Charles Leclerc says Ferrari’s win at Monza is as good as the first

MONZA, Italy – Charles Leclerc never thought he would match the emotion of his first Ferrari victory at the Italian Grand Prix until he did it again on Sunday.

Leclerc and Ferrari drove a masterful race to beat the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in the team’s home race.

It was Ferrari’s first home win since Leclerc’s victory in 2019.

“It’s an incredible feeling,” Leclerc said immediately after the race. “I actually thought the first time would just feel like that, and that the second time, if there was a second time, wouldn’t feel so special.

“But my God, the emotions in the last few laps, exactly the same, as in 2019, just looking at the grandstand inside the track. It’s difficult, but yeah, incredible! I mean, Monaco and Monza are the two races I want to win every year.

“Of course 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 this year. So, it’s so, so special.”

Leclerc’s victory was based on a strategy where he stopped only once, while McLaren went for two stops.

That meant he had to use his second set of tires until the end.

In the closing laps, as Piastri and Norris chased him down, the crowd cheered louder and louder as Leclerc drove down the start/finish straight.

Leclerc admitted it was difficult to stay focused.

“Like in 2019, the last three, four, five laps it was quite difficult to keep my eyes on the track and of course I looked a bit in the stands, I saw that everyone was standing and that was really nice to see. In 2019 I remember my mother was also in the stands because I didn’t get her a paddock pass.

“This year she actually had a paddock pass, so that’s good. She was able to watch and experience both things, once in the stands and once in the paddock. But yeah, it’s a very special feeling. I also saw some red smoke at one point. So I knew everyone was super excited, but I also knew I had to get the job done and I had to stay on it, because Oscar had a really good pace.

“But yeah, in the last five, six laps I felt like we had it. The tyres felt good and I saw that Oscar wasn’t that quick to pass me before the end of the race if I didn’t make any mistakes.”