Twenty Is Plenty!

While the top runners settled for a two-stop tyre strategy for the Italian Grand Prix, Ferrari thought otherwise! It’s their home race where 3,35,000 Tifosi, their die-hard fans, would settle for nothing less than a win over traditional rivals McLaren, who had locked out the front row on Saturday!

Charles Leclerc could only slot the SF24 into P4 during qualifying, one place behind George Russell’s Mercedes. McLaren’s closest title challenger to Max Verstappen is Lando Norris and he was in pole position with team mate Oscar Piastri right behind in P2.

But the papaya-orange coloured cars lost out ultimately when they pitted twice giving up track position to the Ferraris. A stoic drive by Carlos Sainz delayed both McLaren’s progress in the final stages and aided Leclerc’s masterclass up ahead in the lead.

It was Leclerc’s second win this season. It was a stand out performance with the Monegasque setting such consistent lap times, that although Piastri was gaining on him until the last lap, the Ferrari had done just enough to finish first!

But how did McLaren lose out even though they started one-two?

All eyes were on the British team as they employed a new coded message called ‘papaya rules’ to their drivers! When quizzed upon this post-race, team boss Zak Brown explained that it was all about ensuring both drivers were allowed to race each other fairly.

This agreement within the team saw Piastri challenge Norris on the opening lap to claim P1 from the pole sitter. Norris has the undesirable record this season of claiming 7 poles but unable to hold onto them during lap 1! But the bigger damage to his race was when Piastri overtook him in such a manner through Turn 4 that he conceded P3 to the fast starting Leclerc.

In all of this, McLaren’s pit wall didn’t respond to Ferrari’s single stop strategy assuming their hard tyres would degrade before the chequered flag. But they held on. And the rest is history for the Scuderia.

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix at Baku is next. It’s the fastest street circuit on the calendar. As the Bulls are going through a difficult phase, who will conquer the ‘land of fire’ this time?

Going on Leclerc’s three consecutive podiums, he looks unstoppable!

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Round 17 | Azerbaijan | Sunday, 15th September 16:30 | F1TV & FanCode App