Monza - Race

The qualifying hour that made Lando Norris a back-to-back polesitter was only a prelude to the race brewing under the picturesque Italian sky. The fans dressed in red sang praises to their historic team as questions emerged from all the viewers. Would Norris convert his position into a win? Would he be under threat from Russel and Leclerc, breathing down his neck from the second row? Or would his teammate end up as the one posing the most danger?

Norris had a good launch off the line but, even though he kept his lead, it wasn't for long. His curse of not finishing the first lap in the lead lived to see another day, as he was overtaken by both Piastri and Leclerc before crossing the finish line for the first time. Russel attacked the two McLarens from the very start and paid a big price for his efforts, having gone off the road and through the runoff area on the very first chicane. This dropped him right in front of Perez, with whom he would battle throughout the rest of the race. During the incident, his Mercedes sustained some damage to its front wing.

The first minutes of the Italian Grand Prix were also quite exciting a bit further down the field. Hulkenberg found himself in the middle of not one, but two incidents as he was first pushed off the road by Daniel Ricciardo and then made contact with Tsunoda, inflicting what would prove to be race-ending damage to his VCARB. Ricciardo received a 5-second penalty for his offense. This significantly diminished his chances of a good score already but was far from the end of his problems. After he had pitted, he was slammed with another penalty, this time the 10-second one, for not serving his first one correctly. Hulkenberg also didn't get out of the debacle unscathed as effectively ending Tsunoda's race cost him 10 precious seconds. 

Russel, in desperate need of a new front wing, came in for an early pit stop, as did Ricciardo. Other cars followed soon after. Out of the drivers in contention for the win, it was Norris who pitted first, presumably trying to undercut Leclerc. His stop was quick all throughout, starting from the entry, on which he hit one of the pitlane markers. Still, it didn't cost him too much time and when he came out on his fresh tires, he was 9th. Leclerc changed his mediums to hards one lap later and, upon exit, lost his position to the McLaren. Piastri, the leader, pitted on lap 17 and came out a few good seconds ahead of his teammate. As it was obvious that out of the two of them, he was the one with a bigger chance of winning, Norris was informed that later down the line it might be necessary for him to cover for the Australian. 

Sainz, Verstappen, and Piastri made up the temporary top three. The first one changed his tires to cover off Hamilton but the other two waited a few laps longer. Red Bull was on a different strategy than the other top teams. While their competitors opted to begin the race on mediums, they chose the hardest compound instead. It was speculated that they were going for a one-stop race, but that was proven to be wrong when they changed their tires from one set of hards to another. This meant that they still needed to pit at least once as a driver must use at least two tire compounds throughout a race. 

The 'true' order was restored, with a McLaren 1-2 and Leclerc right behind them. Interestingly enough, Noris was given the green light to race his teammate per 'papaya rules'. What exactly that meant we may never know. 

Meanwhile, a big incident was taking place further back. Magnussen made contact with Gasly and was given a 10-second penalty for his behavior. This pushed him over the limit of penalty points allotted to each driver. He will not be allowed to participate in the next Grand Prix weekend and will need to watch his teammate race on the streets of Baku from the garage. 

By this point in the race, Norris and Piastri seemed to be trading fastest laps. Leclerc kept close to the two but the gap was widening between P3 and P4, as almost 12 seconds separated the two Ferraris. The situation changed when Norris made a mistake that cost him almost two seconds and brought Leclerc into his DRS. Unlike the Brit, who complained about the graining on his tires, the Monegasque seemed perfectly content with the car. 

Norris came in for his second pit on lap 33 and drove out behind Verstappen. After a less-than-perfect qualifying and a non-spectacular race, Red Bull knew that their chances for a podium were slim. The best strategic decision for the team was to slow down their main competitor for the WDC as much as they could when the opportunity presented itself and that was exactly what they did. Verstappen kept Norris behind him for as long as long as he could, significantly slowing the quick McLaren. Right after the Brit found a way past, the reigning champion pitted for a second time. 

McLaren debated a 1-stop strategy but when they asked Piastri for his input, he said that with how much his tires had degraded, it wouldn't work. He was ushered to the pits on lap 39, making Leclerc the temporary leader with quite a lead and no more pit stops as Ferrari was sure that both their drivers could finish the race on their hards. 

For some time it was a Ferrari 1-2, followed by a McLaren 3-4, with the Italian team focusing on conserving their tires, while the British one attacked with all that they had. Sainz put all his efforts into defending against Piastri, taking advantage of some clever strategies, such as using the tow from lapped cars when he found himself within the Australian's DRS. He managed to hold his opponent off until lap 43. Soon after, he became the target of the second McLaren. Once again, he defended with all that he had, but in the end, gave way to his old teammate. Norris spent the rest of the race pushing the car to its limits. He managed to score an additional point for the fastest lap. 

When Piastri emerged into P2, 11.5 seconds separated him from Leclerc. For a few minutes, the eyes of all viewers were glued to the ever-decreasing gap. And while Piastri pushed hard, he was no match for Leclerc. Just like he did in 2019, the Monegasque was the first to see the checkered flag, powered not only by the engine of his Ferrari but also the screams of all the Tifosi. He won in Monaco, he won in Monza, Charles Leclerc is the winner of the 2024 Italian Grand Prix!

Il predestinato vince ancora e l'Italia urla 'forza Ferrari sempre'. 

Order of the grid:

1. Charles Leclerc

2. Oscar Piastri

3. Lando Norris

4. Carlos Sainz

5. Lewis Hamilton

6. Max Verstappen

7. George Russel

8. Sergio Perez

9. Alex Albon

10. Kevin Magnussen

11. Fernando Alonso

12. Franco Colapinto

13. Daniel Ricciardo

14. Esteban Ocon

15. Pierre Gasly

16. Valtteri Bottas

17. Nico Hulkenberg

18. Zhou Guanyu

19. Lance Stroll

DNF: Yuki Tsunoda