Introduction
Charles Leclerc has taken a stunning victory at the 2024 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix after utilising a bold one-stop strategy to hold onto the lead, the Monegasque thrilling the Tifosi as he clinched P1 ahead of the McLarens.
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After making a decent start off the line from pole position, Lando Norris initially stayed in P1 before Oscar Piastri swept past into the second chicane later in the lap. From there, the Australian stayed out in front for much of the race.
However, with much of the field opting for a two-stop strategy, Ferrari decided to try a one-stop for Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, resulting in the pair running at the front of the field in the latter stages of the race.
Birthday boy Sainz could not hold on, given his ageing tyres, with both Piastri and Norris overtaking him to move into second and third. But Leclerc held out to grab an emotional win on Ferrari’s home soil, crossing the line 2.6s ahead of Piastri.
Norris claimed an extra point for setting the fastest lap as he took third, adding somewhat to a day where the Briton may have hoped for more to aid his championship bid. Sainz had to settle for fourth, while Lewis Hamilton – driving his last Monza race before switching to Ferrari next year – was fifth for Mercedes.
Max Verstappen placed sixth, and the Dutchman gained one position from his original grid slot. The Red Bull managed to stay ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell in seventh, while Sergio Perez added three points to Red Bull’s tally in eighth.
It was a joyous day for Williams as Alex Albon clinched two valuable points in P9, and Kevin Magnussen was 10th in the Haas on what was an eventful day for the team, with both of their drivers having received time penalties for separate incidents.
Fernando Alonso just missed out on the top 10 in P11 for Aston Martin, and Franco Colapinto crossed the line on his F1 debut in P12 for Williams. It was P13 for Daniel Ricciardo, the RB driver, having received two penalties in the race’s early stages.
Esteban Ocon led Alpine in 14th, putting him ahead of teammate Pierre Gasly in 15th, and Valtteri Bottas followed for Kick Sauber in 16th place.
Nico Hulkenberg ended the day down in P17 for Haas, Zhou Guanyu was 18th for Kick Sauber, and Lance Stroll was the last classified runner for Aston Martin in P19.
Yuki Tsunoda was the sole retiree from the race, having retired his RB following a collision with Hulkenberg.
Mario Isola, Motorsport Director, Pirelli:
It was a really exciting race followed by a fantastic show from the fans. The enthusiasm of the Monza crowd is incredible and contagious and gives one goosebumps. Congratulations to Charles Leclerc and Ferrari, as winning this Grand Prix must be an incredible feeling for them.
On the technical front, this was a Grand Prix that had it all: battles on track between the drivers with some spectacular overtaking moves, such as Piastri’s on Norris and a strategic confrontation between those who had opted to stop twice and those on a one-stop.
We said before the event that the one-stop would be the quickest, which proved correct. The fact that nearly all the teams had kept two sets of Hards for the race gave them the flexibility to go with different scenarios if necessary. One should remember that no one had sufficient data to fully evaluate the C3 performance on the utterly new track surface.
Management of graining was crucial and probably affected by the track evolution. Initial analysis of the data and the visual checks of the tyres at the end of each stint showed that graining was very significant in the first part of the race, especially on the front left, but less so on the left rear, with both the Hard and Medium, while in the following stints, the phenomenon was less present. A vital factor, therefore, was the drivers’ feeling during the race and their ability to manage the tyres, especially for those who stuck with the strategy they had opted for at the start, namely the one-stop.
The day on the track:
At the start, the majority (14) of the drivers went with the Medium. The Hards were chosen by the two Red Bulls, Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls) and Valtteri Bottas (Sauber). Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver not to make it to the chequered flag. Of the remaining 19, nine pitted once, ten did two or more (Stroll, three).
Daniel Ricciardo (Racing Bulls) ran the longest stint, completing 42 laps on the Hard. Esteban Ocon led the way on the Medium, running a 21-lap second stint on the C4.
2024 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix Race Results
| Pos | No | Driver | Country | Team | Time | Points | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Monaco | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:14:40.727 | 25 | 217 |
| 2. | 81 | Oscar Piastri | Australia | McLaren Racing | +2.664s | 18 | 197 |
| 3. | 4 | Lando Norris | Great Britain | Mclaren Racing | +6.153s | 15 | 241 |
| 4. | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Spain | Scuderia Ferrari | +15.621s | 12 | 184 |
| 5. | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Great Britain | Mercedes-AMG Petronas | +22.820s | 10 | 164 |
| 6. | 1 | Max Verstappen | Netherlands | Red Bull Racing | +37.932s | 8 | 303 |
| 7. | 63 | George Russell | Great Britain | Mercedes-AMG Petronas | +39.715s | 6 | 128 |
| 8. | 11 | Sergio Perez | Mexico | Red Bull Racing | +54.148s | 4 | 143 |
| 9. | 45 | Alexander Albon | Thailand | Williams Racing | +67.456s | 2 | 6 |
| 10. | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Denmark | Haas F1 Team | +68.302s | 1 | 5 |
| 11. | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Spain | Aston Martin F1 Team | +68.495s | 0 | 50 |
| 12. | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Argentina | Williams Racing | +81.308s | 0 | 0 |
| 13. | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Australia | Visa Cash App F1 Team | +93.452s | 0 | 12 |
| 14. | 31 | Esteban Ocon | France | Alpine F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 5 |
| 15. | 10 | Pierre Gasly | France | Alpine F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 8 |
| 16. | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Finland | Kick Sauber F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 0 |
| 17. | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Germany | Haas F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 22 |
| 18. | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | China | Kick Sauber F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 0 |
| 19. | 18 | Lance Stroll | Canada | Aston Martin F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 24 |
| 20. | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Japan | Visa Cash App F1 Team | DNF | 0 | 22 |
2024 Constructor Standings
| Pos | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Red Bull Racing | 446 |
| 2. | McLaren Racing | 438 |
| 2. | Scuderia Ferrari | 407 |
| 4. | Mercedes-AMG Petronas | 292 |
| 5. | Aston Martin F1 Team | 74 |
| 6. | Visa Cash App F1 Team | 34 |
| 7. | Haas F1 Team | 28 |
| 8. | Alpine F1 Team | 13 |
| 9. | Williams Racing | 6 |
| 10. | Kick Sauber F1 Team | 0 |
Here are the team-by-team highlights:
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