Davide Valsecchi hails Charles Leclerc for overcoming ‘problem’ his rivals couldn’t handle at Monza

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Charles Leclerc took a stunning victory at the Italian Grand Prix when he made a risky one-stop strategy work for Ferrari.

Ferrari chose to improvise mid-race with Charles Leclerc after seeing the times of those around him on the hard tyre, knowing that the one-stop was a possibility despite the high tyre degradation.

McLaren played it safe and put both Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris on the two-stop strategy, which enabled Leclerc to jump ahead of them in the closing stages.

After building up a gap of more than 10 seconds, Leclerc only needed to post consistent times to ensure Piastri was not a threat in the final eight laps of the race. He eventually won by a margin of 2.6 seconds, much to the jubilation of the Tifosi crowd in the grandstands.

Former racing driver Davide Valsecci has explained why Leclerc was able to overcome the ‘problem’ most drivers could not handle at Monza when speaking on the F1 Nation podcast.

Why Charles Leclerc could overcome tyre management issues

Piastri said he was ‘surprised’ at how well Ferrari held on to their pace at the end of the race, as Leclerc posted lap times consistently in the 1:23s.

This consistency is what Valsecchi believes prompted Ferrari to switch to the one-stop for both cars mid-race, enabling them to stay ahead of the McLarens after the pit stops.

“All the others were suffering from front degradation. We heard Norris during the race saying ‘Man, I cannot manage the front left’ and I spoke with Albon and Colapinto, they had the same problem. So while everyone was fighting with the tyres, Leclerc was perfect,” said Valsecchi.

“We need to underline that Leclerc did four laps more than Sainz. He finished fourth, Leclerc won the race. The second stint that Leclerc did was even quicker than Carlos Sainz. So we need to underline that Leclerc was special.”

McLaren’s ‘biggest weakness’ exposed at Monza

Heading into the race teams knew that it was going to be marginal over whether the one-stop or two-stop strategy would work.

The high track temperatures coupled with the newly laid surface meant that teams experienced high wear throughout the weekend, prompting many to play it safe on the two-stop.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine

The reason McLaren did this is because of their high front tyre degradation, which Norris felt exposed their ‘biggest weakness’ during the Italian GP.

After seeing the data from both McLaren and Mercedes after the race, Lewis Hamilton felt Norris and Piastri could have done the one-stop if they had not taken out life from the tyres early on after their pit stops.