When the dust settled Saturday night in Monza following the latest qualifying session of the season, Norris and McLaren left the “Temple of Speed” rather content with proceedings having locked out the front row. Russell took 3rd as Piastri pipped George to second by 0.004s, both Red Bulls and Ferraris followed in tow. Lando became the 2nd McLaren driver to have qualified on pole in consecutive races since Hamilton back in 2012 (Monza and Singapore).
30 points in the Constructor’s Championship was the difference and if the race played out like qualifying, McLaren would have reached the summit of the Constructor’s Championship, for the first time since Australia in 2014. Red Bull have had a tight grip on the constructors since the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix, 27 months ago.
Monza was dripped in Red and in hope of a miracle to see the Prancing Horse back on the top step of the podium… The front row however was Papaya Orange. McLaren were perfectly positioned to control the race as pole-sitter Norris, whom has never led on Lap 1 whilst starting on pole, successfully made it to the first corner at the front of the race, leading the 19 other drivers through the first few corners heading down Curva Grande and possibly off into the distance…. To the surprise of Lando, teammate Piastri appeared alongside him on the outside of turn 4 and kept the inside line on the exit of the chicane to steal the lead of the race with LeClerc taking his chance and jumping Lando who had a snap of oversteer on the exit. Courtesy of Piastri’s aggressive move, Ferrari were presented with the opportunity to split the McLarens. The next milestone for Lando is to make it past the 4th corner and retain the lead after lap 1.
Five different drivers lead a lap in Monza, none of them being Norris despite being on pole…. Piastri looked relatively comfortable, retaining the lead till lap 38 when he pitted for his final set of hard tyres ahead of teammate Norris. Norris benefitted from the undercut on lap 15 which enabled him to regain 2nd place, Ferrari emerged one lap later in 3rd behind both McLaren’s. The early pitstop for Charles possibly made the decision to revert to the one stop easier when he reclaimed the lead of the race, once both McLaren drivers pitted for a second and final time. With 15 laps to go and an 18 second lead on Piastri, Leclerc on a set of 23 lap old hard tyres, the dream was quickly becoming a reality. Leading the race, Leclerc picked up quite a lot of front grip having the free air in front, as he controlled the pace to take the chequered flag and securing his second win at Monza, the only driver to successfully make hard tyres last and the 1 stop strategy achievable, he became 1 of only 3 Ferrari drivers ever to have multiple poles & multiple wins at Monza (joining Schumacher & Ascari), conquering the Monaco and Monza double in 2024.
Leclerc divulged post-race that Ferrari’s pre-race plan was the one-stop, but reservations initially creeped in when they saw the rest of the field’s degradation on the hard tyres. The power of the upgrades Ferrari brought with them to Monza were displayed, designed to reduce degradation and help the drivers look after the tyres. Charles stopped 5 laps earlier than team mate Sainz, making his last set of hards last for 38 laps, to secure his first ever win starting from outside the top 3 which sparked wild celebrations following an unexpected victory for Ferrari at the Italian Grand Prix.
Mclaren instructed the controversial team orders in Hungary to hand Oscar his first win in F1, famously telling Norris on the radio “You’ll need Oscar’s help later in the season” …. Fortunately, Norris still reduced Verstappen's lead at the top of the Drivers' Championship to 62 points, but if he won in Monza and kept his victory in Hungary, the gap theoretically would be down to 45 points with 8 races to go. If McLaren prioritised his hopes and the chance of the “Double”, it would be looking slightly more optimistic. Notably, after winning seven of the first ten races in 2024, Verstappen has now gone six Grand Prix without a victory and only one podium in the last four races.
We've had three different F1 teams win the past three races, not one of those being Red Bull and this time last year Verstappen was taking his 10th consecutive win. McLaren taking charge of the Constructor’s Championship at the moment looks inventible, a one-two finish would have taken them top of the Constructors' Championship, instead closing to within eight points of Red Bull. Lando will need to outscore Max Verstappen by an average of 7.8 points every race weekend to become drivers' champion by one point (he has outscored Max by 8 points in each of the last two races), the battle with his teammate in both Hungary and Monza could be the difference… Comparing 2023 to 2024, McLaren have been able to turn a 45s deficit in 2023 into a 35s gap over Red Bull in 12 months.
McClaren have a fortnight to consider creating team orders to maximise their advantage and eliminate an unnecessary additional strategic headache. The same headache will be felt across at the Haas garage, who have to decide who is replacing Magnussen, who finished in 10th gaining his team a point but also 2 penalty points, moving him onto 12 for the season, which incurs a race ban. It is the first time a driver has fallen foul of this ruling since it was introduced in 2014, Grosjean was the last driver to be banned for a race after at the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix.
Next up is Baku and Singapore, which will be significant as to where the trophies will be heading and what the “Papaya rules” actually mean.
The 2024 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP™ continues to be an incredibly exciting season on and off the track. Don't miss out on any of the action, all shown live from F1 Arcade London and F1 Arcade Birmingham. Get your next watch party tickets now!
