Charles Leclerc gives Ferrari memorable win at Italian GP as Verstappen's woes continue

Ferrari fans celebrated a famous victory on Sunday as Charles Leclerc won the Italian Grand Prix while Red Bull's Max Verstappen saw his Formula One championship lead cut further. Leclerc claimed victory at Monza for the second time after winning in 2019, holding off McLaren pair of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in a thrilling race in which Verstappen finished nearly 38 seconds off the pace in sixth, signalling serious trouble in the Red Bull camp. Leclerc gave Ferrari a stunning home win after managing his tyres on a one-stop strategy to hold off favourites Piastri and Norris. Leclerc, who did a mighty 38 laps around Monza on a set of hard tyres, sent the crowd wild when he took the chequered flag 2.6 seconds clear of Australian Piastri with Britain's Norris third after starting on pole position. Verstappen started seventh and improved by just one position with Norris, who took a bonus point for the fastest lap, reducing the Dutch driver's championship lead from 70 points to 62 with eight races remaining. Norris has never led a lap after starting from pole, and that forgettable run continued on Sunday. Verstappen has now failed to win any of the last six GPs after claiming the honours in seven of the first 10, and his and Red Bull's dominance of F1 looks increasingly in question. A fourth straight world title looked a near certainty when Verstappen won in Spain back in June, but since then he has only finished on the podium twice. The day, however, belonged to Ferrari and Leclerc was over the moon after his stunning win. “It’s an incredible feeling, I thought the first time felt like this, and the second time wouldn’t feel as special, but the emotions in the last few laps were exactly the same as in 2019, just watching the grandstand inside of the track which is tricky, just incredible,” Leclerc said. “Monaco and Monza are the two races I want to win every year. Obviously I want to win as many races as possible and the world championship as soon as possible, but these are the two most important races of the season and I managed to win them both so it’s so, so special.” Leclerc was 11 seconds clear with seven laps to go and 8.3 ahead with five remaining as the massed ranks of 'tifosi' willed him on. He crossed the line 2.664 ahead. “We considered a one-stop strategy the whole race but it was not possible with the amount of tyre graining I had,” said Norris, who had started the day 70 points behind Verstappen and hoping to gain far more. “We are disappointed but Ferrari drove a better race.” McLaren could also have taken the lead in the constructors' championship but ended the day still eight points behind Red Bull, down from a previous 30. Carlos Sainz was fourth for Ferrari with the Italian team's future driver Lewis Hamilton fifth for Mercedes. George Russell was seventh for Mercedes with Red Bull's Sergio Perez eighth and Alex Albon taking precious points for Williams in ninth. Kevin Magnussen was 10th for Haas despite a 10 second penalty for causing a collision. Leclerc started fourth at Monza, with the McLaren duo locking out the front of the grid. With Norris chasing the title, there were questions over whether team orders would come into play. Both McLarens got a good start but Piastri managed to get a slipstream and overtake his teammate into the second chicane, with Norris slipping into third as Leclerc also managed to get past. Norris managed to undercut Leclerc as he pitted first and, as the others stopped, he set off in pursuit of his teammate. After the first set of pit stops, Piastri was leading Norris and the duo were told on team radio that they were free to race. But the battle between the two for the victory never emerged because of Ferrari’s audacious move. As more and more drivers came in for their second set of pit stops, and the laps continued to tick down, it became clear that Ferrari were going to try to nurse their hard tires all the way to the end. And so it proved, with Leclerc managing to hold off Piastri despite being on tires that were nearly 40 laps old.

Charles Leclerc gives Ferrari memorable win at Italian GP as Verstappen's woes continue

McLaren's Lando Norris cuts Dutch champion's lead from 70 points to 62 at Monza