“Nobody’s perfect” - but Leclerc came close with final Monza stint

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc produced a stunning 33-lap run of lap time consistency to win Formula 1’s 2024 Italian Grand Prix, which has evoked memories of other such famous moments from motorsport history. 

In the 2022 Mexican GP, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen managed 38 straight laps in the same lap time bracket (1m38s), while the 1983 Le Mans 24 Hours ended with Porsche 956 cars remarkably taking nine of the first 10 positions. 

Leclerc’s second stint at Monza has been compared online to an advert subsequently produced by Porsche that self-deprecatingly referenced its achievement, acknowledging it had not secured a top 10 sweep with “Nobody’s perfect” heading.

In a small parallel, Leclerc, once his out-lap on the hard tyres to rejoin behind McLaren’s Lando Norris had been completed, produced two laps in the 1m24s either side of one in the 1m23s bracket he ultimately needed to preserve his tyres and get to the end on a one-stopper.

Leclerc then unleashed an impressively consistent run to the flag - with his 33 laps in the 1m23s enough to hold off the two-stopping McLarens coming back from dropping behind and secure a second famous Monza win for Ferrari at its home race. 

Piastri had been told by McLaren he needed to do 1m22.0s to make the catch - but he only achieved this (actually under it in the high 1m21s) in the final two laps of his third stint and he came up 2.7s short of Leclerc.

When asked about his 1m23s streak by Autosport in the post-race Monza press conference, Leclerc said he pulled it off by solely focusing on not overstressing his left-front tyre amid the major graining factor on both axles for all cars last week on the new track surface.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Photo by: Ferrari

Ferrari’s ’Monza special’ very low-downforce rear wing was part of how it achieved the required car balance to keep the graining in check, with Leclerc having to avoid pushing too hard with the graining-induced understeer through Monza’s fastest and longest corners - Lesmo 2, Ascari and Parabolica - to keep his left-front alive.

“I could see there was a little bit of graining, and I really didn't want it to get worse,” he explained. “Otherwise, I knew that this was what would make me lose this race.

“From when I put the hard on the car, that was my only focus. I knew that it was critical to not open this graining too much and we did a really good job. 

“As soon as I had free air, I could change a little bit the balance of the car and put more stress on the rear tyres, which was exactly what I wanted to do. And as soon as that balance changed, I felt like the pace was coming back.” 

Leclerc also said his of final laps, “just like in 2019 [the first time he won at Monza], the last 3, 4, 5 laps it was quite difficult to keep the eyes on the track”.

“I was obviously looking a little bit in the grandstand,” he added. “I could see everybody was standing up and that was really nice to see. 

“In 2019 I remember my mum was also in the grandstand because I didn't manage to have a paddock pass for her. This year, she actually had a paddock pass, so it's good. She could watch and experience both things, once in the grandstand and once in the paddock. 

“It’s a very special feeling. I could also see some red smoke at one point. So I knew everybody was super excited, but I also knew that I had to finish the job and that I had to stay on it because Oscar had a really good pace. 

“In the last five, six laps, I felt like we had it. The tyres felt good and I could see that Oscar was not that fast to catch me before the end of the race if I was not doing any mistakes.”

Watch: What went wrong for McLaren at Monza? - Italian GP Debrief