Leclerc: At the end of the race I wasn’t looking at the track, I was looking at the stands!

Ferrari relied on risky tactics and decided that they could run the Italian Grand Prix with a single pit stop, despite the high level of rubber degradation. And yet this risk proved justified: Charles Leclerc climbed to the top step of the podium in Monza for the second time in his career.

Judging by the reaction of happy Italian fans, Ferrari’s victory will turn into a national holiday for the entire country.

Charles Leclerc (1st): “The joy is just incredible! In fact, I thought that this could only happen after the first victory in Monza, and the second time the sensations would not be so acute – if I was even destined to win this race a second time.

And yet, in the last laps I felt exactly the same emotions as in 2019! I looked more at the stands than at the track, although it was not easy. In general, it goes beyond words. Monaco and Monza are two races that I want to win every year, although it is clear that I want to take as many victories as possible and win the title as soon as possible.

But these two Grand Prix are the most important, and this year I won both, so I am very proud. Of course I have felt the support of the tiffozi all the time and I am very grateful to them for the extra energy they have charged me with!

I don’t know if we can fight for victories at other circuits, but at Monza our car worked fine. Will this be repeated in the remaining races of the season? I doubt it, because I believe McLaren remains the favorite, but it is absolutely certain that we have made a step forward.

But I really like the circuit in Baku, I have performed well there in the past, so maybe we can excel there too.”

Carlos Sainz (4th): “The whole team has made a huge effort to prepare technical innovations for Monza, but we also decided to take a risk by choosing this tactic. During the race there was a difficult phase with intense tyre degradation, but we were still able to cover the distance with a single pit stop.

To be honest, when many people went to the pits quite early, I thought we would have to make two pit stops. But the key to the victory was Charles’ early pit stop, after which he managed to keep his hard tyres working until the finish. Calculations showed that this was possible, but there was a risk.

Now it is important to stay calm, although of course today we have to celebrate Charles’ victory, but then we have to find an approach for the next two races.

They will be held on circuits that have something in common with Monza – in that there are no medium-fast and fast corners, which we struggled with in Zandvoort, so it is possible that we can challenge for victory in the next two Grands Prix.