F1, the unstoppable Charles Leclerc

Two in a row! After winning at Spa, Charles Leclerc impressively held off constant pressure from Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas at the Italian Grand Prix to claim his second successive Formula One victory. It was Ferrari’s first win at their home circuit since Fernando Alonso in 2010, with Bottas and Hamilton settling for second and third respectively. The Monegasque received a warning in the form of a black and white flag from the race stewards after he appeared to leave Hamilton insufficient space heading into the Della Roggia chicane on lap 23. But at the end of the day it was a well deserved win with Leclerc very decisively defending of his lead, never cracking under pressure.

Hamilton’s hopes of winning were over when he locked up his tyres and was forced to skip the first two turns. That error freed Bottas, who was on a fresher set of tyres, to take a run at Leclerc, but even with the benefit of DRS the Finn was unable to get the job done as the 21-year-old clung on for victory. Leclerc consequently moved up to fourth in the drivers’ standings, while Bottas closed the gap to Hamilton – who posted the fastest lap – to 63 points.

In a sign of things to come, Leclerc held off Hamilton and Bottas from lights out, but his Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel could not keep Nico Hulkenberg at bay. Although Vettel regained his position from the Renault driver, he span off at Ascari chicane on lap seven and received a 10-second stop/go penalty for clipping Lance Stroll when he re-entered the track. Stroll then forced Pierre Gasly off when he re-joined the race and was punished with a drive-through penalty. While Leclerc brought elation to the Scuderia garage with his success, team-mate Vettel only found frustration at Monza once more. Contact with Hamilton resulted in Vettel spinning out at the Della Roggia chicane last year, but this time he only had himself to blame after a loss of control and moment of madness. In 2018 he was able to recover and finish fourth, but this year he had to settle for a disappointing 13th as talk of a changing of the guard at Ferrari gained more weight.

On the other side, the 21-year-old Leclerc’s joy was writ large across his still boyish face as he stood on the podium confronted by a sea of red as the tifosi erupted in a collective celebration of colour, noise and, it must be said, some relief. Leclerc, at the centre of this ecstatic maelstrom, absorbed their approval as flags and red flares battled for space in the air beneath him, as an emperor surveys his subjects. Last week his debut victory at Spa was tempered by the death of his friend Anthoine Hubert in an F2 race in Belgium. There had been pleasure in his maiden win but delivering here for Ferrari in their home race, the joy was unconfined for him, his team and their fans.