Charles Leclerc pulled off an extraordinary home win for Ferrari at the Italian Grand Prix, ahead of the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
Ferrari chose a daring one-stop strategy for Leclerc, improvising mid-race, to vault him in front of the McLarens – who chose the conventional two-stop approach.
After locking out the front row of the grid, McLaren looked on course for a one-two for half the race, with Piastri leading Norris after the Australian passed the Briton around the outside of the second chicane on the first lap.
Piastri’s fair but aggressive move ended with Norris slipping down to third in the first stint of the race as Leclerc was also able to slip by into second on the exit of the corner.
After trailing Piastri and Leclerc through the first stint, Norris made his pit stop first, in an attempt to undercut his way by Leclerc, who responded on the following lap.
Ferrari pitted on the next lap but McLaren’s strategy worked, vaulting Norris ahead of Leclerc, who initially complained on the radio.
That left Leclerc hanging on in the closing laps from the rapidly closing McLarens and he just managed to hold on, winning by 2.6 seconds to send the tifosi in the grandstands wild.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen could finish only sixth, and Norris cut his championship lead by eight points to 62 with eight races to go, thanks to Norris grabbing the fastest lap before the chequered flag.
Norris was disappointed with third but can still look back on a race in which he gained more points back on Verstappen, and he still has the same task as before – to score on average just under eight points more per race than the Dutchman to win the title.
Behind Sainz, Hamilton was fifth, well ahead of Verstappen, who had a dire race for Red Bull. Williams Alex Albon and Haas driver Kevin Magnussen took the final points in ninth and 10th places.
McLaren are now just eight points behind Red Bull in the constructors’ championship.
