief that both cars didn’t touch.
Sainz encouraged his team to call off the fight and insisted that they“bring this one home”. But Leclerc with DRS was still challenging on the last lap, ultimately to no avail. Leclerc came home in a solid P4, but would be disappointed to lose out on a podium in Monza.
Speaking after the race, Leclerc stated he really enjoyed the close racing and brought him back to his karting days of close fighting.
“I honestly really enjoyed it. It’s probably the most enjoyable race of the season inside the helmet at least!
“I am sure for the pits, they wouldn’t give the same answer and I’m sure some of the Tifosi maybe didn’t enjoy as much as I did with Carlos. This is exactly what racing should be. In the past with Max, I’ve had similar fights, with Checo today was on the limit too.
“With Carlos, it was on the limit too, whether it was defending or attacking, and that made it really enjoyable inside the car. At the end of it, we maximised the team’s points and the maximum result we could have done for the team.”
Leclerc mentioned how both of them went to the absolute limit when asked about the turn 4 moment with Sainz.
“It was on the limit. I was on the limit. Carlos was on the limit. This is normal. Carlos was on the limit of the regulation under braking, and I was on the limit of regulation attacking.
“I think it means to both of us a lot to be on the podium in front of the Tifosi. We gave it all but we also know how important it is for the Tifosi whoever it is on the podium. We had that in mind.“
