The heroic win that showed Leclerc's ruthless edge
Fending off Michael Schumacher for a whole race at Imola in 2005 cemented Fernando Alonso's claim to F1 greatness. The way Charles Leclerc resisted Mercedes' Monza attacks was Ferrari's new star's equivalent
The 2019 Italian Grand Prix was Formula 1 at its best - at least for the first 41 laps. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton didn't trade the lead once, but from the moment the race started until the Mercedes driver's mistake on the brakes at Turn 1 on lap 42 through to Valtteri Bottas's late chase, it was a race on a knife edge.
Tense, tight, briefly explosive and relentless, it had echoes of the legendary Michael Schumacher versus Fernando Alonso battles at Imola in 2005-06 (pictured below).
Share Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.